enlightenedjew,
You are missing my point. I know many people, who to no fault of their own are not making even 100k especially since alot people who I know who are overqualified (due to layoffs etc) and are barely making ends meet.As a matter of fact, an administrator of a famous yeshiva told a kollel parent “At least you are not a computer programmer…” regarding tuition. And the kollel fellow told me that he felt compelled to blast the administrator “who says that a programmer has it any easier paying tuition”.
My point is that we need:
1)to educate people that working people are not necessarily rich
2)we need to take a good look at ourselves and evaluate what we are good for(kollel,work,rebbi)and if our spouses are in-tune wo what we are doing (decided before the chasunah)to do the best possible job that we can at what we are doing.
3)Try to create opportunities for people to get decent salaries. And yes, making 50k is bad but if you work hard at a job that has potential, people notice and with Hashem’s help you canmove up.
4)As a community we need to solve the tuition issue. Vouchers,”death tax”,living communal tax would be some of the issues. Also, if Chasidishe yeshivas don’t require large tuition bills, we have to look at their model and decide why we are paying 15k.
5)Out of town prices are cheaper but job opportunities are scarcer in Jewish community(ask around you will see)
6)We need people to create cheaper halls and convince rich people to make cheaper simchas to drive down the expected costs of a simcha.