“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”
Oscar Wilde.
I tend to avoid socio-political issues on The Evil Twin, mainly because it isn’t the purpose of this blog – it’s meant to be a light-hearted, frivolous outlet – and also because I’m not an expert on the matter: my layman’s point of view tends to turn into this Bill O’Reilly style rant or, worse, a pseudo-manifesto like the ones we all wrote for our pretentious college newspaper when we thought we were avant-garde geniuses that would change the world.
It has become, however, increasingly difficult to ignore this so-called “crisis”, that generic expression that justifies every misery in the world. Put on weight: “Ah, it’s this bloody debt crisis!”; burn your tongue on the scalding coffee and/or lava-hot micro-waved pastry: “Damn you, bailout!” (with a lisp, of course, since you your mouth is scorched); don’t get laid for a year: “Forget Italy, I’m the one who needs a rescue fund!”.
The truth is that over the last 3 or 4 years things have changed dramatically. This year and the next will be even worse. We need to rethink society and the concepts we’ve been brought up to trust: a college degree doesn’t mean you can get a job; a job does not mean you’ve actually got work to do; if you do have work, it doesn’t mean you’ll get paid (a decent amount or at all); and if you do your work efficiently this doesn’t mean that you’ll be rewarded more than a pat on the back and a condescending “well done”.
Aren’t generations supposed to evolve, to be better than the last? Aren’t we supposed to be better off than our parents were? And aren’t our children supposed to outdo us and their children outdo them and so on?
I may be the exception but I’m definitely not better off than my parents, when they were my age. Far from it. I’m nowhere near where my parents were and they weren’t exactly Bill and Melinda Gates. They were the regular middle class stereotype: married with a couple of kids, decent house, wage and car, we even had a golden Labrador, for God’s sake. They travelled, dressed well and had all the hobbies you’re meant to have when you’re young. I, on the other hand, am unmarried, childless, struggle to pay my 50-year mortgage, drive my parents’ car (if I can afford gas). I can’t even keep my geraniums alive, let alone a pet dog. My biggest shopping extravaganza is getting half-priced ASOS and hobbies to me are more like stuff I can do for free when I’m not working, eg. this blog. I earn an insultingly low wage which I quietly accept because I’m at the employers’ mercy (especially because I work in finance, not the best market right now…) and those SOB know it. I basically survive on precarious artifices such as credit cards and overdrafts, which means I spend half of my nights sleepless trying to figure out how I’m going to make it through the week, buy food and pay bills.
It wasn’t meant to be like this.
I’ve prepared my life and expectations convinced I’d succeed and never ever thought I’d have to skip a few meals so I could pay a late bill or pretend I’m ill so I can unashamedly skip outings with friends because I’m so broke I can’t even afford a latte.
I’m poor, genuinely poor. And yet, my appearances would tell you otherwise. I have a seemingly high-power job, I live in a great neighbourhood; my friends look like they’re worth a million dollars; my clothes aren’t shabby (yet)… and yet I’m broke.
I’m a “nouveau pauvre”.
The so called “nouveau riches” are sooo 1980s… they’re practically extinct now. There aren’t that many people starting off poor and making buckets of money right now, it’s pretty much the opposite: everything’s in the red all the time, people are losing money left and right. It’s Shitville wherever you move to.
But the “nouveau pauvres”, on the other hand, are clearly a growing trend. My generation (i.e. between 25 and 35 yo) is, generally speaking, worst off than our parents when clearly it should be the other way round.
I don’t what the key is to turn this situation around. I’m still trying to figure it out. Trust me: I, more than anyone, am anxious to break the circle and move on and up, but I just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel… not just yet. But I’ll keep looking for it and hope that any of you who feel the same will keep looking as well and give me a heads up if you find out anything helpful.
Wilde, quoted above, also said that “what seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”. Let’s hope so.
It has become, however, increasingly difficult to ignore this so-called “crisis”, that generic expression that justifies every misery in the world. Put on weight: “Ah, it’s this bloody debt crisis!”; burn your tongue on the scalding coffee and/or lava-hot micro-waved pastry: “Damn you, bailout!” (with a lisp, of course, since you your mouth is scorched); don’t get laid for a year: “Forget Italy, I’m the one who needs a rescue fund!”.
The truth is that over the last 3 or 4 years things have changed dramatically. This year and the next will be even worse. We need to rethink society and the concepts we’ve been brought up to trust: a college degree doesn’t mean you can get a job; a job does not mean you’ve actually got work to do; if you do have work, it doesn’t mean you’ll get paid (a decent amount or at all); and if you do your work efficiently this doesn’t mean that you’ll be rewarded more than a pat on the back and a condescending “well done”.
Aren’t generations supposed to evolve, to be better than the last? Aren’t we supposed to be better off than our parents were? And aren’t our children supposed to outdo us and their children outdo them and so on?
I may be the exception but I’m definitely not better off than my parents, when they were my age. Far from it. I’m nowhere near where my parents were and they weren’t exactly Bill and Melinda Gates. They were the regular middle class stereotype: married with a couple of kids, decent house, wage and car, we even had a golden Labrador, for God’s sake. They travelled, dressed well and had all the hobbies you’re meant to have when you’re young. I, on the other hand, am unmarried, childless, struggle to pay my 50-year mortgage, drive my parents’ car (if I can afford gas). I can’t even keep my geraniums alive, let alone a pet dog. My biggest shopping extravaganza is getting half-priced ASOS and hobbies to me are more like stuff I can do for free when I’m not working, eg. this blog. I earn an insultingly low wage which I quietly accept because I’m at the employers’ mercy (especially because I work in finance, not the best market right now…) and those SOB know it. I basically survive on precarious artifices such as credit cards and overdrafts, which means I spend half of my nights sleepless trying to figure out how I’m going to make it through the week, buy food and pay bills.
It wasn’t meant to be like this.
I’ve prepared my life and expectations convinced I’d succeed and never ever thought I’d have to skip a few meals so I could pay a late bill or pretend I’m ill so I can unashamedly skip outings with friends because I’m so broke I can’t even afford a latte.
I’m poor, genuinely poor. And yet, my appearances would tell you otherwise. I have a seemingly high-power job, I live in a great neighbourhood; my friends look like they’re worth a million dollars; my clothes aren’t shabby (yet)… and yet I’m broke.
I’m a “nouveau pauvre”.
The so called “nouveau riches” are sooo 1980s… they’re practically extinct now. There aren’t that many people starting off poor and making buckets of money right now, it’s pretty much the opposite: everything’s in the red all the time, people are losing money left and right. It’s Shitville wherever you move to.
But the “nouveau pauvres”, on the other hand, are clearly a growing trend. My generation (i.e. between 25 and 35 yo) is, generally speaking, worst off than our parents when clearly it should be the other way round.
I don’t what the key is to turn this situation around. I’m still trying to figure it out. Trust me: I, more than anyone, am anxious to break the circle and move on and up, but I just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel… not just yet. But I’ll keep looking for it and hope that any of you who feel the same will keep looking as well and give me a heads up if you find out anything helpful.
Wilde, quoted above, also said that “what seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”. Let’s hope so.
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