Do rich people and their immense privilege bother you?

[Anonymous]

I learned that Oscan nominees will receive goody bags worth 100k tonight. I understand that they’re hard working and deserve their success and riches but I think 100k in gifts for already very wealthy individuals is so excessive.


I grew up middle class but my parents made a lot of sacrifices to send me to a private school with Uber rich kids. That was hard. Just seeing how easy life was for them and how privileged they were.

I don’t know why I feel almost...resentful? Even though of course it’s theirblife and they should enjoy it. It just bugged me how they were in a bubble and assumed their life was normal.

[Anonymous]

People who are oblivious to their privilege are annoying.

Rich or not.

[Anonymous]

If wealthy people give to others, they don’t bother me at all. Selfishness and greed bother me.

[Anonymous]

I know a lot of wealthy people, and they don't bother me at all. I'm me and I enjoy being me. I'm assuming that they enjoy being themselves. Happiness in life is all that matters, no matter what your bank account looks like.

[Anonymous]

The only rich/wealthy people who annoy me are the ones who believe everyone could have what they have if they just "worked hard enough". That type of lack of nuanced thinking bothers me in anyone though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only rich/wealthy people who annoy me are the ones who believe everyone could have what they have if they just "worked hard enough". That type of lack of nuanced thinking bothers me in anyone though.

The only rich/wealthy people who annoy me are the ones who had all that money fall into their laps while they haven't lifted a finger (my brother-in-law and his lazy offspring are a perfect example).

As for the Oscar nominees, OP, at least they are talented/shrewd/good-looking enough to not only be employed in a cutthroat industry but to overcome the competition. I won't necessarily begrudge them their wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only rich/wealthy people who annoy me are the ones who believe everyone could have what they have if they just "worked hard enough". That type of lack of nuanced thinking bothers me in anyone though.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I learned that Oscan nominees will receive goody bags worth 100k tonight. I understand that they’re hard working and deserve their success and riches but I think 100k in gifts for already very wealthy individuals is so excessive.


I grew up middle class but my parents made a lot of sacrifices to send me to a private school with Uber rich kids. That was hard. Just seeing how easy life was for them and how privileged they were.

I don’t know why I feel almost...resentful? Even though of course it’s theirblife and they should enjoy it. It just bugged me how they were in a bubble and assumed their life was normal.

The "goody bags" should be taxable income:
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2016-02-09/the-taxability-of-oscars-gift-bags

[Anonymous]

No, $ can't buy happiness! It's the same asking me "do people live longer bother you?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only rich/wealthy people who annoy me are the ones who believe everyone could have what they have if they just "worked hard enough". That type of lack of nuanced thinking bothers me in anyone though.

Nailed it! The superior attitude is what bothers me most about some rich people.

[Anonymous]

No. In high school I was friends with three girls named Allison, Stephanie and Heather.

Heather was beautiful and had the coolest clothes, everyone wanted to be friends with her, she was tough, her mom was pretty and cool, and had a gorgeous older boyfriend who sent her flowers at school. I became friends with Heather and found out that her father killed himself when she was a baby, when she tried to talk to her mom her mom ignored her for the mom's boyfriend, she felt stupid and her boyfriend was abusive.

Allison was very rich. She lived on the same street as Howard Stern, she had a housekeeper, she had a lovely life. Then one day Allison started crying in health when we were talking about eating disorders. She cried so hard the teacher excused her, and then excused me and another friend to go help her. Allison told us her mom had an eating disorder and she was scared her mom was going to die.

Stephanie was also very rich. She lived in the Hampton in a mansion. She had every single thing I ever even thought about wanting, let alone asked for. Stephanie's mom overdosed on cocaine and died. Stephanie's dad gave her mom the coke. Stephanie still lived with her dad.

My best friend in high school was Jen, who shared a room with her sister. Their older brother lived on the couch, and Jen's mom was a school custodian. Every single time I went over there, there was a lot of laughter and food. Once we had to go outside and help push Jen's mom's car down the block because it had died. I asked why they didn't just call AAA. They couldn't afford it.

So no, I'm not resentful of rich people getting expensive things. Objects don't mean everything. These people don't all have glamorous perfect lives just because we see them in pretty dresses smiling. I know that they might go home and get beaten or cry themselves to sleep because they're worried about a family member or missing a parent or whatever other problems are plaguing them. Beats headphones won't solve those problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I learned that Oscan nominees will receive goody bags worth 100k tonight. I understand that they’re hard working and deserve their success and riches but I think 100k in gifts for already very wealthy individuals is so excessive.


I grew up middle class but my parents made a lot of sacrifices to send me to a private school with Uber rich kids. That was hard. Just seeing how easy life was for them and how privileged they were.

I don’t know why I feel almost...resentful? Even though of course it’s theirblife and they should enjoy it. It just bugged me how they were in a bubble and assumed their life was normal.

I knew a teacher that constantly ranted about the kids in his class had more things than he and his wife had. All I could think was damn, get another job. He called the kids snotty little rich monsters that deserved nothing. He deserved it all.

He's still teaching and probably still full of hate.

Don't envy. It's an ugly wasteful emotion.

[Anonymous]

It only bothers me when the wealthy, privileged person thinks he/she is going through the same thing that I am when he/she clearly is not. EG, the mother with three nannies (including a night nurse every single night) tells me how she understands how tired I am with a newborn when she gets a full nine hours of sleep every night.

Goodie bags at things like Oscars do not bother me one bit. They are marketing tools for their products. "Deserving" has nothing to do with it. The companies who give that stuff for free are expecting a return on their investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It only bothers me when the wealthy, privileged person thinks he/she is going through the same thing that I am when he/she clearly is not. EG, the mother with three nannies (including a night nurse every single night) tells me how she understands how tired I am with a newborn when she gets a full nine hours of sleep every night.

Goodie bags at things like Oscars do not bother me one bit. They are marketing tools for their products. "Deserving" has nothing to do with it. The companies who give that stuff for free are expecting a return on their investment.

Basically this. Nothing is for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I learned that Oscan nominees will receive goody bags worth 100k tonight. I understand that they’re hard working and deserve their success and riches but I think 100k in gifts for already very wealthy individuals is so excessive.


I grew up middle class but my parents made a lot of sacrifices to send me to a private school with Uber rich kids. That was hard. Just seeing how easy life was for them and how privileged they were.

I don’t know why I feel almost...resentful? Even though of course it’s theirblife and they should enjoy it. It just bugged me how they were in a bubble and assumed their life was normal.

The "goody bags" should be taxable income:
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2016-02-09/the-taxability-of-oscars-gift-bags

+1 -- This is the real issue -- it's not about whether rich people are annoying; it's about whether they're paying their fair share of taxes. Remember Warren Buffett's argument for tax reform: a system that taxes his secretary at a higher rate than him is broken.