Stability allowed me to have time for introspection.
Introspection allowed me to target issues in my life.
Fixing those issues is lowering my discomfort in life.
Money won't fix anything for you but it will provide you an environment where you can.
The lows are very different when you have money and when you don't have money.
When you are struggling financially and a single event (e.g. car breaking down) can spiral into wrecking your entire life, you it's hard to "let go" of that.
When you are financially stable there are a lot of frustrations (e.g. work stress) you can learn to cope with, control, or let go of.
If the same thing happened today I could just shrug it off and carry on regardless.
I am not rich now but I have spare cash and this makes an immeasurable positive difference in ways one cannot conceive without the benefit of an alternative experience.
When I was unemployed for a while even the smallest problem was all-consuming because I had to worry about losing my last money and everything else.
* If you're broke and the car breaks down, it's both a car crisis and an extra financial crisis (need money to fix the car).
* If you have enough money saved and the car breaks down, it's merely a car crisis ... and, given that you're capable of fixing the car, it's less of a crisis, at that.
The whole dynamic changes.
For example, I live in Canada and unless you life in the capital of the province everything is really far away.
A lot of people live in cheap apartment blocks of rural areas and it can be a walk of pretty much an hour to get to the groceries store. There is public transit but it's usually every few hours instead of a constant traffic, so you have to plan your entire day around it.
I do agree with your main point that public transit should be one of the main investment of a country.
Well said. This describes my experiences really well.
- I forgot who first said this.
When I was a kid we had no access to a car, quality food or enough money for over the counter medication (acne, mild infections, etc.). Luckily we live in Canada where we can get prescribed medication for free, so none of us died of dangerous infections or anything like that.
We only managed to grow healthy and avoid criminality because our mother is a saint of a woman who sacrificed her adult life to give us a chance for something better.
I really doubt the lack of wealth gave us any comfort and that gaining wealth created any discomfort.
So that people can go to work out of personal choice and not out of desperation.
Or maybe I am the one misunderstanding, in which case - you can be sure I am a supporter of social safety net.
However as someone experienced not only with the excellent public healthcare system in the north of Europe or in Germany, but with the more average ones in the union as well, IMO you should look at Switzerland more than at the EU. You talk of the EU system as if it is awesome everywhere - it's not. Answer for yourself - are your local governments as efficient, robust and not corrupt as the German is?