We started talking last night about how rich we are compared to the rest of the world. I sometimes wonder about this. When we have so much money that the WTO and the World bank could pay of debts around the world, doesnt there seem to be something wrong. I guess my blog isnt supposed to be about the WTO or the World bank and their $$$, I really wanted to focus on our personal lives. We live in such a rich nation that is it so hard for us to even try to look it is as outsiders. Think about it..just not too long ago Bill Gates visited a rural area in South Africa, it is a very poor village and he went to talk to the villagers. After he was done talking with one of the ladies he walked out of her hut, but his journalist stayed back and asked the lady, "do you know who was just talking to you?" The lady replied saying "no." Then the journalist said, "The man talking to you is the richest man in the world" The lady looked at the journalist and said, "He is from America, They are all rich over there." To this lady in South Africa we, who probably average an income of 25,000-60,000, are just as rich as Bill Gates who makes billions of dollars.
Think about it...How many nations are so rich that they can go into this room that they reserve just for their clothes which it is overwhelmingly full, and say, "I have nothing to wear."
How many nations are out there that in order to feel good about yourself the people, who can afford food, choose not to eat, or too eat soo much only for it to in turn be forced out of them in order to keep there shape.
How many nations say to their employees, "you have worked so hard for the past year, I am going to give you time off to go have fun, and better yet I will pay you to go have fun."
I have nothing against closets full of clothes, or vacations, I just want all of us to see how wasteful we are sometimes. Do you think that this affects us in any way?
Do you think that we steal from our employers? Lets say that one day you take a 5 min longer paid break. If you would do that everyday a week for the average 50 weeks a year working time that would add up to be $2,800 per person. I would like other peoples input on this, I just curious to what you all think about the riches of our nation.
This is a great blog. There are just a few little things that I would like to address. What does bulimia have to do with an entire country's wastefulness? Second, shouldn't you be rewarded for your hard work? I don't know if it is good to relate a paid vacation to wastefulness either. Also, when people have a closet full of clothes, and say, "I have nothing to wear." they are speaking in the context of what is appropriate wear for the situation. For instance, if you were invited to a wedding and your suit, or tux, or what have you, is unavailable, you wouldn't want to show up in a t shirt and jeans, or sweats. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Other than that, it seems pretty solid. Our country can be quite wasteful. If you don't mind me asking, who do you think is to blame for this problem? P.S. I'm willing to bet we won't be wealthy for long.
ReplyDeleteDrew, I agree with you, a few of the things I mentioned really dont seem to have a lot to do with our country's wastefulness as they stand alone, I was just trying to give some examples on how we do spend some our our money in wasteful ways..I think that we can blame ourselves probably for this?? Now this is just a possibility, but do you think that a reason for our wastefulness could be because most of the people from our generation havent had to live through a time were there were sanctions and meatless fridays and such..most of us havent been deprived of the things we need, or want...this is just an idea
ReplyDeleteI might go along with that idea. But I'm also sure that there are some who aren't to blame. These people would be those who have stood up for and done the right thing when it comes to issues such as our country's and even our own individual spending. Unfortunately, they aren't the always majority and it's easy to overlook them. Often times the men and women who believe in discipline and self control aren't very popular so they aren't always voted into authority on areas of government that need their help. It's human nature to want everything for the least contribution and greed runs in everyone's blood. We end up buying a ton of useless junk that we eventually decide to throw away and we spend even more trying to make life easy for the people who waste all of their money on the same crap. We'll be in a financial crisis worse than this one pretty soon, and all of our politicians will be scratching our heads as to how it happened. They'll be in denial about it but it will be all because of their decisions to make everything "fair" for the people who are taking advantage of things like social security and healthcare: people who are too lazy to get off their butts and work. These people are literally STEALING from every American that DOES pay his or her taxes. But everybody feels bad for the overweight person who can't get out of their bed to work. Well, they got that way because of their own decisions. How do you think it would affect the economy if every lazy person stopped taking government funds and started working?
ReplyDeleteSorry if I went on a bit of a tangent there.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good discussion. I think there are a large number of Americans that are greedy and think they deserve to have whatever they want. Of course there are also those that have some self control and resist from buying everything they want. If you think about it we have so much. There are kitchen gadgets for every different kind of food to make. We have a good jacket, a chore jacket, a spring jacket, etc. I know someone who just came back from Norway and she said everything there was just so simple. For lunch they ate a sandwich and tea. People didn't stuff themselves at meals. As Americans we have a lot of "stuff," we're always looking for something new. I think we are a rich country but not financially stable as a whole nation.
ReplyDeletei really liked that quote about Bill Gates and that lady from South Africa. We as Americans are so used to being able to get what we want, but yet, we still feel like we don't have enough. i can totally relate to the closet full of clothes example because i find myself saying that all the time (with the exception of after i have recently been shopping).
ReplyDeletesince i have never left this country--with the exception of Canada--i cannot fully grasp the lifestyles of people in poorer countries. i think it would be a good idea visit third world countries to kinda get an idea of how lavish our lifestyles really are
This is a very good argument. I personally, have more than some normal 18 year olds. I have such a full closet that I have had to extend it and havent ever really imagined life without it. I go on vactions at least three times a year. I also drive a new car and couldnt imagine going back to driving the old car that I had started out with. This is actually how alot of Americans think, and I am a very good example of it. I dont think that alot of people take a step back and look at how life would be without all these things that we view as normal that are something that would be somewhat of a "rich" person thing in countries like Africa and South America. This is an argument that has made me wonder how different things are and shows how much we take things for what they are but not what they should mean.
ReplyDeleteI can see how other countries perceive our nation to be rich compared to theirs. We do seem to have more luxuries and such, but really where has that gotten us. We are a pretty corrupt and vain country for the most part, but that is how we have reached the status of being the most powerful nation. We are also just as honorable as we are vain. When something catastrophic happens, we can really pull together and show great compassion. Its what makes us such a geat nation when you step back and see it through the eyes of someone that is not American.
ReplyDeleteBut break it down a bit further, in American standards, I am not very wealthy at all. I was raised in poverty and worked really hard to become part of the working middle class. I still work really hard to keep myself in that class in hopes that my sons will not have to struggle in the future as much as I am. Poverty still exists and I won't ever put my children through that. What makes me rich is just being American and given the opportunity to earn for myself and my family. I dont strive for fancy things like others do, because I dont care to struggle more than I need to. Just surviving and showing my kids good values is enough for me. For those not fortunate enough to have been born in our country and can only see the bigger picture of our nation, may God help them because it seems like we can barely help ourselves now.
I think that America is such a greedy nation.Like I always hear about how rich people own so much frivolous expensive stuff to simply show off their status; they spend money just because they are able to. Like I can't help but to remember about how Heidi Klum accidentally ripped a 10 million dollar bra. I can't understand why she would spend that much on a bra, when she could get one from a place like Wal-mart that can do almost the same thing. This is also true when talking about our clothing, cars, and accessories like coach purses. What a waste of money that could have gone to much better uses. We also hear about how people in some countries only make the equivalent to about 100 dollars a year. This is such a small amount that I'm surprised that people like Bill Gates don't donate more money than they already do. And since America is such a greedy country, I think that we too won't be given any help when we need it most. If we don't help out other countries when they are in need, then they won't help us in return.
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