I’ve been seeing a phenomenon in recent years that bothers and confuses me and I hope you all can help me rationalize it.
When did being Broke and Shiftless become something to be admired? By the same token, when did doing well for yourself become something to be shamed and denigrated?
Time was when someone aspired to Greatness. To be more than your circumstances, to fight to overcome your adversities and show the world that you were more than mere external perceptions. Damn it, it’s not noble to be poor.
We’ve all seen the rise of the Occupy Movements. Yes, the oppressive [sarcastic hiccup] 1% is keeping the rest of us down by making us pay for goods and services that we rightfully [another sarcastic hiccup] deserve. I don’t know who’s going around spreading this load of manure, but they really need to stop because as the old saying goes: “There are no Free Lunches.”
I’m not saying that bad things don’t happen. Of course they do and it would be the height of naivety to presume otherwise. But to teach an entire generation to put on the Victim Suit and demand that which they have not earned by blaming a collection of nameless faceless individuals, (there are never specific examples. Believe me, I’ve checked), is the height of Folly.
Look past the big house and nice car. See the work that they put into getting to where they are. Some of these well-to-do people put in triple digit work weeks because they are often on schedules where they are on-call 24/7, don’t get Overtime, and are responsible for entire companies that range from regional chains to multinational corporations. Working on that level is a lot more than simply showing up and punching a time clock.
To those who bring up Trust Funders, I will simply say “So what?” Yes, there are those who squander the gifts that they inherited in outrageous ways. But it’s theirs to squander, not ours to worry about.
Success is nothing to punish. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, striving to improve ourselves should be a primary motivation in our thoughts and deeds. Anything else, in my opinion, is self-destructive and self-defeating. Don’t go down without a fight.
Writing in Real Time 
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