Reply to A massive income required to live the idealized american dream around here?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The flip side to this is what does it feel like to be wealthy? Most people coming from middle class or lower class expect perks like never having to clean, cook, do maintenance, yard work. Likely you can do less of this. For example, I’ve hired people to deep clean for 20 years. But I’m still the one getting stains out of my kids’ clothes and making dinner every night. I still call the hospital and go through their bills by line item. You can have 8 figures worth of assets and your actual day-to-day won’t differ much from Clarissa Explains it All or any other TV show about a “typical” middle class family.

What these people do forget in their disappointment of not getting “perks” they thought they would get they still have economic security, choices and luxuries beyond others including healthcare and education.

The problem is Hollywood. And healthcare and education. Hollywood presents a world ignorant of the latter. It also sells an image of the rich being private jet rich, where rich really means able to afford high quality health care, education and relative economic security.[/quote]

Youve basically stated being rich is what middle class was in the 90s[/quote]

Sort of. But also I think there was more class separation and less cross-class discussion in the 90s. In the 90s being a multimillionaire was considered rich, but multimillionaires were still cooking, cleaning and driving their kids to school. I think there’s always been a fantasy of wealth as being like nirvana or heaven or this wonderful land of luxe. That really doesn’t match up to the income and assets required for that life.

I do think in the 90s healthcare and education were more manageable. So two teachers might have had more economic security.

It’s really going back to the 40s when two teachers had a life more similar to a CEOs. Keep in mind even then that the CEOs life looked pretty Donna Reed.

We have a messed up idea of how the wealthy live. That confuses what’s going on with the two teachers who are actually middle class.[/quote]

Sort of? I actually think you overestimate the degree to which people assume wealthy people just have no problems or that everyone who is wealthy lives like a billionaire. But I think most people understand there are degrees of wealth and that the rich neighbor who could afford the nice renovation and put in a pool is not living the way that Taylor Swift lives. I don't think most middle class people think "oh if only I had a million dollars, then I'd never have to work again." Some, sure. Most people understand it doesn't work that way.

I think more broadly our culture is sort of broken in terms of what we value, and this results in a divide between (1) what signifies wealth to other people, and (2) what wealth actually is. Our hyper-capitalist, hyper-commercialized society is very obsessed with signifiers of wealth, whether designer goods, large homes, nice cars, or access to things like first class. Celebrity culture really exacerbates this and a lot of working and middle class people are obsessed with wealth signifiers and waste a lot of money buying into them so they can "feel" rich. The fervor around travel falls into this as well -- the obsession with traveling to certain places and posting certain kinds of photos to prove you are a certain kind of person.

But in reality, wealth is about security and comfort. Not about branding. Being wealthy means not worrying about being destitute in retirement, knowing if you or one of your kids gets sick, you can afford to get the help you need. It means not having to leverage heavily to afford really good quality, comfortable housing, so not only is your living standard higher but it is impervious to threat -- you don't have to worry about a job loss or a medical emergency risking your access to good quality housing. Sure, as a wealthy person you are still doing laundry, making a lot of your own meals, dealing with mundane tasks. But you do these things from a place of economic comfort and security that makes everything easier. And when you do run into a task that is onerous or stressful, you generally have the option of outsourcing it. Look at these forums -- there is not a single problem on here that couldn't be made easier or simply go away with enough money. Including stuff like family conflicts, mental health issues, etc.

Being rich is not about wearing Gucci and vacationing in Paris. It's about feeling so secure that you don't feel pressure to try and convince other people you are someone who can afford to wear Gucci and vacation in Paris.[/quote]

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