"all the people i know who saved a significant fraction of their incomes, who did not spend frivolously, who took good care of their health with diet and exercise and lifestyle choices, who did not buy homes they could not afford with mortgages they could not understand, who did not rack up credit card debt just because it was convenient,"
Failing to do which of these things causes you to lose your job like millions of Americans have?
["you" below is a collective "you"]
doing the things i mentioned does not prevent you from losing your job---not having job security is the price you have chosen to pay for living in a "capitalistic", "market-based" economy.
doing the things i mentioned does allow you to not have to panic or worry when you do lose your job---you have already built a financial cushion and a frugal lifestyle that allows you to weather any economic downturn. during that time, you can learn new skills (public libraries are still free and well-stocked in most blue states in the u.s.) and cultivate your mind and body, (re)build the relationships in your life that are important, care for your family, etc. etc. etc.
not doing the things i mentioned (and living paycheck-to-paycheck) means that after you lose your job, you will be in a constant state of panic and worry because you have nothing to fall back on. you deserve that state of panic because it was possible to have avoided that problem in the first place, but you chose not to.
I will just let your comment speak for itself.
It illustrates how completely out of touch with the rest of planet Earth you are than I ever could.
"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011
Soon enough, the definition of rich will expand to include the entire middle class. That's when the fun begins.
