Weird Context: it’s getting clear to me everyday how the American mind cannot think without involving Capitalism in their ideas.
I hear that even American parents are asking their teenage children for rent. Which is kind of weird to me considering how most cultures that I know of encourage kindness and social support. I might be biased here as I am not American and don’t have a deep experience with Americans beyond online interactions and news and articles about them.
The rent thing isn’t super common (but it has been around for forever here). My mom had to start paying rent at 16, and in her wonderful mercy she waited till the younger siblings were in their 20s to do the same. Nobody else I knew really had rent as a thought prior to graduating college, and my dad to the best of my knowledge never paid his parents rent.
I can’t really argue the overall point though. We are set up to see everything as a binary of either “I can screw them over because I have x item/power” or “they can (and should) screw me over because they have x.” It’s painful to watch the cruelty of the supposed “Christian” country here is it implodes around us.
Prefix: American
Have worked with teams remotely over the world. When comparing the working styles of the different teams the best description I could give is “we’re the result of bloodthirsty capitalism”.
I would also say that the rent thing isn’t really trying to extort money from your child. It’s more about teaching them about finances and budgeting.
parents asking their teenage children for for rent
German here. I enjoy bashing US Americans as much as the next one, but paying rent to your parents is something I had to do after finishing school with 19 (did a social year first and then went to uni and had to share my Bafög). And a lot of people I knew back then, had the same situation at home. At least for families with low income this seemed to be not out of the ordinary.
For what it’s worth, Americans absolutely adore talking shit about Germans.
You know why
Edit: and I definitely never had to pay rent to my parents. WTF.
Ugh? Americans worship Germans to an embarrassing level.
That sounds like an interesting alternate reality. Care to share more?
a tiny % of Americans are neo-nazis.
Oof, I wish it was tiny. At this point in history, probably around 15%. Maybe more
But that isn’t “tiny”. That’s terrifying.
to your parents is something I had to do after finishing school with 19
When they get old and ask you to wipe their arses, ensure you ask them to pay you.
It’s a bit of a cultural thing in some ways. A bit of a privilege/necessity thing as well.
I would find it unimaginable to pay my parents rent, charge them rent or charge my kids rent. We’ve never struggled to survive financially. My parents never even held me to doing chores, etc. I can see the logic of everyone living together contributing to the household(through money or chores or whatever). But my area of upbringing and family always treated childhood as immensely protected and solely for learning and playing(same for my peers, no matter how well off or poor they were). The lesson was always there to look after yourself…so as soon as I left home at 18, I had no problem with doing my own cooking, washing, scrubbing my toilet, budgeting/saving, etc.
It’s a money kind of thing.
I spend my elementary school holidays working on my father’s farm. When I moved to my mother I started to work for her instead. Doing chores and taking care of yourself was simply expected. No actual choice, since grown ups were out working, sleeping or taking care of the things you’re not old enough to do.
There is a point where people simply can’t afford it to not parentify their children. And the people you perceived as “poor” simply didn’t reach that point.
I don’t want to say my parents weren’t at fault but in that exact moment in their life they had no other choice, at least my mother, who also leaned way more on us.
“Shut up and take my money” is outdated
Now it is: “Shut up and let me take a loan right away”
Actually, this was a thing in the states for a bit by way of Oxygen Bars. Haven’t seen one in a couple years though.
I went to one way back when and it was pretty fun tbh. 0% chance there were actual benefits but having some flavored air was cool
