> Add in the expenses of a family, which have risen dramatically the last few years, and it's easy to find examples of people who are starting to get stretched paycheck to paycheck
If you maxed out your lifestyle relative to your income then yes, that is the case. It will always be, no matter how much you make.
It's also the case for the guy stocking the shelves at your local Walmart if he maxes out his lifestyle. But if you compare both in absolute terms, there are huge differences.
Which lifestyle you have is your choice. How big of a house, what car, where to eat, hobbies, clothes, how many kids, etc. If you max that out, fine, enjoy it. But own that it was your choice and comes with consequences, i.e., if expenses rise more than income, then suddenly your personal economy is stretched. And that's on you.
It's possible to feel empathy and at the same time pointing out the consequences of somebody's choices.
If my kid places his hands on a hot stovetop then I feel a lot of empathy and will obviously comfort him. But I won't run around claiming to the world that external forces made him do it. It was his choice. If it was his first time and/or nobody told him that it's a bad idea then there is limited responsibility, but otherwise it's squarely on him. Despite me feeling and expressing empathy.
I wonder if you can use your empathetic powers to imagine that layoffs might negatively affect some well paid engineers who are NOT fiscally irresponsible victims of lifestyle inflation
If you maxed out your lifestyle relative to your income then yes, that is the case. It will always be, no matter how much you make.
It's also the case for the guy stocking the shelves at your local Walmart if he maxes out his lifestyle. But if you compare both in absolute terms, there are huge differences.
Which lifestyle you have is your choice. How big of a house, what car, where to eat, hobbies, clothes, how many kids, etc. If you max that out, fine, enjoy it. But own that it was your choice and comes with consequences, i.e., if expenses rise more than income, then suddenly your personal economy is stretched. And that's on you.