I had an interesting lunch with the head of an advertising agency here in Vietnam last week.  The conversation jumped around from the ad market here, to our respective backgrounds to the issues that are plaguing America and why we have chosen to live in Vietnam.  Certainly, we laid much of the blame at America’s rampant consumerism and that everything bigger is by default better.  I myself used to believe that (and do not be surprised if I somehow fall into that trap again sometime).

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Americans were taught that not only COULD they live above their means, the SHOULD live above their means.

Now, we are being taught that living below your means is a good thing.  Which in many ways, it is.  You spend what you can afford, and save money for the occasional rainy day or disaster.  This certainly is understandable.

However, if you save too much money, or save every little penny, then consumption nationwide goes down, and the economy stagnates.  This is the problem that has been plaguing Japan for the last couple decades, and led to the rise of the Freeter.

Freeter (フリーター furītā?) (other spellings below) is a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so-called parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications makes it difficult to start a career at a later point in life.

My friend said simply “Living below your means is just sad.  It’s pathetic. Money is there to make you happy.  Why put yourself through the stress of working if you never spend what you have earned.”

And after that, I went and bought myself a painting to enjoy.  :)