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[honeylocusttree]

Ugh rich people ugh

ETA: Sorry for being obscure. Just visited a local country club for an interview. Drove past homes literally worth millions of dollars. Completely failed to comprehend the desire to own a home worth millions of dollars--or to be a member of a country club.

I had a fit of giggles as I drove by them though. It brought a tear to my

Comments

[honeylocusttree]

Honestly in my case it's because a) I have a hard time with the idea of a future, and tend to plan no further than a year or maybe a few months ahead, and b) because we live in a world that is actively out to kill us--not maliciously or consciously, just that disorder is inherent in the system, and things fall apart a lot more easily than they hang together. So the things a person owns are all things that the person can lose. Every item of personal property is a potential vulnerability. The less stuff you have, the less of a risk you take in merely existing. It doesn't mean terrible things won't happen to you, but it won't matter so much when they do because you won't have lost anything of value. The more stuff you have, the larger a target you present--and the largest target you can possibly create out of yourself, is trying to make a home and life for yourself that's permanent.

Come to think of it this is probably why I have such a hard time with curtain!fic. And why it comes so naturally to other people. I never really thought about it but most people must dream about having a place and settling down and building a life. Which to me is weird and frankly terrifying. But now that I think about it, it makes sense.

I admit though, a big kitchen would be awesome. ;)

Now I get to think about that, what it must be like to want a home. Actively, I mean, and not just out of necessity. Like, I'm grateful all the time that I have a place to sleep and a bed to sleep in, but I guess other people think about it differently. That probably comes from a belief in permanence. Which I guess explains the wealth thing, too. It seems like it's an extension of the belief in a world you can inhabit and *have* things. It makes sense, too--if I ever have a sudden influx of money I think of it as 'mine.' It's not hard to imagine scaling up a couple hundred bucks to something larger. It's...weird, and vertigo-making, and frankly it seems harmful both to one's own self and to everyone else too, but I get that most people don't see it that way.

Whenever I think about buying a house my first thought is, "But then I couldn't leave!" Another word for 'homeownership,' to me, is 'prison.' But it seems like most people see it more as 'safe place.'

[dear_tiger]

I like that worldview! It's weird but it's interesting. You probably don't think about which state you'd like to live in, do you? I bet you'll end up like on of those people living in the jungle in Ecuador, on the slope of the mountain :D I hope you do get to travel and do things more.

When it comes to owning things, I've had that happen actually when my family lost our home and almost everything we owned. That probably wouldn't have happened if we were rich rather than middle class, if my dad could afford a good lawyer, if he had multiple branches of his business and could afford to lose one. I lost a lot of material things, starting with the house, and that maybe led me to want more material things? And the money to protect it, not from all but from most threats. I went through a series of miserable little apartments with my parents, and all I wanted was a home, so yeah, that idea grew.

And hey, we can both agree that a big kitchen sounds pretty awesome!

I think the point of buying a house is that you've found a place where you don't want to leave. And I guess some people just like to move around places. I can see the appeal of that, distantly.

[honeylocusttree]

'Weird but interesting.' Words to live by. I've actually seriously considering volunteering in the Peace Corps. I like the idea of going abroad and doing..stuff. So a mountain in Ecuador might be appealing actually.

I'd wondered if the wanting a home thing on your part was due to a loss, actually. It makes sense--in my case it's the opposite, growing up in mostly the same place probably contributed to a lot of my issues with staying put and not being able to get out. And we can both definitely agree that money makes it easier to save stuff. Though it can't do much in case of natural disaster, alas.

I feel like the people who don't have money maybe appreciate it more as a concept. Mostly it promises safety and security, which anyone can agree is good. It's just when it starts being used in displays of ostentatiousness for their own sake that I go 'gnaaaah?' It's really weird and I'll never understand it. But being a hardworking medical professional I'm sure your house will be jolly and eclectic and have a veggie garden and wind-chimes, right? ;) I mean if you were gonna have a house, it should be a home. Not a showpiece.

[dear_tiger]

You should totally volunteer for the Peace Corps. Really, how interesting would that be? It'd be your great life's adventure, unless after that you go and do something way cooler, which you just might. I know somebody who lived and worked in Antarctica for six summers in a row, then hung out in New Zealand during winter. She did laundry and housekeeping there.

I think the ones who get really annoying are the kids of the people who made themselves rich. Rich teenagers that grow up to play golf in country clubs :/