Registered User
No I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about the author who 'could not have children until they could buy a house', and was already complaining about how tough it was even before the debt has happened!
Quite clearly from your post your situation is very different from his. No where in my post did I make general statements about any generation as a whole, only specific comments about the specific whining of the articles author.
Registered User
I understand you were talking about the author but I think the thing is where does anything in his post suggest "top shelf lifestyle" - there isn't anything there that suggests anything but not wanting to live in a two bedroom dive - he didn't even say didn't want to live in a two bedroom just not in a dive. Other posts have mentioned "home theaters", people looking for perfect forever homes, big screen TV's, Ipads, Gen Y hipsters etc - it seems that whenever anyone mentions housing affordability being a problem and wanting to live in an inner suburb it is assumed that they are "wanting to have it all" - which is just simply not true.
Someone said what sort of a nation have we become if property has become the dream - (I don't believe property has become the dream for all - despite all those ridiculous adverts about "not living in someone else's dream") - but also what sort of a nation have we become where we are so ready to believe that our younger generations want to "just have it all" and are not prepared to make any sacrifices. What is it they say about young children "you call them naughty they will be naughty".
Registered User
I think my use and interpretation of top shelf is probably skewed by my experiences as has everyone who has read it (been skewed by their experiences)....and I can see how the use of that phrase has inadvertently hit a bit of a nerve. By top shelf I meant owning your own home (whatever size or standard or location) having a new car, buying new furniture instead of going without or getting cheaper options) - basically the things that the previous generation would work for most of their lives going through the sharing/renting/second hand etc lower shelves and then eventually progressing to the top shelf of 'owning new'. I wasn't even delving into the territory of luxury items or excess but I can see how it 'read' like that. I was saying the author seemed to be aiming for that which my parents have not yet reached at near retirement age - all before he is willing to have a child!
I think perhaps 'top rung' may have said it better, not necessarily the best of the best in $$$ terms, but the final rung of the ladder that you generally have to progress towards, not start at!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks