I love being a Millennial. Being a Millennial is great. Being a Millennial doesn't make me yearn for death. 2000$ to exist is a steal
I love being a Millennial. Being a Millennial is great. Being a Millennial doesn't make me yearn for death. 2000$ to exist is a steal
So, take the above with a grain of salt because it is, after all, green text. The numbers may be bullshit. The entire thing may be bullshit. Who knows.
But that said. $2000 monthly is more than my mortgage, utilities, insurance, internet, cell phone, and fuel expenditures combined in the same span of time. That is insane. (With what I overpay towards the principal on my mortgage puts me above that, but I wouldn't technically have to. I'd just like to actually own my house some time this century, or at least before I'm dead.)
Why anyone would deliberately choose to live that way is beyond me. There isn't anything special about my situation; I live in the here and now, at precisely the same date and time as this dude, in the same country, in a major metropolitan area. I'm not an executive, CEO, or landlord. I work in the durable goods industry, for fuck's sake.
Image Transcription:
A photo of a young man sitting at the top of a set of wooden steps attached to a bunk bed. Between the two beds is a chalkboard with "1", an arrow pointing up, and "Zach" written on the left side and "Mike", an arrow pointing down, and "2" written on the right side. Under the bed is a gap with a pair of shoes and a couple of hard plastic travel bags. Tucked between the stairs on the left side of the bunk bed and the cement wall is a bicycle. A pot plant is barely in frame, and the floor appears to be bare cement, the doors and wall a temporary wood and clear plastic.
Underneath the image is a 4chan post reading:
'Steven T. Johnson, 27, works in social media advertising and lives in Hollywood. He spends most of his days using things he does not own.
'He takes a ride-share service to get to the gym; he does not own a car. At the gym, he rents a locker. He uses the gym's laundry service because he does not own a washing machine. Johnson doesn't even have an apartment, actually. He rents a bed in a large room with other people who rent beds, for nights, weeks or months at a time. All the residents share a kitchen and bathrooms. Johnson also rents a desk at WeWork, a coworking space. And he says the only clothes he owns are two versions of the same outfit.
'Johnson says he owns so little that he has even been able to get rid of his backpack. "I gave that up two months ago," he says. He says that for him, this lifestyle isn't cumbersome or confusing. "That's what's great," he says. "When you don't own thing, you don't have to keep track of them. You just show up." He pays $1,400 a month to rent a bunk and an additional $600 a month to rent a desk to work at.'
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Sounds like homelesness but taxed and with extra steps.
Paying $2000 a month to be homeless lmao
Only 2k to be a child again? Sweet
You'll own nothing, and be happy!... sounds like the WEF has control over 4Chan now
Permanently Deleted
He could probably own a car if he stopped using the ride share. He's probably spending close to $600 a month for the rideshare service unless he's splitting the cost with others. Average rental in Hollywood is (and this is the highest, which is twice what I found elsewhere) $5k a month. I'd rather split rent with some roommates and have a place of my own. Work from home instead of renting a desk. That's $2k alone to put toward rent. Two or three roommates and you could actually save money.
His lifestyle is a lifestyle driven choice, not a cost driven choice. He's paying extra for that lifestyle. Forget food costs since he can't very well prepare much food without owning storage space, so it's eating out all the time for him.
Look at it this way.... if renting was somehow better for you as a consumer, then what would be the motive for a company to rent you a desk, rent you a bed, rent you a car. For short term things, sure. But financially it isn't better for you to rent forever.
In 30 years you'll still be spending that money on a bed each and every month, or you could have paid for a house and now be living rent and mortgage free.
The pod space things are criminally overpriced and sometimes dangerous. There was this video of someone showing "futuristic" pods made of cheap plastic and electronic-only doors.
If a fire breaks out in these spaces, people will die. I don't understand why a fire marshal would even allow these places that are filled with dozens of people and no emergency exits.
A trailer park or a tiny home sounds like a penthouse suite compared to these places. But they will build these and charge this much because people are that dumb. I get that LA housing costs are extreme, but surely there are many things you can try to do before this.
He owns his own business and is doing this by choice. They don't go into numbers, but the fact that the article is titled "The Affluent Homeless" makes me think he's not struggling. The guy is atypical, but the people saying he's a socialist or he's being crushed by capitalism are reading their own politics into this.
WTF, I pay about that much per month for a whole-ass house and utilities?
Lives in Hollywood
Well there's your problem
This is more austere than when I lived in college dorms. 2 sets of clothes? That means this dude is washing them daily. It's also a lie unless he's working out in his street clothes. It also means 100% remote work, which is nice. But not having a nice shirt/dress means interviewing might be a problem.
Not even the most ideal state of communism advocated for shit like this. You still had personal possessions.
I can get behind a sparse life (although not for me lol), I get it... but not paying 2 fucking grand a month for the privilege. Christ.
This young man should be an inspiration to the rest of you, an ideal tenant and employee that gives every penny he earns back to the economy. The world would be better off with a few more Steven T Johnson's and a few less Greta Thumburgs.
Nobody forces anyone to live in the big City.
Based, the planet won't save itself! Such and efficient way of living!