Money

Discussions have started easily enough.  I told them I've been intrigued by documentaries that talk about how life suddenly got much easier for Americans in the 50's and then the boom in the 80's.  I asked about 'when things got easier' in their opinion.  They talked about the appliance surge after the war - having dishwashers, automatic washing machines, etc.  They said the trend was to get out of the cities and move to the suburbs.  The trend was to work in industry which was often outside the cities.

A little later I brought up the stock market.  My dad has explained this to me before and I think its helpful:  'Stocks are part of a company.  When you buy a stock in company A you are investing your money in hopes that company A will do well and make profits over time so that the stock you own becomes more valuable.  There are people called analysts who come up with opinions about which companies are likely to do well in the future.  So if you invest money in stocks you may make money or you may lose money over time.'

I asked him how he knew these things.  When did he first learn about them.  My mom guessed college (she has not been to college) he said "no, it was when i was just a pup at Fischer and I had to [basically learn because he was offered benefits related to these things] and because we as a company were meeting with analysts".  My argument was this: significant personal financial growth is inaccessible to people who are not making large salaries or working for companies that provide stock options.  I wanted them to see that unless you are specifically educated to understand finance, you cannot play the game.  Not having access to money or the education surrounding money keeps people from moving up in class. They countered with saying 'my mom had me start a savings account when i was 12' and 'we bought savings bonds'.  But I said the return on those is next to nothing.  THIS got us

into more interesting territory where my dad blamed these low interest rates on the government not counting inflation rates properly.  He said 'the Obama administration was particularly bad at this' and that our current inflation rate in reality is much higher than it is stated to be.  I said GREAT! Yes we should certainly reflect inflation for what it is and raise minimum wage to match it.  He actually agreed with this - 'if people have more disposable income they buy more and that is what creates a heathy economy'.  I said that isn't sustainable.  He said that is where innovation comes in.  My mom said that's because I'm a minimalist.  I said how can you base your whole wellbeing on people buying more and more junk?  There must be something better than urging people to over consume or lose their jobs.  He said socialism isn't the answer.

I think I have STARTED I make my economic point without saying "capitalism" that capitalism as the bedrock of an economy is doomed by design and that moving up in class is out of reach for huge swaths of the population due to the exclusive nature of the finance world.  My dad even admitted he is paid attention to by his financial advisor solely because he dad has a lot of money invested.  My major point in this 1 discussion was that public education should teach kids about finance in America (how to deal with debt, what a mortgage is, how banks actually work, what the stock market has to do with everything, why big companies have so much power, and how to do one's taxes) maybe in place of like...mitochondria being the power house of the cell..bet all my peers can explain the stages of how a cell divides but I would be surprised if anyone could shine a light on how interest rates are decided.

They seemed to understand where I was coming from on class mobility.  This felt positive.  Then we listened to a podcast and a woman in poverty happened to be telling her story (it was Hidden Brain: Tunnel Vision) and I think that story really made my moms wheels turn (she doesn't say much when she is thinking).

I'm disenchanted with capitalism like I think many of my peers are.  It does seem like it worked out well for my parents' generation. It feels like there truly were paths into a higher socioeconomic status-at least for their type of people.  My parents are white and both from poor to low middle class blue  collar families in Pennsylvania. They're now somewhere in the upper middle class. The fact that they live in Shootmealready, SC inflates their sense of wealth I think.  They're catholic, my dad,  eh,  just cus my mom is.  My dad worked in the steal mills before college and became an engineer. My mom sought to work in admin and did, up until they moved to Iowa where yours truly was born.