Reality, Perspective, and Wealth

bychrystalia

37 followers

7 years ago

Recently, a friend on Facebook was complaining about our new president, and about how the "poor" would suffer now more than in the past. This person complains frequently about being "poor", and a "wage slave" to the "1%". So, I did a little digging through my 7000 plus favorites, and lo and behold--not only are she and her husband NOT "poor" by any definition but their own-- they are solidly in the "3%" world wide.

An interesting statistic, courtesy of the New York Times (they were experiencing a transient attack of journalism that day--fear not, the problem has been solved):

The BOTTOM 5% of American citizens have more resources and more actual assets than 68% of the rest of the world's "poor". Read that again, and consider what it means when you look at the developed nations of the world.

For those who tout the glories of socialism, progressivism, communism, or other related non free market economic systems, it is quite telling that our poorest citizens live on a par with, and often better than, the poorest people in those other nations. And our average "poor" family here has more actual living space, and more assets and resources, than their European counterparts. One would think that if capitalism were indeed "bad" and socialism indeed "good", this would not be the case--yet it is.

And that is only the beginning when it comes to how our perception becomes deception.

When was the last time you honestly assessed your "worth"? How many people here realize that the average homeless American is "richer" than about 70% of the world population? And when was the last time you approached changing your life from the perspective of someone with a vast ocean of resources and talents, limited only by your choices concerning their use?

For years, I foolishly believed I was "working poor", or "lower middle class". I also engaged in occasional bouts of class envy, mixed with self pity and an extra helping of angst for good measure. Fortunately, dying twice cured me of those rather useless character flaws ;-).

My perception changed--and the change in perception led to immediate changes in my actual circumstances. I had finally realized that allowing my fears, and the labels imposed upon me by others to dictate my use of resources, was the source of my station in life at the time (and all the negatives attached to it)--and that I was the only one who could change that. So, I quit complaining and got to work.

Along the way I have met many other people who have through one formative experience or another stumbled on the same great truth I found, though most got the message in a far less dramatic fashion than I did.

Life isn't all roses and rainbows, of course--but I can truthfully say it's a heck of a lot more interesting once you stop wasting time whining and start winning instead...

In 1970, only 36% of American homes had air conditioning at all-- now, over 80% of homes have it. Think back, if you lived at home in the 1970's, without air conditioning (as I did)-- did you consider yourself "poor"? Did your parents?

92% of households below the official "poverty line" have a microwave--a luxury enjoyed by less than 12% of the world's population, by the way...

About 75% of "poor" Americans own at least one running vehicle, almost 1/2 of those at or below the poverty line have 2 cars. Considering that slightly more than 10% of ALL PEOPLE WORLD WIDE own motorized vehicles AT ALL... Our "poor" are looking quite wealthy, all things considered.

My friend and her husband live in a home with central heating, A/C, 2 cars, and 2 bathrooms--one dedicated to their "furkids"--three cats. They also have cable, internet, flat screen TVs, 2 computers, and while their income is slightly below median for their age, in terms of both monetary income and assets, they are actually in the top 3% of people world wide.

Yet they don't pay federal income taxes--quite the opposite, they receive refunds. And they are both firmly convinced that "the rich" don't pay their "fair share" of taxes--despite the fact that in the last tax year the evil top 1% of earners in this country paid over 23% of the total personal taxes paid-- and the amount they paid represented, on average, a little over 33% of their income.

I know that I will never be able to convince my friend that she is far from "poor", just as I will never be able to convince her that she already has the means to change her life and embrace happiness, rather than wasting her time envying others around her and attributing their successes to accidents of birth, luck, or skin color.

But alas, I have been a cockeyed optimist too long to let an opportunity to try go to waste...