There are some threads that assert that the wealthy are that way because of corruption and exploitation of the poor. There are those who believe that the wealthy should not have the amount of monies that they have. There are those who advocate a more equal distribution of income among all. However, such is impossible as there are jobs and occupations that are more socioeconomically valued in a particular society than others. This envy of the wealthy is a total waste of time and energy. The time and energy exerted in wealth envy can be more constructively used for one to help oneself educationally and socioeconomically. YES, I SAID IT! What do you think?
There is a difference between envy and criticism.
Envy can be a force for good as bad. Hopefully we envy the rich and work to gain that gift for ourselves. There are three ways to deal with things: ignore them, pout about them and let them break you, or you can grow from them.
I mistakenly thought you were on the side of the good and the just. I was mistaken.
It is likely that every negative emotion arising from the way we interpret things is doing us more harm than good. Envy doesn't get us anywhere. Jealousy is downright injurious - as much to ourselves, heatlhwise - as to those we're jealous of. Yet still these emotions arise in us because of the our varying beliefs that having a great deal of money will solve all of our problems. But ask just about anybody whether they'd like to have more money available for their personal use and they wil say "Yes." Yes, even those whose income is way, way above the average.
Certainly we need more than 'enough to get by,' if we want to live life to the full. But it is in this interpretation of 'life to the full' that is so subjective. One person's having enough might be to go on any holiday or trip that takes ones fancy, being able to afford to go to the best schools, universities and have the best health cover. Another's might be to be able to 'sell the old Cessna and buy a Lear Jet,' or too be own a champion race horse.
As long as we have imaginations it is likely we will envy those who have more than we have. Is it wrong? Only if it motivates us to undertake criminal activity - or morally unsavouring ways - to obtain money. If it spurs us on to provide valuable service by way of some sort of work, it has to be labelled good.
I don't know whether it comes from envy or not, but the attack on the justly rich is counter-productive. If we are to address the unfairness in the economy we have to look at how it got like that in the first place. Going to the source of the problem instead of patching it up and probably making it worse. Many of the rich today are so because they have been privileged by government through the manipulation of currency, regulation of competition, subsidies, bail-outs and unfair tax breaks. It may be surprising, but when you analyse the economy, the government is effectively the only thing propping up the biggest of corporations in the US.
If we focus on liberty and truly free markets, the only thing these people will have to complain about is the justly rich. I am not interested in the distribution of wealth.
First off, you have to define what you mean by wealthy. Are you talking about the small to medium size business who's MD, CEO or however you'd like to refer to them as has made a tidy sum of money? Or, are you taking about the mega-corporations who have made billions? Then you have to show some kind of evidence that those who are critical are indeed envious, or are they just critical?
I think Innersmiff has a point. Government subsidies and tax breaks are supposed to help the small to medium size business, where, in reality, the funding seems to end up in the coffers of the corporations, who just never seem to create those jobs! You also perhaps have to define what you mean by distribution and equal distribution, I doubt very much that envy drives the tax payer to become critical of the large corps, after all, it's the tax payers money that ends up in their coffers.
Wealthy means anyone who earns at least $500,000 per annum and above and rich means anyone who earns at least $ 3,000,000 per annum and above.
Well, by that definition, I don't know any wealthy or rich people. I've never met anyone that makes that much money.
The most well off people I know earn around $150,000 a year or so - being my biological father & my sister's husband... wow, I know 2 people who are 1/3 of the way to wealthy... lmao
I don't envy the rich or wealthy - I feel sorry for them. I get disgusted by them. I get irritated by them. But I have never envied them & here's why:
1. The ones who are "publicly vocal" have no compassion or understanding for those not of their same "class". ~ just because someone has less, earns less, or isn't the same as you doesn't make them less of a person or unworthy of respect. Rich folks need to get off their high horses about that.
2. The ones who were given or born into it, without needing to build themselves up from scratch have no idea what it is really like to be a "lower class" citizen trying to make it. ~again, lack of compassion for people unlike them.
3. The ones who flaunt what they have ~ ugh ~ it makes me sick! I can see right through that fake mask they wear. Money doesn't make you happy. Miserable people with a lot of money are still miserable people. Buying all of the toys in the world isn't going to fill the void where your heart should be. Showing off to try and impress people & MAKE them envy what you have that they don't - grow up! All you're doing is showing everyone else that you're just a very expensive shell with nothing inside.
Like I said, I've never actually MET anyone who makes that much money. All I know is that I can't stand the "reality" shows, the tabloids, the news casts, the documentaries, or the interviews of the wealthy or rich because it always seems to be the same. They have no heart!
If being "poor" means you get to have a heart & care about others then I would take being poor over being wealthy any day!
I'm sure there are a select few people out there who actually do maintain their humanity even with all of that money, but there aren't many - at least not in the public eye.
Do I aspire to earn more than I do now? yes. Would it be nice to have that much money? yes.
It isn't the money, it's what you do with it that matters & how you live your life and treat others.
It would be great to earn that much annually. Realistically, if I was even earning $50,000 a year I would feel rich! I've never earned more than $20,000 a year ~ and that was working my butt off 7 days a week at 2 different jobs! No one can keep that up, so I had to go back to earning less & being able to actually LIVE.
Anyway - I think these "attacks" aren't necessarily envy so much as disgust. Sure, you might know more about stocks, trades, and other stuff that rich people do with all of that extra money just burning a hole in their pocket - but it doesn't give them the right to look down on others & it sure as hell doesn't make them better.
I somewhat agree, but there's something that I think you're overlooking.
The wealthy/rich who look down on the less fortunate and the ostentatious are, in the vast majority of cases... assholes. Even if they were broke, they would still, more than likely be, assholes.
It's emblematic of a larger character flaw that isn't necessarily related to the size of their paycheck. Speaking only for the wealthy/rich that I know personally, and that I work with on a daily basis, 90% of them are decent, kind, generous people.
To co-opt a cliche: "Wealth doesn't create character, it reveals it"
Just my humble opinion
I agree Billy Hicks that wealth doesn't create character, it reveals it.
As I said before, I don't know anyone in this income bracket personally. The only ones I know of are those in the "public light" ~ most of which are undesirable in my opinion.
I'm sure there are nice rich folks, just like there are nice poor folks.
I do know someone who was born into it. He is a "trust baby". He delivered pizzas in college for a job and his spending money, he worked for the airlines after college until this recession. His wife is a vet. He is quirky but you would never know he has money unless you pay attention. He loves day after Thanksgiving shopping and his hobby is finding a good deal. His house was a million dollar house but he bought it during the recession for a little over a quarter of that, less than many around here spend on houses. Where it shows the most is the odd conversations that you may have with his kids. When they were in preschool they would ask you about your assets, and not the ones most preschoolers are talking about.
That's cool Lwelch.
correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't "trust babies" the ones who had to lose their parents in order to get the money?
I'm glad he's such a cool guy, and I'm willing to bet he would have rather had his parents alive than to have a trust fund
A trust can deliver at any age under any circumstance. It is just a mechanism for protecting money from being taxed. Most people get their trust money at 21, or a similar age.
In this case his parents set up a trust fund to protect and manage his money. They were alive. There are trusts like what you speak of, but in his case it was a way to pass on the inheritance. My understanding is that he had a stipend that he was receiving through college. I don't know if he gained full control of it at a certain point or not, but even if he didn't, another chunk of change did show up a few years ago when dad did die. I am sure that with that money, you are correct, he would likely rather have dad than the inheritance.
You want to stop people from feeling one of the fundamental negative emotions/sins?
Good luck with that.
You are so right, psycheskinner, with the exception of you and some enlightened folks, I sense nothing but envy of the wealthy in this thread. The envy expressed in this thread is downright venomous and vituperative to say the very least! Psycheskinner, it reminds one of school where there is envy of the A and/or honor students in the class!
I think you may have that the wrong way around. i envy the hell out of wealth. It's only natural. I just don't get worked up about it, one way or the other.
It is the arrogance of the wealthy and those who defend them that leads them to interpret any criticism of their actions to be "envy." Just like the snotty girls in high school who, when confronted about their boorish behavior, say "oh, they're just jealous because I'm prettier."
I could care less about envying them or anyone else. However, if a persistent and talented person wants to be "Like Mike" they can get there. ( cough, cough Kobe Bryant)
Or be like a Gordon Gekko, also known as Bernie Madoff,
If Im never a millionare or billionare i could care less. As long as i can pay my way and provide comfortablely for my family and leave them a little something after I pass then I am content and happy. True we need money but I feel that some blow the whole having money out of portion. What about love and family. There's needs to be an equal balance .
My critiques of the wealthy -- which you characterize as envy -- come from being in a wealthy family and realizing that I had ridiculously unfair advantages over all my friends. Maybe you should stop projecting motives when you don't know the background.
My dear, you are indeed fortunate to have such a status in life! You are indeed Blessed and extremely lucky.
gmwilliams;
What you are complaining about ("envy of the wealthy") is inaccurate. You are complaining about what I would call "disdain for the wealthy."
I, myself, envy the wealthy and that they are able to live within a much "cushier" means than I do. Who wouldn't envy a Porsche and a heated pool? There are two ways envy can go:
1. Envy--->Motivation
2. Envy--->Disdain.
I believe you are complaining about the latter; when someone sees their neighbor, colleague, family member as having more than they do, and they become jealous, and then disdainful about the way they use their money. These are the "life is not fair" people. These are the people who feel they are entitled to everything, because it's "not their fault" life dealt them a "bad hand of cards."
When I see my neighbor with more than I do, it inspires me. It shows me the American dream; that you can work for your means, and get rewarded. When I see a Porsche driving down the street, I think "one day, that will be me." I don't have any ill feelings towards them, and I don't believe that their having a Porsche is preventing me from having one.
Kathleen, you have presented an excellent premise!
Basically: my friends who weren't born lucky had to go into debt to go to college, to have cars, to have kids, to have a home.
Often, they've had to make do, for example renting an apartment -- which is money poured right down the drain -- because they couldn't afford to buy a home.
All that debt means that even working two jobs, they arrive at middle age and are just NOW starting to save.
They won't have enough for retirement.
And that's middle class.
I can't imagine how one can live with minimum wage jobs, which no longer pay enough to keep up with the cost of living (as they did for previous generations.)
Yes, it is POSSIBLE to beat all the odds and climb out of that hole. But it's very disingenuous to pretend a runner with a 1 mile head start in a marathon -- or even a bicycle -- got there through hard work, while the folks forced to start a mile BEHIND the starting line are obviously lazy if they don't win the race.
Adjusted for inflation, minimum wage has been about the same for the past 30 years:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html
And you don't have to go into debt to go to college. You can start working one of these minimum wage jobs right out of high school, and save money, then go after a couple of years. You can also go to cheaper alternatives, like community colleges and state universities.
My stepdad didn't graduate college until he was 50. He has no debt, and a very cush retirement. He decided to go back to college so he can get an MBA, so he could gain the tools to expand his already successful business.
"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different."
Not my words, but those of one of my favorite writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I think it's not so much about the amount of money someone has, but how they earned it (or stole it).
I do envy people who have a knack for business and parlay that into wealth. Good for them! It's inspiring and the American way.
I disdain the likes of Gordon Gekkos and Bernie Maddoffs. Greed is not the same as wealth. I do not envy people who make truly obscene amounts of money gaming the system and hurting other people. Do they contribute anything positive to anyone other than themselves? Are the CEOs of companies who crash their companies really deserving of ginormous golden parachutes?
Perhaps that, too, is the American way.
He's been mentioned a few times, so this is a little refresher for people who may be lost on who Gordon Gekko is:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0012282/quotes
by Grace Marguerite Williams 10 years ago
in fact, wealth is a positive thing which enhances and elevates one's standard of living? Do these people realize that wealth means more socioeconomic choices? When will they realize that being poor and struggling is an abnormal way of life, existing from day to day? ...
by H C Palting 6 years ago
Why are the wealthy often hated AND envied?
by IDONO 9 years ago
Do you have to be evil to be rich and successful?It seems like anyone that is successful is automatically scrutinized by media and the public in general as a person with a dark side. I realize it's next to impossible to be successful without stepping on someone along the way, but does that make you...
by Andrew Spacey 6 years ago
In this 21st century have the privileged got too greedy?If as humans all we need is food&water, shelter, love, work and belief shouldn't we be cutting down on our material luxuries?Is corporate greed to blame for the current recession and financial anxiety?Are tax havens for the rich...
by Grace Marguerite Williams 3 years ago
In the last 20th & early 21st century, it is becoming a survival of the fittest society & culture. Those who are the smartest/most intelligent are the ones who will become the most socioeconomically successful. They know how to play the game & thrive in our postmodern...
by Billy Hicks 5 years ago
There has been a lot of discussion about class warfare, and the wealthy not paying "their fair share",so my question for you, my esteemed fellow Hubbers is this:Assuming that they are complying with all current laws and regulations, and paying what they are required to pay, by law: do the...
Copyright © 2024 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2024 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |