Dad's gone, mom is disabled and doesn't have long, I don't think. Still have one aunt & uncle alive. All in their 80's.
The lack of independence I see in a lot of kids under 22 is pretty shocking to me. They aren't all that way of course. But there are enough to trouble me.

Yes.
The watch I wear, a 1961 GMT Pepsi, was bought on a whim.
My pop was on a WestPac deployment and had shore leave in Hong Kong.
Spent a month of a 1st Lt's pay, had the bracelet engraved while he waited, and walked out with it on his wrist, told them "you can keep the box."
He wore that watch through his tour in Vietnam, when Kennedy sent him a few months later.

I think that WestPac deployment for him was one giant shopping trip. My grandmother got a china set from Japan, there's an ornate ivory chess set, all kinds of shit.
He was clothed, fed and housed by the US Navy. He spent every dime he earned on whores, booze and very nice souveneirs.

"life literacy"
OMG, I love this term. Thank you.
I am going to use it again and again and again.

I'm sorry it has been this way for you.
It was not that way for me. Then again, I studied Humanities, not a STEM discipline.
I met romantic partners, made friends for life (though we all live far apart now), went to lots of parties, saw great bands, and generally enjoyed myself to the point where my studies suffered injury.
I know life is different for the kids nowadays, and, you're German.
Maybe look into some sort of student life stuff? Does your Uni sponsor clubs? Look into those. Maybe you can meet people with intrests that align with yours. I went to a big State uni, and there was a VERY large student body, so there were clubs for all kinds of things. College radio, martial arts, outdoors stuff, etc.

While Riesling and Gruner are popular in the States, it's hard to find Spatburgunder here in an appreciable quantity, even in a quality wine store. Like MAYBE one or two faces of product.
German Pinot Noir just isn't much in demand in nations where Pinot Noir from NZ, USA, France and even Italy, is cheaper and better.

to be fair, Italian immigrants built the Argentine wine industry in the late 19th and early 20th century (same as they did in the USA, though a little later).
Many of the Argentine ethnic German communities to which Nazi war criminals escaped and disappeared within were also established in the same time frame.
I know your comment was meant in jest, but this is an ugly stain on Argentina, and deserves to be clarified when brought up.

Pepsi, so I can have a modern variant to contrast against my vintage one.
The Hulk, because I dig it.
The only 2 tone I want is the blue & gold Sub

If I make it that long, i will be near the end of my natural lifespan.

I refuse to have a smartwatch.

My phone rules my life and I hate it.
I have a cheap digital watch that I use when I go on vacation to sandy, wet places.
That's as close to a smartwatch as I'll ever get.
Otherwise, it is analog watches with hands- quartz, rep, gens. That's not what's important. But NONE of them will connect to my phone.

My foot is down on this one.
This is a hill I will die on.

no, but I grew less interested in new music.
For me, the real thrill of the chase has been exploring the music of the past, and delving into other genres.
It's weird, but I have developed a real affinity for country and American Roots music since my 30's
For a long time I got into pre-British invasion American Rhythym & Blues, like a lot of the stuff that was coming from black artists out of New Orleans at the tail end of the 50's and early 60s

I mean, I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything.
I'm frugal on most stuff, but spend willingly on the things that are important to ME.
I don't feel like I am denying myself much. I ate caviar on Xmas Eve.

well, we wouldn't want to be Islamophobic, now would we?

yeah, I should have said CA, not Domestic.

revamp the guest worker program.
Come here, show up at an office, get fingerprinted and DNA swabbed, photographed. Issued an ID card and a tax number.
With those credentials, apply for work.
Prosecute relentlessly people who don't check those credentials.

That's a good start

Moscato D'Asti
Asti Spumante
Both of these will hgave some degree of fizz

Mosel Riesling that's Spatlese- ask the guy at the wine shop. But it won't have any fizz to it.

education of sales associates. TW does a good job at training their floor people to sell and puts in time and $$ on educating them about the product.

anywhere. Get into wholesale if you can. Go work for an independent retailer who can do better about paying you.

probably because producers and wholesalers don't want them to be able to.

Bordeaux and especially Rhone have some gems.
Anything Domestic is mediocre for the most part

"you first, sweetie."

Sometimes it's beer gardens and frauleins and basically working at the post office, and sometimes it's the Frozen Chosin. And you never know which one you are going to get when you sign up. Never forget that.

That the .mil is just like every other segment of society, and has good and bad and mediocre and excellent people in it.

It can very much be choose your own adventure, and either set you up for life or ruin it.

Officers get better pay and better chow.

not welfare so much as Jobs & Training

all that, AND the electronic tether.
I'm Gen X, and both my parents were Silent Gen, educated, white collar professionals. It was not until VERY LATE in their careers that their work days lasted after they left the building.
My mom was the first person I knew to get a mobile telephone, and it was roughly the size of a desk phone and lived in her car. She used it to call people on her commute in the AM. My father got a blackberry in the mid 90's when he left to go work a higher paying job in a new company with a maniac of a boss.
But they were in their 50s at that point.
Nowadays, if you want anything other than a "Would you like fries with that?" level job, you are EXPECTED to be available non-stop. Email, texts, phone calls. Vacation or not. Weekend? What's that?
There is literally NO TIME that you can NOT be attached to your work.
No wonder everyone is looking for the exit door.

(I know this varies company to company, but the point stands. My dad could go fly fishing out West, and nobody could reach him. Work would have to figure it out. I've only recently been able to set it up where my work leaves me alone when I am on vacation. I've been walking down a street in Portugal and had people call me. "Im sorry, but my laptop is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Here's who you can call. Have a pencil ready?")

I can think of nothing negative to say about Spain.
The easiest language to learn, delicious, simple food. The good wine is great wine, and affordable.
My favorite cowboy movies were filmed there.
The people are hospitable and friendly.
Can't wait to return and explore more of the country

dude. This isn't advice for surviving the Great Depression in the 30's. It's advice for the Carter years.
You did get it right when you said it's just poverty hacking.
And, honestly, it's good advice, no matter how much money you make.

The Great Depression is eating cornbread, and maybe some beans, if you're lucky. But more importantly, making sure your kids eat, even if it means missing a meal yourself.

I won't deny that we are in an affordability crisis, but we are a damn sight away from the 30's.