Happiness is impossible if you're a broke, good for nothing loser.

Not exactly a revelatory statement, but even so, it's about as agonizing and bitter a truth as they come. I should know of course, given the fact that I've been living it for the past 3+ decades. To not have built something for yourself, monetarily speaking, in a world such as this, is akin to not having any value whatsoever as a person. It means being trapped in poverty, and never knowing the taste of real freedom. It means being denied a sense of pride in anything. It means being ashamed of everything you failed to be. It means having no hope whatsoever of a decent future. Perhaps worst of all though, it means being in a position of having nothing to offer anyone; not even yourself.

And yes, I suppose there's a segment of adventurous beatniks and bums who manage to slink on by with some measure of satisfaction in living a life of constant financial destitution, but the crushing reality for the rest of us is one of stress, suffering, and all around shittiness. Also, spare me the bootstrap garbage, and all such similar painfully out of touch, Boomer-tier talking points. The fact that I'm even still breathing at this point takes all that I have out of me. One wonders why I still bother. In either case, I suppose that won't stop people from blindly believing that you can just grind your way out of everything/anything.