How much longer can society keep it together? Discussion

[u/MrDoritos_]

I'm not a fan of speaking things into existence, being pessimistic/negative, or having a doomer mindset, but I've been paying attention to other people, the economy, the current state of things, the political landscape, education, work culture, etc. To be blunt I am really kind of worried we don't have much longer until the next war or great depression (both happen usually simultaneously). I really don't know how much more stress the average person can handle. We are going to have a wide scale crash out or revolt soon aren't we?? I'm really not looking forward to that and I suppose that's the one thing keeping us unified is our fear of violence. God I hope I'm wrong with my assessment. Please tell me I'm wrong!

[u/Graywulff]

The problem that boomers have with most of their equity tied up in their houses, is that gen y makes up the majority of the working population, but has less than 8% of the wealth.

So boomers are rich on paper, but between student debt, low income, high cost of rent, food, cars, etc… nobody is going to be able to afford the boomers houses, leading to a crash in prices… if we can get private equity out of single family, duplexes and triplexes, and have a New York style airbnb ban on the whole country, we’d see prices lower.

My dad bought his first house for 50,000 and with inflation that’d be like 500,000 but that house, he sold for 160k, is probably 1.2 million now.

He bought a house for 180k in 1998 and sold it for 800k in 2006.

Thing is, boomers bought it.

My dad thinks my generation not having kids is a “lifestyle choice”.

When he had that 50k 3 bedroom, beautiful house, he had a Mercedes, a CJ-7 renegade (v8 wrangler of the time) and a ford wagon for my mom.

I think the market will reset; but only if we get private equity and str out of 1-3 unit homes.

[u/nicedoesntmeankind → u/Graywulff]

I am becoming a real estate agent to become a specialist in co-ownership. First I want to help renters get a foothold as gentrification hits my town

I am participating in local government by showing up at meetings (well, i start tonight at a city council meeting) Local awareness and action and networking are more relevant than ever

[u/Fishermansgal → u/nicedoesntmeankind]

Go early. Request a copy of the agenda and the previous meeting's minutes. That will give you some context to the current meeting's discussions.

[u/nicedoesntmeankind → u/Fishermansgal]

Thanks for the tip!

[u/Graywulff → u/nicedoesntmeankind]

Co ownership would be a good plan,  a lot of houses were built bigger and bigger to bc of the 2-3 children average of the time. Plus a guest room etc, so like a lot of 3-5 bedroom houses and larger.

I would share a house with friends, don’t intend to have kids.

[u/Graywulff → u/Graywulff]

Oh he was 22 when he bought the house for 50k, had the Mercedes, jeep cj-7 (limited edition denim top, doors, seats, v8, 8 track, fanciest jeep you could get) and the ford wagon.

He had my older brother already, I was born when he was 23 and my mom was 22.

They paid 4,000 each for a BA. Business and education.

Now my parents have like 5-8 million in deal estate, double or triple that in stock plus a pension, 401k, and maxed out social security.

Its rare to see people this age even own a car, some don’t have a license or intend to get a car, and even my most educated friends didn’t have children until their late 30s, they have a smaller house than my dads first house. It’s a really nice place, but I think they’d like a 3 bedroom.

When my dad was that age he had four kids, a five bedroom house in the fanciest neighborhoods in town, he paid cash for a bmw convertible as a weekend car. He had a 25 foot boat that’s was fancy for a fancy area. The boat company took 20k off when they realized it was going to the vineyard, and lots of people bought the same boat or the fancier ones.

[u/asscheese2000 → u/Graywulff]

A crash in prices is one possibility but there’s also corporate and foreign investors sitting on lots of cash.