Not to discount the very real problem of the eroding middle class -but spending/saving habits in America are real problems. Half of Americans are saving nothing [1]. 27% of households than make over $100k/yr say the can't afford everything they need [2]. Average house size in the US has about doubled since the 60s [3].

[1] http://time.com/98152/americas-savings-city/ [2] http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schor-overspent.html [3] http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/02/todays-new-homes-are-1000-s...

I'd agree that your point is also true, and is related to mine: debt and credit are one of the strongest ropes that are being used to bind people into this system, and not carrying around debt helps a lot in being free.

Saving for saving's sake is not enough--I think it helps to divide it into "investing money so that it can 'grow' into more money" and "having enough cash in reserve to provide accounting liquidity in an emergency".

Simply hoarding gems in a mattress, for example, would not be winning strategy.

Why save? It's actually a provably bad idea to save money when the rich/government are actively undermining your savings and livelihood. Better to enjoy your money or try to actually invest it (note, not the same as saving).

> It's actually a provably bad idea to save money when the rich/government are actively undermining your savings and livelihood.

This is like arguing that it's pointless to breathe because we'll all end up dead anyway. Even in the face of governmental mischief and deliberate inflation, saving or investing money may still represent the best of competing choices.

I emphasize I'm not talking about a bank savings account -- that's really a losing proposition.

When people say save, they also mean your brokerage accounts full of index funds.