Hi Michael,
Welcome to the forums. I wish you luck with your article, not sure how much it applies to this community though.
Part of living a mustachian life is to realize that the consumer driven "perfect middle class life" scripts we have been sold might not apply to us. You mention the inability to save for retirement because of legitimate expenses, houses, cars, college education. The reason many on the forums are well on their way to not only retiring, but retiring early, is because they can step back, examine those big life purchases and weigh them against the freedom of being able to retire early, or how it fits into the life they really want to lead.
Many people have the things they "need" a big house, prestigious education, shiny leased car - our community looks at those things and asks "do we need them to have a fulfilled life?"and "Are we willing to sacrifice time with those we love and be tied to our work to buy these things?"
Many times it simply comes down to numbers, are we willing for work for additional time (often years) so we can afford these expenses? Usually the answer is no, we buy less, consume less and live with more freedom.