this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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[–] Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 10 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Who's pretending?

We're all broke. Unless you're a boomer trying to sell a $0.50 house you bought in the 50s you paid for on a gas station cashier salary. They're ok for the moment. But even a lot of them are going broke now too. Highest demographic of newly homeless last I heard.

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[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago

Ego

Bad education

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 weeks ago

That's called Modern Monetary Theory. It's a fun game until the underlying physics of our little civilizational project fails, that is to say the energy return on pumping oil out of the ground.

[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

If you own a house or vehicle in the USA there's a good chance you're in debt.

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[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago

It's just temporary trust me.
Tonight is the night, I'm going to sleep and have 🗽the American Dream ™️ 🦅

[–] zululove@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 weeks ago

America is a third world occupied country but everybody is in denial, obese and wearing nice clothes 😌

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 7 points 4 weeks ago

Hey, it's the land of Hollywood. If anyone in the world is good in pretending, it's them.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 6 points 4 weeks ago (15 children)

In debt doesn’t mean broke. People with a mortgage that they are easily paying off have debt. Millionaires and billionaires have millions and billions in debt. Debt itself isn’t bad. Debt can be good.

[–] P13@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

The average American is living paycheck to paycheck with bad, high interest debt and killer monthly minimums. Many people roll their underwater car loan into a new underwater car loan. The housing market is taking a turn.

People are mostly broke.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The point is that being in debt isn’t the same as being broke and living paycheque to paycheque. Rich people have more debt than broke people because banks etc are far more willing to give rich people debt since they can actually pay it back.

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 6 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I mean honestly some should not be. There is this guy that talks about california real estate on over ten million dollar properties were the person has problems with other debt to. I mean the down payment has to be a mill or more. If I had financial means like that I would be debt free.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

There is deff high income people who suck at budgetting. But fast majority of pay to pay check crowd are objectively poor.

60% of americans live pay check to pay check. I would say like 10% of them people who can't manage money.

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[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 weeks ago
[–] Ileftreddit@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

Toxic capitalism, instagram

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Do we count mortgages as debt here?

[–] bss03@infosec.pub 7 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

They often are, yes. I'm not sure exactly what "in debt" means to OP. But, when I use it like this I generally mean "negative net worth" not "carrying a line of credit".

I currently have a balance on a CC, but I don't consider myself in debt, because it's smaller than my checking account balance, and that's smaller than my investment account balance, and that's smaller than my retirement account balance.

I don't own a home, but I also didn't really consider myself "in debt" when I purchased my current car.


Oddly enough I would say I am "in debt to" my CC company, because I do owe money to them and they do not owe money to me. The "to X" part of the phrase restricts my consideration to just two-party financial relationship, in my mind. When you leave off the "to X", I consider all the financial relationship I have and (roughly) sum over them.

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[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 5 points 4 weeks ago

While I have no debts, sometimes my bank account is hovering at a $200. I hate the insecurity it gives me.

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