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gottawonderPeople like to say things like money can't buy happiness, or make memes about how having a rich life doesn't require being rich, or they yearn for simpler times before...I don't know what. It just pisses me off.
It romanticizes poverty, something that I bet they haven't really experienced.
If asked though, they will say "I remember we grew up without much money, and I think we were happier then".
Do they KNOW that they didn't have a lot of money? Just because they didn't have a cell phone or a new car doesn't mean they weren't pretty stable. I know lots of people from my child hood who would have said they didn't have a lot of money, but they were the ones going to rock concerts and ski trips and trips to the city to buy new clothes with their friends.
I recall being poor too, and yes it was still possible to have a rich life, but GEEZ it would have been nicer still with money. I think I could have enjoyed owning a car when I was younger so that I didn't have to walk to my crappy janitorial job at ten at night in -20C weather. Or, maybe I could have had a less crappy job! Or lived in a less scary part of town!
Maybe if we'd had more money as a kid, breaking my glasses wouldn't have made me feel like a total piece of garbage, or I could have had less feelings of guilt every time I needed something. Maybe I wouldn't have lost sleep wondering about how my family was doing for money, or hoping we got enough money from the cattle in bad years to keep the farm.
Sometimes my sister N says things like this, and I have no idea why, because I know DAMN well her life would have been improved by having more money. Many of her choices were limited, she likely wouldn't have married or stayed with people if she didn't have to worry about money. She always thinks that full-bore Socialism is the solution.
Sometimes people post memes about going to live in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere, but I imagine that they mean going there with enough money to make sure they can get food delivered and flown out for medical emergencies for the rest of their lives, because without that their lovely isolation might be cut kinda short.
Anyhow, statements like this disrespect the very real pain and struggle and often plain humiliation of being poor, and I hate them.
It romanticizes poverty, something that I bet they haven't really experienced.
If asked though, they will say "I remember we grew up without much money, and I think we were happier then".
Do they KNOW that they didn't have a lot of money? Just because they didn't have a cell phone or a new car doesn't mean they weren't pretty stable. I know lots of people from my child hood who would have said they didn't have a lot of money, but they were the ones going to rock concerts and ski trips and trips to the city to buy new clothes with their friends.
I recall being poor too, and yes it was still possible to have a rich life, but GEEZ it would have been nicer still with money. I think I could have enjoyed owning a car when I was younger so that I didn't have to walk to my crappy janitorial job at ten at night in -20C weather. Or, maybe I could have had a less crappy job! Or lived in a less scary part of town!
Maybe if we'd had more money as a kid, breaking my glasses wouldn't have made me feel like a total piece of garbage, or I could have had less feelings of guilt every time I needed something. Maybe I wouldn't have lost sleep wondering about how my family was doing for money, or hoping we got enough money from the cattle in bad years to keep the farm.
Sometimes my sister N says things like this, and I have no idea why, because I know DAMN well her life would have been improved by having more money. Many of her choices were limited, she likely wouldn't have married or stayed with people if she didn't have to worry about money. She always thinks that full-bore Socialism is the solution.
Sometimes people post memes about going to live in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere, but I imagine that they mean going there with enough money to make sure they can get food delivered and flown out for medical emergencies for the rest of their lives, because without that their lovely isolation might be cut kinda short.
Anyhow, statements like this disrespect the very real pain and struggle and often plain humiliation of being poor, and I hate them.
