a profound amount of my headspace is spent making sure i am generating the most equity i can out of my salary (or, put another way, avoiding forking over money to tricky assholes), because if i just relaxed, took fun vacations regularly, and didn't give a fuck about my money, it wouldn't be long before i was fucked.... and that's assuming i am not going to be blindsided with some Exceptionally American catastrophe, like a serious disease and being too sick to advocate for myself with my insurance company, getting hit by an uninsured motorist while walking, or getting sprayed with gunfire by the local police extrajudicially executing someone in the streets for minor property crime.

i know people who make three times what i make and have insane amounts of credit card debt (getting nailed for like 20% APR), because they aren't laser-focused on minding their money. because the way everything is set up here is to distract and catch people unaware so they, the "clever entrepreneur" can take a bite out of their ass while they walk by. the united states is just a giant used car dealership.