On the one hand- indeed. On the other hand- everyone has their struggles- wether you are poor or wealthy misery feels like misery. The worst pain you’ll know is still the worst hurt you’ve felt. Being wealthy often comes with its own stresses and complications- many of which most non wealthy people can’t do much relate to.
That said- the wealthy generally don’t need to worry about being fed. They rarely if ever need to worry about being homeless. They may worry about not having enough for the retirement they want but the wealthy generally don’t need to worry about being destitute or needing social services or continued work for basic survival in retirement.
When it comes to being poor- the wealthy, especially those who have never truly been poor, can’t relate. That said- it gets my goat that “middle class” Americans, people that REAL poor people look at like they are wealthy- often try to play these sorts of cards.
“I live paycheck to paycheck!” You get a paycheck. You live. That’s better than many.
“It’s hard to pay my mortgage!” You have a mortgage. That’s better than many. “My car is junk!” You have at least a car- often more than one. People that say things like “how could you expect me to live without a car?” Or that think that living in a neighborhood that isn’t a great zip code but where your life isn’t in frequent and moment risk or such is the “minimum” are people speaking from privilege.
Such people are at best slightly less detached from harsh reality than those rich folks in the meme- realistically about even. No one knows what it is like to be truly poor unless you have been truly poor. If you can say you’ve been “this close” to being homeless or whatever else but through some method or from some support you managed, or your own skills or connections or work got you by- congrats on your privilege. There are people who just don’t have those things and they probably live worse off than you. There are people who don’t learn lessons as fast or figure it out or get whatever it is that they need to push them over that edge and they don’t “just make it.” There are people with no one to turn to and people who are let down by social services and honestly and truly have no safety net.
The idea the rich could have it tough or have a right to complain is unpopular with the middle class. Everyday is a struggle. Believe it or not even for many with money and nice things every day is a struggle too. A job they may lose or living contract to contract. They have more than you to make it to the next one most likely- and usually more bills and bigger ones too. Many of which are a cost to be in their industry and make that sort of money. “They have so much more than me though!” Yea. And your life that is so terrible or hard is one that a truly poor person looks at the same way. “Well they could do what I did. I worked hard for what I have!”
Oh? You think every rich person is born that way? No. Anyone with drive willing to do what it takes can get rich. There are risks and no promises. It takes certain skills and cleverness- but if you wanted to be rich you could get there just the same as the poor can get to where you are.
Which one is it then? Is being rich super easy and those people don’t have a right to complain and don’t work for what they have; or is it super hard and they work as hard or harder than you to get there?
If it’s super easy then you have no place to complain about not being rich. It’s easy. Go do it or shut up. If it’s super hard then of course they have a right to complain. Or maybe it depends? Whatever the case you don’t get most jobs of you don’t fit in. Operating in circles of wealth and keeping wealth takes certain skills. Even if the actual job you do is nothing special- that usually is all the more a case where it is soft skills and other social skills. There are few if any jobs that are so difficult or important that one person should be able to make what another makes in a lifetime in a single day- and the top contenders in my mind usually don’t pay near rich folk money. Wealth like that is often as much about your abilities to gain social capital and work the system.
There are different skill sets and such that not everyone has, the same as many other types and pay ranges of jobs often have certain skill sets.
So as someone who has been VERY poor- homeless, scavenging and trapping food to survive, jobless, in a place without opportunity to work, no transportation, no support system or none that wasn’t as bad off anyway, who knows hunger and malnutrition and exploitation and not having almost any of the things so many take for granted… and as someone who has not been rich, but was able to get to a place where their salary was several times the average wage… I’ve lived both sides, and I passed through “lower” middle class briefly on my way there.
I wouldn’t trade the after for the before for sure. No matter the stress or problems of money, yeah. It’s better. It’s better knowing that you would have to do something stupid to go hungry or be on the street. Better when you know that if a fluke event or natural disaster strikes you aren’t completely screwed. Better having support and a safety net. The perks are better. And it was truly amazing to me as I got my first “white collar job” that I did less “real work” than when I was doing manual labor for sub minimum wage. I’ve done work for criminal employers- a few dollars a day, no benefits or protections. Illegal hours and work practices. I e worked multiple jobs and needed to walk or ride a bicycle to the next city over to do it, before the sun rises and after it sets, with maybe 4 hours of sleep a night at best, and a demanding job that required focus and physical strain and then another one right after. Repeat. Not fun.
And compared to that my first white collar job- the pay was good. I had made a bit more working at a warehouse with lots of OT putting in days that were… I once worked 48 hours without sleep. Never left. But it was good pay and the normal day was 8 hours. Every day. Snacks and water and tea provided. A chair. Felt a little sick? Stay home vs. Broke a bone- work or get replaced. Wanted vacation? Take it. No retaliation, full pay, not taking your vacation would get you in trouble vs. Time off is a ticket to losing your job and if you take time off it will hurt your standing with the bosses and you won’t be paid. All sorts of perks, retirement, good insurance, and people would complain if they had to work a single weekend day a month even for a few hours.
That was just entry level white collar. As a climbed the ranks,
Admittedly some of the novelty of the perks and such wore off but… life is hard. Trying to succeed is hard. Reaching for more is hard. That stays the same no matter what. I wouldn’t trade my problems as a real full grown adult with a career and money for my problems when I was eating roadkill some days or my problems when I was working 3+ jobs at once 7 days a week 16+ hours a day just to barely eat and have a place to sleep. But that’s not most people who make these sorts of complaints. So it does irk me a bit when people who have the steak and want the gravy approach the topic like they are eating a beaver in a bush in some thicket wishing they had money for a can of beans.
So while I support raising the minimum standards of living for everyone, I think starting with people who have the least is probably the way to go about that-
Making sure they can get decent and healthy food and medical care and things that better off folks may not get the best of but have it much better already. I think a lot of people live behind their means and assume that because they can afford it “paycheck to paycheck” or because they are unwilling to consider that they don’t make enough for the lifestyle they are choosing- they are too proud or spoiled to live to their station and want to feel successful by spending like they are and having the things that they see as the fruits of labors on or to theirs or the mark of someone who isn’t poor. But lots of people are suffering and we are each entitled to feel as we feel. This is less about calling folks out in that way and more about empathy and understanding that privilege isn’t just something for people with yachts.
That said- the wealthy generally don’t need to worry about being fed. They rarely if ever need to worry about being homeless. They may worry about not having enough for the retirement they want but the wealthy generally don’t need to worry about being destitute or needing social services or continued work for basic survival in retirement.
“I live paycheck to paycheck!” You get a paycheck. You live. That’s better than many.
“It’s hard to pay my mortgage!” You have a mortgage. That’s better than many. “My car is junk!” You have at least a car- often more than one. People that say things like “how could you expect me to live without a car?” Or that think that living in a neighborhood that isn’t a great zip code but where your life isn’t in frequent and moment risk or such is the “minimum” are people speaking from privilege.
Oh? You think every rich person is born that way? No. Anyone with drive willing to do what it takes can get rich. There are risks and no promises. It takes certain skills and cleverness- but if you wanted to be rich you could get there just the same as the poor can get to where you are.
If it’s super easy then you have no place to complain about not being rich. It’s easy. Go do it or shut up. If it’s super hard then of course they have a right to complain. Or maybe it depends? Whatever the case you don’t get most jobs of you don’t fit in. Operating in circles of wealth and keeping wealth takes certain skills. Even if the actual job you do is nothing special- that usually is all the more a case where it is soft skills and other social skills. There are few if any jobs that are so difficult or important that one person should be able to make what another makes in a lifetime in a single day- and the top contenders in my mind usually don’t pay near rich folk money. Wealth like that is often as much about your abilities to gain social capital and work the system.
So as someone who has been VERY poor- homeless, scavenging and trapping food to survive, jobless, in a place without opportunity to work, no transportation, no support system or none that wasn’t as bad off anyway, who knows hunger and malnutrition and exploitation and not having almost any of the things so many take for granted… and as someone who has not been rich, but was able to get to a place where their salary was several times the average wage… I’ve lived both sides, and I passed through “lower” middle class briefly on my way there.
Admittedly some of the novelty of the perks and such wore off but… life is hard. Trying to succeed is hard. Reaching for more is hard. That stays the same no matter what. I wouldn’t trade my problems as a real full grown adult with a career and money for my problems when I was eating roadkill some days or my problems when I was working 3+ jobs at once 7 days a week 16+ hours a day just to barely eat and have a place to sleep. But that’s not most people who make these sorts of complaints. So it does irk me a bit when people who have the steak and want the gravy approach the topic like they are eating a beaver in a bush in some thicket wishing they had money for a can of beans.
Making sure they can get decent and healthy food and medical care and things that better off folks may not get the best of but have it much better already. I think a lot of people live behind their means and assume that because they can afford it “paycheck to paycheck” or because they are unwilling to consider that they don’t make enough for the lifestyle they are choosing- they are too proud or spoiled to live to their station and want to feel successful by spending like they are and having the things that they see as the fruits of labors on or to theirs or the mark of someone who isn’t poor. But lots of people are suffering and we are each entitled to feel as we feel. This is less about calling folks out in that way and more about empathy and understanding that privilege isn’t just something for people with yachts.