Whether it's because of inflation (which is WAY above 8.5/9%), the bad economy, the fact it feels impossible to get ahead, the near impossibility of buying a home these days, the improbability of being able to save for a comfortable retirement, insane energy prices forcing us to decide between paying the electric bill or buying food, lack of upward mobility at work, political disillusionment, social disillusionment, climate change, or any of the many other reasons the world kinda sucks right now……..does anyone else just feel like it's not worth it to put in any extra effort? There's no reward for it and what do we have to look forward to anyways? A live of slaving away for a retirement we can't save for just to pay higher and higher rent so we can never afford a house?
Our boomer parents had it good. The middle class could live a comfortable life on a single salary. Look at the Simpsons. When it came out in 1990, Homer supported a stay at home wife and a family of 6 (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and Grandpa) on ONE SALARY. Not to mention owned a huge house that fit 3 kids with their own bedrooms and NO ONE BAT AN EYE. That was totally normal and made sense.
Today, that's not just unrealistic but laughable, and it's only been 30 years. As George Carlin said in 2011, “It's called the American Dream—because you have to be asleep to believe it.” And it's gotten a whole lot worse since then.
I've recently started a new job which would normally be a near dream job, but I'm having trouble finding the energy to put into it. Just endless amounts of work for not a whole lot of reward (same salary I made in 2014) and honestly, I'm so disillusioned by the world right now I don't see the point. What is there to look forward to? More strife and conflict? Yay. So excited about that. Just can't find the willpower right now.