Luck

I often reflect on how lucky I have been. That sounds really obnoxious but it is true. I am lucky enough to be a straight white male in a culture that doesn't work against me, and I have a network of family and friends that have been able to help me when I needed it, but I have been just straight up lucky in some other ways, particularly in regards to looking for jobs.

In my life I have had eight jobs if you count Unplugged Games, I have attended a grand total of six job interviews along with a single phone interview, when I need one, a job has almost literally fallen into my lap with a minimum of rejection during the searching process. I am qualified sure, not arguing that, but let's be honest, there are many people just as qualified as I am that have rather a harder time finding work.

I've never had a problem finding a place to live, having family to live with or, again, easily finding a home to rent with again, a minimum of searching, if I get the place we applied for yesterday that streak will continue.

I am not saying all this to brag, but rather to put something in context: I have had every advantage, including luck, and I still live on the edge of poverty.

I don't own a house, and I likely never will unless I win the lottery or inherit, I am almost 33 and do not have kids of any sort, nor will I for at least a few more years, I will work until the day I die.
And to get to this place, to be in a situation where I and my family cling to independence and solvency, I have had to be incredibly lucky beyond reasonable expectation.

I realize that I have contributed to my own downfall, I spent a good deal of my early twenties being someone who was not particularly admirable in his work ethic, and of course I spent a good while destroying my financial future with my store, however I don't think this detracts from my point.

We live in a world where you can be incredibly lucky, have a support network, and have every advantage except one, and still be in a position where failure is an option literally every day.
That is because of the one advantage most of us don't have, and that is money. You know what is a cool song? "What it's like" by Everlast, recorded in 1998, it's still totally relevant for many reasons that aren't part of my post today, but there is a line that always strikes me and that is "You know where it ends yo usually depends on where you start."

That only gets truer every year, it's really easy for anyone who isn't wealthy to lose everything, and nearly impossible to move out of that situation, we need every advantage possible to merely stay alive and that often isn't enough.

There are too many of us, and more every year, this isn't sustainable and the consequences are fast approaching, I don't know what they will be like, but I suspect the recession is going to be looked back on fondly when it happents.