Affluence

In the grand scheme of things, my family is pretty wealthy. We a own a house, and rent one floor out, my parents both have jobs, I am going to an expensive college, we have two cars, we eat well, we travel, etc. Compared even to some people in this immediate area, we are very wealthy.

Today I went to a friend’s graduation at NMH. Compared to the people there, I felt poor. There were exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of people there were incredibly wealth. They were underdressed in the way rich people are. And you could just tell from the way they conducted themselves. It gives you a chance to see how the other one-thousandth of a percent live, if you will.

It’s weird. Right now, the gap between the rich and poor in our nation is the biggest it’s ever been. It’s like the Gilded Age, or the Roaring Twenties. But I think that the societal shifts that are being brought about by the economic situation are going to change that. It really seems to me that the whole culture of American consumerism is changing. That wealth gap is going to start getting smaller as our education system improves, as urban infrastructure starts to improve, as clean energy begins to redistribute the population.

But for the moment, it’s still startling to consider how poor I am compared to some others. I’m not feeling sorry for myself; I’m acutely aware of how privileged I am, and I’m fortunate to have the opportunities I do. But I do think about people less fortunate than myself, and never less than when I’m staring the upper class elite right in the face.