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Bias
I think I have a real bias against rich people. Like, really rich people. The kind who flaunt it. These also happen to be the same people who come into contact with my smoochie on a daily basis, because they feel the need to come into stores like Levenger, and Montblanc, and other such ridiculous establishments. I'm still reeling over the guy who was inquiring about ordering 2 diamond-encrusted ballpoint pens from Cartier to the tune of $100K. $100K for 2 ballpoint pens! Is he MAD??!?!
I guess I just find that sort of show of wealth so socially irresponsible. Granted, I'm much more pro-distribution of wealth than probably a majority of the people I know, but even with that aside... couldn't he maybe buy ONE diamond-encrusted pen and give the other $50K to help the world? Does anyone really need TWO? (Especially because he wants them to match his two diamond-encrusted fountain pens or somesuch crap.)
Jen always tells me that this is normal behavior for people with disposable incomes. I guess I don't get it. Part of it, maybe, is that I don't know enough people with disposable incomes, but I know that my grandparents, in my lifetime, have always had enough to do what they want. But they were never terribly showy about it, so that's what I'm used to. Besides, they also support the church and other charities. Heck, both of my grandparents are in clubs (a men's club and a women's club) whose sole purposes are to raise money for a "pet" organization! But I digress.
I can't say I mind having a little extra money for things like high-speed internet or dinner out or to buy Jen a laptop. It's nice to be able to go to the grocery store and know that I can buy everything I need without having to really count it out or put things back or fret about whether I'll be able to gas up the car after. And I know that we are fortunate, even though our combined salaries equal most of our friends' single salaries. We are WAY ahead of a lot of people.
But while I would like to have more income so that we could safely talk about things like baby-raising, I don't think I could get that at the expense of having a job that I feel is helping something. I can wake up in the morning and dislike my actual job but feel good about what I'm doing, that I'm helping the world turn instead of trying to make it crumble down upon itself. What I want is to make more money because society finally gets its head out of its ass and starts valuing the work that I (and others) do.
REVOLUTION.
I used to have a "smash capitalism" armband. HA! I wonder what happened to that. Aaah, my idyllic youth.
I guess I just find that sort of show of wealth so socially irresponsible. Granted, I'm much more pro-distribution of wealth than probably a majority of the people I know, but even with that aside... couldn't he maybe buy ONE diamond-encrusted pen and give the other $50K to help the world? Does anyone really need TWO? (Especially because he wants them to match his two diamond-encrusted fountain pens or somesuch crap.)
Jen always tells me that this is normal behavior for people with disposable incomes. I guess I don't get it. Part of it, maybe, is that I don't know enough people with disposable incomes, but I know that my grandparents, in my lifetime, have always had enough to do what they want. But they were never terribly showy about it, so that's what I'm used to. Besides, they also support the church and other charities. Heck, both of my grandparents are in clubs (a men's club and a women's club) whose sole purposes are to raise money for a "pet" organization! But I digress.
I can't say I mind having a little extra money for things like high-speed internet or dinner out or to buy Jen a laptop. It's nice to be able to go to the grocery store and know that I can buy everything I need without having to really count it out or put things back or fret about whether I'll be able to gas up the car after. And I know that we are fortunate, even though our combined salaries equal most of our friends' single salaries. We are WAY ahead of a lot of people.
But while I would like to have more income so that we could safely talk about things like baby-raising, I don't think I could get that at the expense of having a job that I feel is helping something. I can wake up in the morning and dislike my actual job but feel good about what I'm doing, that I'm helping the world turn instead of trying to make it crumble down upon itself. What I want is to make more money because society finally gets its head out of its ass and starts valuing the work that I (and others) do.
REVOLUTION.
I used to have a "smash capitalism" armband. HA! I wonder what happened to that. Aaah, my idyllic youth.