Bias

[judecorp]

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.

Comments

[thatpatti.livejournal.com]

i'm with ya. $100 on a pen when you have more money than you know what to do with is tolerable. i mean, if you've got a pen thing, and that's what you want to spend your money on, fine.

but $50,000 for something to write with? completely ridiculous. people should be EMBARASSED to spend that kind of money on something so stupid. i sure as hell would be.

i mean, would you really feel better about spending 50 grand on a pen than if you gave it to a non-profit?

but i also think that some people who grew up with that kind of money and that kind of living don't really think about it. i'm not excusing it, i'm just saying that they haven't been put in a position that's really brought them face to face with something that's given them a social conscience.

you know, like the news. ;)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I mostly agree. I mean, if people are working hard and making money, and they want some expensive shoes for a party or a fancy pen or some game system doo-dad, well, hey, I can't say much about that just because I wouldn't do it. Especially if they take good care of their stuff. Because I get so irked when people have so much stuff that they don't take care of it. Argh.

I just can't even imagine going anywhere and saying I would like to buy a $50,000 ANYTHING. Maybe that's part of the problem. I would buy my grandfather a fancy $300 pen maybe or something if I thought he would like it. Heck, Jen and I dropped $200 last summer to buy scalped tickets to a Red Sox game for Father's Day. So yeah, money gets spent. But not that much!!

I can't even IMAGINE the amount of money that goes into her store every day. It makes me kind of sick to my stomach. $1000 for an office chair. AN OFFICE CHAIR! I think mine cost $10 at Staples and it is coated with cat hair and used as a scratching post. (For Ralph, not me.)

But you're right, for some people that's just the way it is. Although, wouldn't they be embarrassed? Even a little bit? Ugh.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

-the uber wheelchair (iBot) is about 40K. I'd buy it in a second if I could afford it!

of course, you are probably right about that guy, but what if he'd already given 100K to charity? Does that make his pen thing more tolerable? What if the pens were for a charity auction in which 80K would go to charity and he'd donate the 50K pens?

My uncle is a multi-millionaire but you'd never know it. And yes, pretty much ALL of his money goes to charity (or paying his mom's medical expenses) -- he quit work and is a missionary. He does drive a merc but he only buys a new one every 10 years or so. (I want his charity money to go to ME but I think my mother would die before she'd let me ask him!!)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Somehow I don't see the uber-wheelchair in the same category as a diamond-encrusted pen. Now if you were going to drop an extra million to get a diamond-encrusted uber-wheelchair, we'd have to talk.

And you're right, the guy /could/ be secretly donating billions of dollars to charity, but he told Jen that he was going to be using his parents' money to buy these pens (if they would let him) to match the two diamond-encrusted fountain pens they gave him in the past.

I'm totally cool with rich people who really /are/ out there helping charities in a big way and not just in a token way.