Impressing People By Living On Credit
Johnny is getting married tomorrow and in order to spoil his wife this week Johnny decided to gift her a BMW. But how is this possible? Just a couple of months ago Johnny was working a minimum wage job and now he's buying a BMW for a gift? Not only that, but Johnny also just recently moved into a brand new condo. Plus, by the looks of his social media account, he also just got back from vacationing in Mexico where he got to do lots of luxury shopping.
Gee, I wonder what he's been doing right in his life to enable him to achieve that standard of living. After all, he doesn't have any formal education or special training that I know of and he was just working a minimum wage job not long ago. On the outside it really looks like Johnny is doing better in life than a lot of the rest.
But then you find out that Johnny is living a life on credit. That the bank still owns most of his fancy trinkets and that it's going to take him a long time to pay them off; those payments aren't going to be pretty.
Johnny has a story that so many others are all too familiar with. On the outside it looks like Johnny has it all together: nice car, nice clothes, pretty wife, lots of selfie pics taken abroad. But what you don't readily see is the insecurity, stress, worry, and debt!
Many have said that social media is turning us into a "fake generation" because people have become too accustomed with portraying a less-than-honest lifestyle online. It wasn't that long ago that it was traditionally considered bad manners and poor taste to discuss how much wealth you possessed, but now we see quite the opposite with shows like Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, Rich Kids of Instagram, and all those similar. More people seem to be comfortable with being unfiltered in using social media to help them share the extravagant standard of living that they experience.
Is it any surprise that the number one answer with school kids these days when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, is that they just want to be rich and famous?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11014591/One-in-five-children-just-want-to-be-rich-when-they-grow-up.html
http://guardianlv.com/2013/08/studies-show-that-children-just-want-to-be-famous/
And it's not just the people who are living on credit, it's the entire nation via the corrupt Federal Reserve system. Trillions of dollars in debt and still counting. How's that for a "sound economy" ? As far as the people, it was estimated that their credit card debt in 2015 was over $900 billion. It is also estimated that as much as 80 percent of Americans are living in debt.
But you wouldn't know it by looking at many of their social media accounts. We never get to see the bills, the fights, and the tears, we only get to see the highlight reel. It's important not to compare yourself and your own journey to that of the people you see online, especially if it only brings you down, because when it comes to the truth about the lives of others--you don't know what you don't know.
see: http://elitedaily.com/life/social-media-making-us-faker/1101264/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lexi-herrick/11-things-we-fake-in-our-social-media-lives_b_7693182.html
http://time.com/money/4213757/average-american-credit-card-debt/
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I like this!
This will make it a lot easier to find related posts.
I actually made a post about it; no links to related posts on the pages
And it's good for SEO!
I think people portray fake levels of success online because they've bought into the idea that consumption equals success. This was been taught to our society as a whole by a government constantly promoting, incentivizing, and rewarding our higher and higher consumption levels. When I see someone online posting their kids feeding the chickens or their latest thrift store find, I know I've found my people!
It really is true. I'm pretty sure every single one of my employees drives a car worth at least twice as much as mine lol
Being in debt isn't something that people can speak openly about. Debt is taboo. I myself have been through being in debt and living with a debt plan all down to the recession and not wanting to loose my house. More education is needed about living in the big bad world
that is a great point!
and that's also why i really appreciate the people with blogs/youtube channels who DO speak openly about their debt and the reality of how they budget/save etc
Its getting the advice out there, Schools should do more about it
Nice article and needs to be read by many.
Not only do I not present a fake narrative to others (social media or otherwise), I actively try to downplay and hide my "wealth". I don't wish to be judged by that ruler nor attract the company it tends to attract.
I have a friend who is a bank teller in town here and she has said that the people with the most money who come in to see her, when she looks-up their account, are people who you would never suspect to be millionaires etc, she says they come in just in regular blue jeans and dirty shirt etc.. now of course that isn't the case for them all but that's just what came to mind when you mentioned that! :)
Funny you mention that. When I go to the bank to do business transactions I usually come in in a tshirt, shorts, and flip flops, sometimes I don't bother showering and I always have a scruffy 10pm shadow. I don't know why but I just find it funny to watch their demeanor change.
poor Johnny, he must have not heard about having a Millionaire Mind otherwise - he'll be jamming with his jars and not with his credit cards. Never owned a credit card - never would!