Wealth Guilt
Way back in the wayback, around 1988-89, I hung out with a loose conglomerate of misfits, career college students, musicians, hangers-on and a former high school classmate at a community college.
Well, one fine day, not sure how the conversation came up, but I mentioned that my parents were going to Germany for a few weeks that upcoming summer. This one girl chimed in with a phrase that to this day still is akin to nails on a chalkboard to me. Now, she was depressed most of the time, so I hold nothing against her, just the phrase.
"Must be nice."
The tone pretty much said, "Look at Mister Big Bucks. Mommy and daddy going to Europe."
There is a growing epidemic of wealth guilt in this country. This used to be the place where anyone with the drive, ambition and a little bit of luck could make something of himself. Success was encouraged. Now, it's almost frowned upon. The so-called "rich" are evil, greedy money-grubbers who have too much and won't share with those who have less. How dare he be a successful CPA. What right does she have to be a surgeon? And what was he thinking when he wrote that best-seller?
Now, around that time, there was a sitcom where a girl was being teased by her fellow classmates about being from a well-to-do family. Yes, this was one of those problems solved in 23 minutes, but what her mom said, if I remember correctly, made sense. She said that they worked very hard for what they had and that you should not be ashamed of that.
But in reality, especially the nuevo rich assuage their guilt and immediately throw money into the street saying, "Here, here, take it, take it. Please like us!" Take it, nothing. They got took, as they say. And then, to make matters worse, they then make a huge spectacle out of it and get together with their friends to get the government to force the rest of us into philanthropy, whether we can afford it or not. Yeah, don't just pay for your popularity, but make everyone else pay for it, too.
I'm not rich. I'm not living under a bridge either, but at the end of the month, there's not much left, but we get by and that's fine. I have dreams of having a little more to allow my wife to stay home, to buy a more reliable car, to get some new furniture, maybe get a bigger house, nothing too opulent, just comfortable. And if I ever do publish that best-seller or rocket up the corporate ladder, I'm not going to flaunt my wealth with a big SUV or palatial estate, but I'm also not going to feel ashamed to have achieved the American Dream. That's just nuts!
Well, one fine day, not sure how the conversation came up, but I mentioned that my parents were going to Germany for a few weeks that upcoming summer. This one girl chimed in with a phrase that to this day still is akin to nails on a chalkboard to me. Now, she was depressed most of the time, so I hold nothing against her, just the phrase.
"Must be nice."
The tone pretty much said, "Look at Mister Big Bucks. Mommy and daddy going to Europe."
There is a growing epidemic of wealth guilt in this country. This used to be the place where anyone with the drive, ambition and a little bit of luck could make something of himself. Success was encouraged. Now, it's almost frowned upon. The so-called "rich" are evil, greedy money-grubbers who have too much and won't share with those who have less. How dare he be a successful CPA. What right does she have to be a surgeon? And what was he thinking when he wrote that best-seller?
Now, around that time, there was a sitcom where a girl was being teased by her fellow classmates about being from a well-to-do family. Yes, this was one of those problems solved in 23 minutes, but what her mom said, if I remember correctly, made sense. She said that they worked very hard for what they had and that you should not be ashamed of that.
But in reality, especially the nuevo rich assuage their guilt and immediately throw money into the street saying, "Here, here, take it, take it. Please like us!" Take it, nothing. They got took, as they say. And then, to make matters worse, they then make a huge spectacle out of it and get together with their friends to get the government to force the rest of us into philanthropy, whether we can afford it or not. Yeah, don't just pay for your popularity, but make everyone else pay for it, too.
I'm not rich. I'm not living under a bridge either, but at the end of the month, there's not much left, but we get by and that's fine. I have dreams of having a little more to allow my wife to stay home, to buy a more reliable car, to get some new furniture, maybe get a bigger house, nothing too opulent, just comfortable. And if I ever do publish that best-seller or rocket up the corporate ladder, I'm not going to flaunt my wealth with a big SUV or palatial estate, but I'm also not going to feel ashamed to have achieved the American Dream. That's just nuts!