The coolness of being Un-debt.
If people paid attention to the truth - that there is no more real middle-class - and that it has been replaced by a growing debtor-class - the whole issue of 'looking down' on others becomes somewhat of a fool's game. Now speaking for myself - I haven't two pennies to rub together, don't own a house, have no healthcare (I'm American), have no college or car loans to service - Christ - I don't even have a television anymore..
What I DO have is *solvency* - NO debt.
Imagine how fun it is for me to look at the others around me who dare 'look down' at me from the bottom of the holes they've dug themselves into.
I just smile, and walk on..
THAT alone, is the one thing that kids today (who are naturally cynical and rebellious - esp., to the things their parents cling to..) pick up on faster than most adults are comfortable to admit.
Can't tell you how many teenagers over the years I know that have become adults who now avoid credit (as I do) - all the kids need is someone who's cooler than their folks setting the correct example.
You just gotta be more avant-garde than the next guy, that's all.
Deb.