My wife and I were discussing the family of our daughter's friend, who she visited today for her friend's seventh birthday. After the small party, my wife picked Smallsteps up and asked how it was and if it all went well. It was a bit of a surprise for Smallsteps that there were only three friends plus the birthday girl, the little sister and the father. She also made a passing comment that the home was quite small, so while the four girls ate ice cream and candy at the table, the little sister and father ate theirs in the loungeroom.
Memory is a funny thing.
We have lived in this house since Smallsteps was three and a half, which means that this is all she has known for half her life so far. And, it is the half where there is a memory still intact. Whilst she does remember that we lived in an apartment earlier, she doesn't really have a good understanding of the size of that place, as even if she did remember the layout, it would have seem much larger, as she was much smaller. That place was likely about the same size as her friend's place.
After the party, Smallsteps went to the park with one of the friends and my wife was talking to the mother, who was saying that her husband's company is going through labor negotiations and he will likely be laid off throughout Christmas, but won't lose his job. He is quite happy with the situation, because he wanted some time off anyway.
At least from the outside looking in, there is quite a different daily life experience between the family of friend one and that of friend too. From the little we know of the first, they are financially struggling a bit, and the father is doing the best he can with the kids, which he seems to have custody of, which is strange in Finland, as it is nearly always the mother, unless there are some other issues preventing it. The second family is more traditional in the sense that they are comfortably employed, stable, and have family they can rely on.
Finland in general has a relatively low range of economic disparity compared to most other countries, but the gaps are rapidly growing. There are numerous reasons for this, but at least some part of it is because of people like me; foreigners without family, network, wealth, and limited employment opportunity. It takes decades in many instances to get going, and even then, it is a constant struggle. For example, if I were to lose my job, it would be very hard to get something similar in the same salary range as I do now, because there is still a fair amount of disparity in opportunity for foreigners.
But, we all have to eat.
Which is why I take my work seriously, and attempt to flesh it out to try and mitigate risks, as I know that eventually, my luck will run out and I will be back near square one again. This doesn't happen in the same way for locals, as they have an inbuilt cultural safety net that protects them and, they have greater chance at getting reemployed, because they naturally have the homecourt advantage.
My wife doesn't really understand this, because she hasn't experienced it directly and tends to think that "in this day and age" conditions have changed. They have changed yes, but they haven't equalized, there is still discrimination and there are still plenty of disparities in opportunity, especially when times are tough, as they are now. Businesses are more careful with their hiring practices and part of that tends to be due to national conservatism, especially in places that have been popularizing national identity, which is many.
She also doesn't understand why I work so hard, because in her view, if I do lose my job, I will just "go get another". But, I earn more than her, but would be unlikely be able to get similar elsewhere, which means that it would be a significant hit for our combined income, once I did find a job. This would severely impact on our ability to stay in this house.
Which is why I work so hard.
It isn't about the house itself, it is just a building. However, I believe that a large part of the wellbeing of my daughter is going to come down to the opportunity I will be able to provide for her now and into the future. Right now, I have the ability to trade my skills and experience for money, but who knows how long that will be possible for, especially as more and more jobs will be replaced by automation. If I have to compete, I will be competing against locals who have a network, speak the language, in conditions where there will be high demand for very few available positions.
So, I assume that I won't be able to work in a decent-earning position until my retirement, even if I wanted to. Instead, I am going to have to find ways to provide for my family, even if I am unable to have a job. Obviously, many people are doing the same also, which means that there will be competition for gig work as well. The only way to really ensure that there is some kind of economic stability, is by being an owner of something that can provide employment such as an entrepreneurial business. Or attracts value more passively, like an investment portfolio.
The hustler eventually loses.
The house always wins.
Some people are hustling well, grinding away and earning a living. However, if they aren't earning enough, or are spending poorly, so they aren't converting what they earn into ownership of some kind, eventually, they are going to find themselves in a position where the hand is no longer able to earn enough to feed the mouth.
While we get distracted by numerous events throughout our lives, the fact of the economy is that in order to compete indefinitely, it comes down to owning the house. Hustling and grinding is likely required to build the portfolio, but eventually it becomes like Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, - unemployable. And at that point, if the house isn't owned, what then?
While I have an okay life, I haven't experienced a life where I don't have to think about money availability often, like a lot of people in this world. I don't think that is going to change for most of us in my lifetime, unless the economy fundamentally changes course in the near future. But at an individual level, we can potentially affect our outcomes, but it is going to take more than a 9-5 job for most of us to do so.
One of the opportunities is that most people aren't willing to trade their free time to compete outside of the workplace, because they feel secure enough that they will always have the opportunity to work in front of them. It is only when people are suffering enough that they will do what they weren't willing to do earlier, but by then, they might have already lost their chance.
I don't know what the future will hold, but I am hedging my bets that ownership is going to be more valuable than reliance on handouts. And, I am going to assume that my own health is going to be better when I am working, than when I am not. I could be very wrong.
What I do know is that as a parent, it scares me that I will not be able to do well enough for my daughter and to fail to provide what she needs, when she needs it. It scares me a lot. A couple years ago when I almost died, it was another kick to remind me of my responsibilities. If it was just me, I might not care about any of this. But it isn't.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]