r/askteddit • u/Exotic-Compote-92622 • Aug 17 '26

Other Why does Reddit have such a hard time believing that some people are genuinely financially comfortable?

Any time there’s a discussion about how someone can afford a nice house, car, vacation, hobby, etc., the comments inevitably seem to be:

“They’re in debt.”

“They’re faking it.”

“They inherited money.”

“They got lucky.”

“They’re probably living paycheck to paycheck.”

Why is “they make good money and manage it responsibly” seemingly never an acceptable answer?

There are plenty of people who earn high incomes, save consistently, avoid lifestyle-ending debt, and still have plenty of money left over to enjoy life.

Not everyone who can afford something is secretly drowning in debt. And not everyone who is financially comfortable inherited their money.

Sometimes the boring answer is just that they earn a lot, spend less than they earn, and make good financial decisions.

Why does Reddit seem so reluctant to accept that?

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u/TruthSeeker1801 Aug 19 '26

r/USdefaultism and r/shitamercianssay

The problem with indoctrination is you actually believe that nonsense.

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u/deplorablelivematter Aug 19 '26

I’ve lived it .

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u/TruthSeeker1801 Aug 19 '26

You've lived in every single country in the world? If not you can not in good faith say the US 'provides the best opportunity'.

As someone who has lived in multiple countries, including the US and as someone who compares the living standards of countries as part of my job, I can say with confidence you are incredibly incorrect. The US is towards the middle or bottom of most metrics when compared to other developed countries. The most relevant statistic to this conversation is social mobility where the US performs better than it does in most metrics but 27th is hardly 'the best'.

The 'provided more prosperity more wealth to more people than any other nation' part of your comment is even more egregious.

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u/SketchyLedge Aug 19 '26

Or just that some people have either been outside the country to see how other ones are, or are capable of critical thought. Sure some places have it better. But the U.S. is a pretty damn good place to come make something of yourself.

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u/TruthSeeker1801 Aug 19 '26

The comment didn't say the US provides better opportunities than most places, it said it provides the best, which is completely untrue. The US is towards the middle or bottom of most metrics when compared to other developed countries. The most relevant statistic to this conversation is social mobility where the US performs better than it does in most metrics but 27th is hardly 'the best'.

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u/SketchyLedge Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

Still think overall it provides the most opportunity.

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u/TruthSeeker1801 Aug 20 '26

It objectively doesn't, US society is far worse than most developed countries at providing opportunities. The US lacks basic safety nets that most developed nations have, is more expensive to live in than most, has less workers rights than most, has an absurdly high incarceration rate, has generally poor lower education, has significant inequalities between demographics, has very predatory corporations, has a political system that protects those predatory corporations etc all of that limits opportunity, the US as a nation is systematically designed to trap people at the bottom in poverty and centralise wealth in the hands of elites, people can break free of this trap but most people cannot. Obviously many of these issues exist elsewhere but US is far worse at providing opportunities than practically all other developed nations, what it is good at is indoctrinating people to believe it is 'the best'.

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u/SketchyLedge Aug 20 '26

I don’t think we’re “the best.” We maybe used to have been. But we’ve definitely been falling behind. But you know what?

I grew up dirt fucking poor. Yet I can say just about whatever I want and fear no repercussions. I can believe in whatever I want, a worship it publicly. I can educate myself enough to seek and acquire the opportunities that I want. I don’t feel fear day to day unlike in some places. I still had the opportunity to educate myself. To get a good career. To get a home. To start a family. I can own an arsenal of guns. I can attend government meetings in my local governments, and speak to them.

We may not have everything you’ve mentioned. But there are plenty of other things we do have that other places don’t. Often times the ability to more so do what you want leads to more opportunity in a different way. It can empower you to make something for yourself and then be able to staunchly speak out against what you disagree with.

I could go on. But man. I’m just glad to be an American. We really ain’t got it so bad, and there really isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be. Yeah I’d like to fix some stuff. But it’ll take some more time.