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I suggest that you may be a bit out of touch. Over 40% of Americans earn under $30k per year [1]. And many more choose to live on this much. Ralph Nader, for example, lives on $25,000 per year [2], and accomplishes far more than anyone I personally know.

[1] https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Personality_and_ch...

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I'm willing to bet that Ralph Nader is living debt-free with a nice little nest egg, so comparing his life to those without a large positive net worth is a pretty poor comparison.

and do those people live lifestyles I would want?

Perhaps people are being trained by their culture to seek lifestyles that are not affordable to most people?

If you value the ludicrously wasteful lifestyle that is so prevalent in the U.S., maybe not. But if you embrace the challenge of creativity, you can live quite well on $30k per year. I live in NYC on just a tad more ($32k spent last year) in a nice neighborhood with no roommates, vacation at least once a year, etc. It's amazing how far cooking your own food most of the time, using credit card rewards miles, riding a bicycle instead of driving, and shopping at thrift stores will take you. I suspect most people who spend ~$60k+ per year could cut their spending in half without significantly impacting things they actually care about in their "lifestyles".

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