Even taking that at face value, am I meant to take it as representative of the majority of families, or proof that it's impossible to prepare for adversity?
yes you fucking tool. Life is messy. Not only does it progress haphazrdly through the decades there are multiple people in our lives, any of which can and will have a problem they didn't plan on.
Oh, do tell. It's not like I've been living it for 46 years. Some people can face adversity without parading it for sympathy.
Unfortunately, yes. And the way American society is structured, it's a feature, not a bug. What you want is an ideal (maybe not mine, but I see the appeal). What we have, your ideal isn't achievable without fixing things that those who benefit from the status quo vehemently fight against, and get others to go against their self interest to defend.
How much adversity? I'm prepared for a flat tire, because there's always enough in my checking account -- or enough room on my credit card -- for that kind of expense. I'm prepared for car repairs, because I have a low insurance deductible in case of accidents and my car is new enough that damn near anything else would be covered by the dealer. I'm prepared for my furnace or refrigerator to die, because I have enough money in my savings account to replace them, and if for some reason the expense was larger than I expected, I have good enough credit to finance it. I'm prepared for an unexpected job loss, because I can always pivot to doing Uber full time, and I have enough equity in my house that moving would be feasible if I had to. (That's assuming that my job loss was an isolated thing, not due to another pandemic or to the kind of economic collapse that @Bill Carson is so fervently rooting for.) But am I prepared for a catastrophic illness? Probably not. And I'm lucky: I have good insurance and a job with generous PTO. Plenty of people don't have those things, particularly the latter. Am I prepared for the type of situation @Jenee described (which I assume you're aware of, and which one would think you'd be able to muster at least SOME level of empathy for and understanding of)? Definitely not. Incidentally: many of the ways in which I'm prepared stem from having money, and having money ALSO reduces the likelihood of those things happening. The pivot to Uber full-time is a realistic possibility because I own a car that meets their requirements. I'm fairly unlikely to have an unexpected flat tire because I can afford to keep good tires on the car and replace them before I'm running on tread. Major expenses resulting from an accident won't happen because I put up the money for a low-deductible policy up front. The central organizing principle of our economic system is "them as has, gits." Along with "if you start out down, this system is gonna do everything in its power to make sure you damn well STAY down." Oh, and also, a decent part of my security is enhanced by not having kids. I'm happy with that choice, but I also know full well that if everybody made it, our society would come to a pretty abrupt end.
Who said it's impossible to prepare for adversity? Most people do, to varying extents. Some get lucky rolls in life that mean it either isn't needed or works out, and others keep rolling snake eyes that overwhelm any possible preparation they could make. Everyone else lives somewhere between those two extremes.
So does this mean you have fixed UA's sexbot @Jenee ? I would ask what the problem was, but I have learned not to ask questions about things that would disgust me.
My 51 year old brother got taken to the hospital on Feb. 10th due to massive backpain, turned out it was a very aggressive form of cancer. He died March 6th, 3 weeks later... My brother was lucky enough to pick the right college and the right jobs to save and invest enough money so his wife and kids don't have to worry financially... But something like that can't be planned for if you don't have enough money, if your paycheck is not enough for the basic necessities, like rent and food... I'm still just a temp but my minimum wage here in the Netherlands still leaves me enough money at the end of the month to save and spend a little on something fun like a hobby...