Only Trade-Offs

There’s a saying in economics: “There are no solutions; only trade-offs.”

Young people in America are fond of saying that it’s hard (or even impossible) to reasonably own a home with the salary you can reasonably expect. They’re wrong statistically, but obviously some of them (the ones who are complaining, typically) are at the side of the Bell curve that has the lowest buying power among that demographic, so they may be right in their specific instance. But then someone will point out: “Hey, if you move to like a Midwestern state and get a physically demanding but readily available job, you can buy a 3/2 for like seventy grand and have it made.”

Do these people leap for joy, thanking that person for changing their life with this new info? Hahahaha. No, they find some reason why that seemingly great deal is actually terrible – usually some variation on the theme of “I want the lifestyle, culture, and amenities of the major city in which I currently live.” But that costs money! Lots of people want that, hence why it’s more expensive to live in a major metropolitan area.

Trade-offs! You can have anything, but not everything.

The real point is that you’re almost always choosing your circumstances, however much you don’t want to believe you are. If you feel poverty-stricken in San Francisco, just remember that you would feel downright rich in Iowa, but you don’t want to live there. It’s okay to prefer to live in The Bay! But that’s what you’re doing – what you prefer.