I've always considered it important to thoroughly understand other people, in order at bare minimum to know how to act towards them, but more importantly, to learn to appreciate their values, and see what drives their choices in life.
As a successful blogger __ by golly, I have almost 5,000 Facebook friends! __ many of my closest, most intimate buddies are fabulously wealthy. Predictably, the rich regularly devote the major part of their day to Facebook, and hanging out on other social sites. They don't have to work a real job. They jump online, there's my stunning profile picture, they click 'Add Friend' . . . Bingo! Another billionaire for my growing list of ultra-wealthy connections.
So, despite the holes in my jeans, the t-shirts that I wear __ which look like they've been dragged by an 18-wheeler across twenty-three state lines __ I can offer some very valuable insights into the .01%, the folks who are actually pulling the strings here in America for the puppet show we endearingly call the Land of Opportunity.
The other day I started thinking about the way rich people see the world. I was shocked to realize how much we regular folks have in common with them __ how much the filthy rich value the exact same things we do.
Restraint: The rich are conservative. They are emphatically for restraint! They want us to show restraint so they won't have to. If we regular folks go squandering the nation's wealth on silly and unnecessary frivolities __ like food and clothing, education for our kids, a car which doesn't look like it was in a demolition derby __ there won't be anything left for them to buy a Greek Island or sponsor a coup to overthrow the elected government of a country. And OMG! Have you checked out the price of cosmetic surgery these days? Why, it's simply frightening! Liposuctioning away that unsightly inner tube and getting dermal abrasion from head to toe is cutting deep into the money that was going toward buying those beautiful art works stolen by the Third Reich. How frustrating!
Turning the other cheek: The rich definitely believe in turning the other cheek! Let's say there's some homeless bum standing on the curb. What an eyesore! Talk about ruining a nice day, having to look at that. The rich will understandably turn the other cheek, thereby averting their gaze. Now they don't have to look at this poor, hungry slob, who probably was laid off from the factory they shipped to Vietnam. This meets the "letter" of Christ's turn-the-other-cheek mandate, if not strictly His intent. It's all a matter of interpretation anyway. Let the Biblical scholars nitpick the thing to death, if that's what they have to do.
Love thy neighbor as thyself: Absolutely! Of course, they mean their neighbors, not ours. Their neighbors belong to the same private clubs, and are less likely to be infected with some awful STD or Ebola, or whatever. There is even evidence that poverty is contagious. Being anywhere close to any common, low-life losers, why all the hard-earned fortune inherited from daddy could go up in smoke . . . just like that! Better safe than sorry.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you: To be completely candid, the wealthy are as confused about this one as the rest of us. How do you give a blow job to a woman? So basically they ignore it.
Whew!
Thinking all these deep thoughts is giving me a headache.
I'll just cut to the chase.
I can sum up the whole ball of wax by just laying out for you what I consider to be the basic ethic __ the defining value system __ of our ultra-wealthy class of aristocrats. Here is the simple, forthright maxim I believe sums up the world view of the ultra-wealthy. By the way, this is from page 92 of my recent book on taking back our democracy . . .
"It's all mine! Screw everybody else."
Your mom has just taken away from you a huge bowl of candy you grabbed from the coffee table. The bowl is full of the white chocolate bonbons and caramel squares she has set out for arriving guests. You want them, like really bad! So you start kicking and screaming and throwing a window-rattling tantrum.
"I want it! It's all mine!
Granted . . . you were only three years old at the time.
But you know the feeling.
[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
