Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Rich

A very interesting post today on 3quarksdaily on the rich.

Not only do the rich corrupt the major institutions of society but "they corrupt the nature of society itself by turning their corrupting powers and dubious satisfactions into cultural standards for the rest".

Of course we all want to be rich, live like the rich, own the things the rich people own. Me as much as anybody else. I surround myself with trappings that make me feel rich. That makes me feel good. Life is good when I feel rich. When I can buy anything I desire I feel good. When I desire something I can't afford I feel bad. Obviously we have the rich to blame for us feeling bad. The rich are responsible for our unhappiness. It makes sense doesn't it?

Being rich from hard work has a certain satisfaction to it. You can congratulate yourself and feel good about yourself for succeeding in life. Self - image is boosted by wealth attained from hard work.
Of course, if you are old money, then you take comfort in the fact that you are different from the rest of society because you never had to work. You look down on the self - made rich as inferior. They might have as much as you but they don't have that certain quality, that certain style that comes from being born rich.

And being rich means you expect certain things to happen automatically. You expect the rest of society to fawn and be obsequious towards you. After all being rich means you are better and better means superior to others.

Being rich means you can buy influence, favors, politicians, whatever it is you desire because money is power. Power is the ultimate drug. Rich is good. Richer is better.

Of course, don't get me wrong, not all rich people are happy. We've all heard of the saying, "money doesn't buy happiness". We've all known of the mythical unhappy rich person.
So what would make somebody rich unhappy? Lots of things.
Not being able to control the aging process.
Not being able to control the weather.
Not being able to silence critics.
People that don't respect your wealth.
Death.

So the moral to this story is that as we ordinary folk go about our lives fretting about our ordinary problems we can spare a thought for the rich who also have their own special woes to deal with.

6 comments:

none said...

Here in the US those in poverty are usually 10% heavier,than the rest of the population, own at least 2 color TVs 40% own their own home, at 70% own least one car.

Yeah it's all the rich people's fault ;)

Lexcen said...

hammer, I think the days when owning a TV set or two was a symbol of wealth are long gone. And fat is usually a sign of wealth only in Africa. I don't own my own home, have two cars, two television sets and my wife is fat so I must be living in poverty:-)

Baconeater said...

"Rich people aren't happy. From the day they're born to the day they die, they think they're happy, but trust me...they ain't."

Moe on the Simpsons

Papa Frank said...

Keep the money and give me streams to fish, deer to hunt, birds to watch soar, The moon to rise and fall, the sun to light the day, and the smiles of children!!!

Michael said...

Lex, it seems to me that there are two routes towards affluence: you can get more, or you can want less.

Our society is focused on getting more, but is that really healthy for us?

Just something to think about, I guess....

Lexcen said...

Michael, I would like to be able to want less but I have to motivate myself to go to work everyday. Wanting less doesn't seem to do it for me. I'd also like to think that wanting less would make me more happy but again it doesn't work that way.

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