Do you invest in the future?
Aug 19th, 2006 by Sean
The other day I was reading an article in American Way, the corporate magazine that American Airlines stuffs into the little pouch on the back of the seat to numb your brain while they delay your flight. Anyway, it was a personal finance article talking about little quips of wisdom that some seemingly randomly chosen investment bankers keep handy. One of them was
Rich people invest in the future. Poor people invest in Saturday.
The article then went on to extol the virtues of rich people and their glorious wisdom. You see, it was the opinion of the banker and of the American Way author that the reason that rich people are rich and poor people are poor is because rich people invest in the future, instead of just blowing all their cash on a good time on Saturday. See? Poor people are poor because they deserve it! They’re poor because spend all their money on bowling and booze on Saturday night! My thought was
You condescending bastards.
Did these jerks ever stop to consider that the reason that rich people have the ability to think about investing in the future is because they already have enough money to cover their daily needs AND their weekend entertainment? Sure, people can get richer or poorer depending upon how they save, but here’s the rub: You have to have money to save money. I’m not interested in the guy that’s never able to advance himself because he can’t manage to tuck away some of his extra dollars. I’m talking about poverty. Poor people. Poverty means that you have to decide between paying rent or buying groceries. Investing in the future simply doesn’t enter into that equation.
So does the wonderful “wisdom” of our fat little investment banker really explain poverty and wealth in this world? I don’t think so, but I do think that a lot of wealthy people keep that wisdom handy to excuse them from having to worry about it.
One Response to “Do you invest in the future?”
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Well, shit. With attitudes like that it’s no wonder that we’re experiencing an ever-growing divide between rich and poor in this country. From where I sit:
I enjoy my life in the safety of my home, with my healthy children, my supportive and loving spouse, wondering what we’ll have for dinner (home-assembly or dining out tonight?) drive my fancy car to where ever it is that I want to go, complain about the price of gas but fill-it-up anyway, take the time to think and discuss and reflect on world issues, religion, politics, disability, anything.
And then I go to work.
I’ve only been back for a week now after 4.5 years home with my kids (talk about a luxury), but reality knows no breaks.
I work to help feed people. I’ve done it before, I’m doing it again. These are people that have, in the vast majority of cases, done everything “right” in their lives. They have families they love, enjoy celebrations and free-time. Yet they don’t get much of that in between working 3 jobs that pay minimum wage, hoping their children made it safely home from school on their own, and wondering where the f*** their next meal is going to come from. Because even though they might have 3 jobs, they still have to use a car b/c public transport in our fair city BLOWS, they still don’t have private health insurance, and they have to decide between paying bills or feeding their kids.
And what about the elderly–the forgotten souls that are GRATEFUL to encounter one friendly, patient face all day long–oh, and eat a hot meal, too.
All of these people have contributed to our society, often doing the things that “we” don’t want to do: clean houses, provide the meat for our hamburgers, keep our neighborhoods garbage-free.
I don’t care what anyone says–ours is a ruthless society that strives for perfection (whatever that means). “You say you’re poor? It’s your own damn fault. You’re lazy.” “Your child has a disability? Couldn’t you have done something about that?”
If perfection is a state in which “all is well,” I glady take imperfection, where life is a little more unpredictible, where people work to help one another and ask for nothing in return, where “high-class’ problems are recognized as such (“Mmmm…what color should I paint our bedroom THIS month?”), and where everyone–EVERYONE–is treated with the dignity, respect and compassion they just deserve, regardless of ability, opinion, religion…or the size of their investment portfolio.