<p>Consumerism is good or bad depending on where you came from… Since Turbo Sr. was a military officer, we did not exactly float in Euros (or whatever). So, after Euro-pinching for decades, there comes a ‘the heck with it’ moment not unlike the Japanese who run their heaters at 80F to compensate for cold winters after WW2 (or so I have been told).</p>
<p>In the other hand, you have Mrs. Tiger Turbo who is accustomed to Imelda Marcos like luxuries in her birth country. Talk about entitlements galore :-). Thankfully, we’ve become very good at enjoying the finer things in life (a) in moderation and (b) after some serious ‘optimization’ (read, bargain hunting). </p>
<p>We do not feel we are ‘entitled’ to anything (initially) but after surviving many bouts of corporate layoffs, a combined 28 years in college, late nights learning about LTIB or Informatica instead of watching a movie, the entitlement attitude comes naturally. </p>
<p>Growing up well-to-do my kids always wondered why we had to limit expensive clothing, or why we rarely (3-4 times a year) eat out, or why we don’t spend lavishly on vacations like other families do. It’s not easy to explain to a 12 year old such things in a manner that they will comprehend. It’s easy to explain it if you don’t have money, but explaining the concept of frugality to your kids when you’re making $200k a year is a bit difficult.</p>
<p>The mistake of the current generation is not the entitlements per se. It is the fact that they do not understand how their parents got where they are, and further, that they do not understand the process is not repeatable. The economic realities change and if the McMansion and the fine European sports wagon is all the kids see, then we’re toast. </p>
<p>As a non-native born Hyphenated American I find the eternal optimism of America refreshing and unnerving at the same time. Most immigrants are usually more pessimistic (paranoid is more like it :-)) so we are not as likely to feel entitled to stuff - many of us saw things go bad in a hurry an ocean or two away… Whether by recession, by earthquake, or by revolution :-), things go bad…</p>