You Will Own Nothing And Be Happy

[Ivor the Engineer]

Anyone else noticed that the direction of the economy is for the vast majority to pay rent to a tiny minority for access to a home, personal transport, entertainment, technology and healthcare?

Do you think you and/or your children are going to benefit from such a shift?

ETA: This should probably be moved to Social Issues rather than USA Politics.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

People used to look down their noses at those who bought stuff on the never-never but gradually most realised you could have things now instead of saving up for years, as long as you could meet the repayments on the credit. People have lived out their entire lives and never quite owned the house or nice cars they had. Were they crazy to live that way?

 

[8enotto]

Rent free or debt free. Pick your fate. It's not so bad being debt free.

Never paid property taxes nor took a loan. Where I lived wasn't mine, nor the repairs they needed. I had my cars and my stuff plus a small pile of cash most of my life.

My brother couldn't even imagine doing it as I did. He has been paying off loans since he was 19. Still has all the same sense of security in his position in life as I do. Could lose it all in a moment.

 

[Dabop]

Anyone else noticed that the direction of the economy is for the vast majority to pay rent to a tiny minority for access to a home, personal transport, entertainment, technology and healthcare?

Do you think you and/or your children are going to benefit from such a shift?

ETA: This should probably be moved to Social Issues rather than USA Politics.

Only in the USA...

Renters obviously pay rent in Australia, but many still own their own places (especially in rural areas where prices arent ridiculously high)
Most own their own car here (indeed many refuse to get loans for cars, because it really is 'dead money')
Entertainment??? I haven't seen 'movie rentals' for a couple of decades lol
Technology- hardly any tech is 'rental' these days- hell the last 'tech rental' I had was a top loader VHS recorder lol
Healthcare- I recently had to go to hospital for a week, having multiple scans after having a brain aneurysm (I had a artery in my brain split and had internal bleeding and pressure in the brain)- it was all covered under Medicare here in Australia, even got new glasses (as it in my vision part of my brain, leaving me almost completely blind in one eye and suffering from photosensitivity) and as I have prescription glasses, I got a new set of dark tinted prescription glasses also free under Medicare ETA- Medicare is covered by taxes here, but is available from before your birth to your death to all Australian citizens.... no exceptions... I didn't even have to pay for the ambulance (over 2 hours total in two trips, first to a local hospital, then transferred to a larger hospital better suited to my issue...)

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Despite what I wrote above I live more like 8enetto describes as I find debt stress-inducing. We paid down our mortgage as fast as we could and I've never bought a car new or on credit. I could have had flashier cars but I don't care enough for that.

 

[sinnikal]

Despite what I wrote above I live more like 8enetto describes as I find debt stress-inducing. We paid down our mortgage as fast as we could and I've never bought a car new or on credit. I could have had flashier cars but I don't care enough for that.

I've lived debt-free since my late 30's. That's when the mortgage got paid off. Since then everything I own has been bought with cash. Houses, cars etc. Stress free living.

 

[dirtywick]

Entertainment??? I haven't seen 'movie rentals' for a couple of decades lol
Technology- hardly any tech is 'rental' these days- hell the last 'tech rental' I had was a top loader VHS recorder lol

movies you buy licenses through streaming services, you don't really own them. or you rent them from them, or you pay monthly, or you watch ads. video games and software and other tech is the same, much of it is licensed content you're using on loan.

 

[dirtywick]

Despite what I wrote above I live more like 8enetto describes as I find debt stress-inducing. We paid down our mortgage as fast as we could and I've never bought a car new or on credit. I could have had flashier cars but I don't care enough for that.

saving up to buy a home isn't really realistic. vehicles are more or less the same. education and small businesses as well. as well as emergency purchases

access to debt is pretty important, just how the economy is set up. not saying it's not impossible to do so, but the economy is built around the assumption that most people will take on some debt to make large purchases. so financial literacy is also really important, unless you're in to getting ripped off by dirt bag financial types. no shortage of those.

that these companies are trying to expand that to smaller and smaller purchases is concerning. you can stack that right next to the expansion of accessible gambling for your next future crisis that's going to face young people in a decade.

 

[Dabop]

movies you buy licenses through streaming services, you don't really own them. or you rent them from them, or you pay monthly, or you watch ads. video games and software and other tech is the same, much of it is licensed content you're using on loan.

Looks at the over 12 TB of hard drives filled with movies and music...
Don't have any subscriptions to any streaming services- between the free streaming ones and the local 'FTA' channels online streaming (no cost) never seen the need...
(I still watch a lot of UTube for free- on the laptop, as I am running Firefox (free) and it has Adblock, I simply don't see ads lol)

Same with games etc- I buy once and its on my system- hell I actually played AOE2 last night for the first time in ages lol (lol, there's a lot of free games out there too- I don't run windows so get most of mine through Steam or the Ubuntu app store...)

Hell even my OS is free- this machine is still running 'Bionic Beaver' aka Ubuntu 18

 

[Dabop]

Despite what I wrote above I live more like 8enetto describes as I find debt stress-inducing. We paid down our mortgage as fast as we could and I've never bought a car new or on credit. I could have had flashier cars but I don't care enough for that.

LOL- same here- never had a 'new car' except once (my ex actually drove it) me- I'm happy with the older stuff- the utes a 1999 Toyota Hilux, the cars a 96 Corolla and the tilt tray is a 96 Mercedes, and theres the 'bitsa' 68/84 mix Landcruiser softtop in the shed as well...
Living in the country, got no interest in 'keeping up with the Jones' BS- dirt roads and roos kill anything out here so why buy new????

 

[dirtywick]

Looks at the over 12 TB of hard drives filled with movies and music...
Don't have any subscriptions to any streaming services- between the free streaming ones and the local 'FTA' channels online streaming (no cost) never seen the need...
(I still watch a lot of UTube for free- on the laptop, as I am running Firefox (free) and it has Adblock, I simply don't see ads lol)

Same with games etc- I buy once and its on my system- hell I actually played AOE2 last night for the first time in ages lol (lol, there's a lot of free games out there too- I don't run windows so get most of mine through Steam or the Ubuntu app store...)

Hell even my OS is free- this machine is still running 'Bionic Beaver' aka Ubuntu 18
View attachment 67961

ok. you had said you hadn't seen any rentals in ages, i was listing the many rentals that exist. wasn't really implying it was impossible, just very common. most people don't do what you're doing.

even in gaming, they're starting to discuss keeping the hardware and offering cloud gaming, where you don't even need a console or pc anymore. pay a subscription, stream any game you want.

 

[sinnikal]

I confess I'm pretty old and was able to buy a house at a youngish age. Mind you, the mortgage interest rate I was paying in 1982 was an eye-watering 15%.
Being able to pay off that mortgage early - and the peculiarities of the UK property market has enabled me to coast for the rest of my life.
My kid has just been able to get a mortgage - in his mid 40's! - due to a small inheritance. I feel really bad for younger generations.

 

[Dabop]

ok. you had said you hadn't seen any rentals in ages, i was listing the many rentals that exist. wasn't really implying it was impossible, just very common. most people don't do what you're doing.

even in gaming, they're starting to discuss keeping the hardware and offering cloud gaming, where you don't even need a console or pc anymore. pay a subscription, stream any game you want.

I haven't seen any rentals (movie rental shops) in a couple of decades, but even online, I don't have (nor feel the need) to pay for a subscription when there are so many free (and legal) alternatives

thats the first page of free links in my Firefox- theres half a dozen more lol- thats more tv than I can watch in the rest of my life.....

 

[dirtywick]

I haven't seen any rentals (movie rental shops) in a couple of decades, but even online, I don't have (nor feel the need) to pay for a subscription when there are so many free (and legal) alternatives
View attachment 67962
thats the first page of free links in my Firefox- theres half a dozen more lol- thats more tv than I can watch in the rest of my life.....

i mean, that's fine you don't feel the need to do so. but certainly you've heard of amazon or any of the streaming giants that all offer rental and subscription movies, or offer licenses and streaming/cloud storage? they've moved from shops to online. same with books, very popular to rent books.

 

[Steve]

One advantage of being old - mortgages and other debts are long since paid. And our daughter - mid 20's and lives downstairs - will inherit our house when we no longer need it so she will likely never have to pay a mortgage. She has a decent car free and clear - paid cash - that will last her a while and give her the chance to have cash on hand when she needs to replace it. Her healthcare, in this socialist country, is mostly taken care of for life, or until Trump sends the troops in.

She does of course pay cell phone, streaming entertainment etc, but her future debts and costs, apart from taxes, utilities and the like, will hopefully be minimal. So she will not "benefit" from the economic shift described in the op as much as avoid it.

 

[Frank Newgent]

I haven't seen any rentals (movie rental shops) in a couple of decades, but even online, I don't have (nor feel the need) to pay for a subscription when there are so many free (and legal) alternatives
View attachment 67962
thats the first page of free links in my Firefox- theres half a dozen more lol- thats more tv than I can watch in the rest of my life.....

Am quite happy myself not owning/having/ever watching a TV.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Anyone else noticed that the direction of the economy is for the vast majority to pay rent to a tiny minority for access to a home, personal transport, entertainment, technology and healthcare?

Healthcare? Fortunately taken care of here in socialist Norway. But the other things? I do see car share services become more common, and I view that as a good thing, but I don't really see private car ownership going away any time soon. Technology? Yeah, there's a worrying trend towards subscription services and ads that I hope gets reversed. Power tools and such? A lot of us could probably borrow/rent those more than we're doing today.

I do view the whole 'you will own nothing and be happy' thing as pretty much a CT, though. Private ownership is not going anywhere.

 

[Dabop]

i mean, that's fine you don't feel the need to do so. but certainly you've heard of amazon or any of the streaming giants that all offer rental and subscription movies, or offer licenses and streaming/cloud storage? they've moved from shops to online. same with books, very popular to rent books.

Of course I am well aware of them, but simply don't find them 'needed' lol

Same with books- as an avid reader (I used to have over ten THOUSAND books in my lounge room- 7m of bookcases stacked to the ceiling lol) I have a large audiobook and ebook library- I even have a Amazon kindle library- although since they stopped allowing downloads, I simply refuse to give them any more money- if I am buying a ebook, I want a local copy- none of this cloud BS (already they have culled close to a grands worth of books from my Amazon library- luckily they were bought before the d/l ban was put in place, but it means I most certainly will NOT be using them again in the future.... ever- once trust is gone with me, it takes a HELL of a lot to regain it....)

I also have a Queensland state library card, that allows me to borrow books (including ebooks) for free from any Qld public library...

 

[Dabop]

Am quite happy myself not owning/having/ever watching a TV.

My TV hasnt been 'on air' for most of its life (and I bought it back just after 2000!!!) I mostly use it as a 'big screen monitor' on the laptop via its VGA or HDMI ports...

 

[8enotto]

Not everyone needs to have every tool in the shed.
I do lawn care and home handyman duties. I am prepared for that. My friends who need services don't have these tools and won't buy them.

I hire out IT services because it's not my skill set to keep up on the latest Win or Andy version. I don't want to know how to set up a video card that the software needs patches and tweaks.
I want it plug and play, installed by someone who does that as a living. Just as I will do my skills for you.


A generation is coming that will have a large portion of it only owning their clothes and personal devices. The furniture, apartments and travel are all rented or hired out. They may never drive a car or mow a lawn. A wallet full of cards does all the heavy lifting.

They may be helpless when a plumbing failure strikes them. No idea of the system, no tools and less interest to learn. But they can do something else few others can do.

That's fine. That's how society works. Specialists are available to work on every system to keep it going for all of us.