A friend recently brought up the issue of insufficient salaries. It’s funny because, after 16 years of school in what many consider the most prestigious university in the country, I still feel like I haven’t learned a thing, that I’m just starting to figure out how the world really works, that all of the lessons I’ve learned mean jack shit. Despite all the years we’ve devoted to studying, despite the high marks that we’ve studied so hard to earn, it’s still not a guarantee of high pay. It still seems to be a matter of luck.
Donald Trump and Robert Kiosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad) have a new book out on success (Why We Want You to be Rich). In it, he says that the middle class is shrinking, that soon the gap between rich and poor will only widen.
It was something very clear to me in all of the lifestyle events I’ve been attending. Who, after all, has the time and money to enjoy a lifestyle but the affluent. The most recent, a regatta in one of the most plush ‘second home’ beach side communities, reveled in sailing yachts, drinking good wine and investing in a growing trend in real estate, one that will only gain value over time.
I had to ask myself who has the money to pay for all this? Not only do you pay for the exorbitant price of the lot, you will pay for building the house (it HAS to be built within three years) and after that, you continue to pay community or association dues. It’s the same story for all the upcoming ‘lifestyle’ developments — second homes, leisure activities, early retirement, spend, spend, spend…
There's no more 'ideal place for a family in between fiscal classes'. That doesn't sound good to investors now does it.
And yet here I am, realizing I’m spending more than I’m earning, my savings dwindling, and the dream of ever restoring my car to show quality slowly fading. Heck, I’m pretty damn sure I won’t be able to afford a new house in my lifetime. So I guess I know where I'll end up. I chose the 'virtuous' path of a starving writer after all.
Back to Mr. Trump’s book, he mentions that today’s generation has what we call an “entitlement mentality” — people who expect their countries, employers, or families to take care of them.
Of course, back in college, I learned in Philosophy of Ethics that the wealthy owe a community for their success. You can read it up in the Nichomachian Ethics. It's only expected of them to contribute to society through public works, out of their own pocket. It’s their way of giving back, a kind of debt of gratitude for the fortune that society has allowed them.
That made sense, I thought back then… struggling to find a real world example of such, in the midst of my professor's ranting about how spoiled we are, and how doing homework shouldn't be rewarded.
Capitalism = 1, Academe = 0
The same thing keeps happening, this entitlement mentality, in a field where I thought there wasn’t much to learn, that all of these things came natural, that all of the good advice you’ve received from family and friends would help.
That you give respect to earn it back. If you asked nicely, it would be handed to you. Quid Pro Quo, or something like that.
Again, it’s a counter-intuitive craft. My friends and I were talking just the other night. Getting far in the game involves defying all of the good rules that society and morals have set. You have to be pushy, inconsiderate, and selfish. Show that you care and they’ll walk all over you. They push, you push back harder, or just don't give a fuck and move on to the next project.
Dwelling in history solves nothing. Of course, we all know that history tends to repeat itself. But nevermind that. It's just something I learned in school after all.
I’m trying hard to pipe down and suck it up, to keep trying and not give a fuck what everyone else says, to remember what works, and toss everything else to the side, regarding them as simply chance or a plain fuck up. Single serving as Tyler Durden says.
What I hate to admit is that it all starts to make sense when you think like a selfish son of a bitch.
