This time of year, it is customary to reflect on the things in our lives for which we should be truly thankful. During the holidays, we are reminded in song, family, and friendship to count our blessings. While it is true that we all have difficult times to endure from year to year, we must remember to think of all the wonderful things we experience every day! Then we can easily see how the day-to-day marvels bestowed upon us vastly outnumber the hardships that trouble us every so often.
This year I gave this ritual of reflection careful thought. After due consideration of all the pros and cons, I came to the remarkable conclusion that the thing I should be most thankful for is not being rich.
Say what?
Yeah. I mean it. The worst thing that ever could have happened to me (and probably anyone) would have been to be born rich or to become rich sometime thereafter. Let me explain.
First, consider what the bible says about it: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter Heaven. Now, on the assumption that there is a Heaven, it makes a lot of sense to want to go there after you die. Doesn’t it? Sure, it does. If the United States Supreme Court has six votes to rescind a woman’s right to abortion on the grounds that every one of those votes is a Catholic and thus fervently believes the bible is the word of God, then it seems like there is a compelling case for taking the eye of the needle metaphor seriously.
But let’s say you are not convinced that the bible is the word of God. You doubt that Heaven is a real place for our souls to rest forever and ever in blissful harmony with the Creator and the hosts of angels. In that case, perhaps your celebrating Christmas seems a little hypocritical. I mean Christmas is a religious holiday, isn’t it? So why are we reflecting about anything. Well, maybe there is room for ambiguity.
In any event, the reasons I am truly grateful for my limited financial resources are more secular than religious. Just take a look at what happens to rich people. I’ll start with someone born rich.
Donald Trump comes to mind. His dad made a fortune as a New York slum lord and gave most of it to Donald. Did it benefit him? I mean as a human being. He may have gotten himself elected President of the United States…but at what cost? He had to become the world’s most notorious liar. That is not a distinction I would like to have associated with my name. He got impeached twice and even some members of his own party voted for that. He mounted an insurrection against his own government and against the fundamental principles of democracy. He is facing ninety-one felony charges in four separate jurisdictions. Moreover, abroad he is not even admired by the cretins he idolizes. Leaders like Putin, Xi, Meloni, and Orbán think Trump is not much more than a useful idiot. People in general outside the US cannot believe that he remains popular at all at home. But worse still, he has developed a well-nown reputation for being a misogynistic sexual abuse addict. The verdict was rendered by a competent jury. Need I say more about him? It is not hard to find a good reason to deplore Donald Trump.
No sir. I wouldn’t want to grow up to be a human being like that. I am not saying poverty is the necessary alternative. Just eschew extravagance. A simple, orderly, and moderate life probably provides a fair amount of security against becoming a scandalous and odious rogue.
What about the self-made rich person? Well, I wish I could say that such people fare better. The evidence, however, seems pretty thin.
Take Elon Musk for example. He is reportedly the richest human alive today. He seemed to start out in pretty good shape. You could admire his entrepreneurial accomplishments—PayPal, electric cars, rocket ships! Even John Oliver noted them on his show a couple of weeks ago. But in recent years all his success has clearly taken a toll on Elon’s soul. It started small. One might think becoming a Twitter addict was a small trauma. But then he bought the entire company, fired eighty percent of its employees, and un-deplatformed Donald Trump and Alex Jones, not to mention giving a free hand to a lot of other ballistically insane propagandists.
Now Elon says he is doing this in the name of free speech. Sure, Elon. Everyone is buying that excuse. Not. And Elon himself came out with clear anti-Semitic applause in support of a white nationalist nut only to find even corporate America abandoning his vaunted advertising platform. This is not rational behavior.
It seems to me the explanation is that rich people have an ego problem. We all have one, but rich people cannot escape it because they pay the people around them too much. No one reminds them that they are just as flawed as the rest of us. But even if they are reminded, they are rich enough to ignore the ridicule with impunity.
You might think that you could point to some other people who have gotten rich or who were born rich but did not suffer the abysmal fates of Trump and Musk. But come on. Who are they?
Look, before there was Harry Potter, there was Mr. Potter, another Christmas character whose fate we should heed. What did he do? He stole eight thousand dollars from George Bailey’s bank because George’s uncle was too absent-minded to remember putting the money in Potter’s lap. But George was right about Potter. Rich Mr. Potter was a mean spirited, shriveled up old so-and-so. Owning nearly all of Bedford Falls did not help his humanity one little bit.
Face it. Everybody loves George Bailey. Everybody hates Mr. Potter. And rightly so. George aimed low and hit the mark. We like that. It is admirable and healthy.
I may not be as good a man as George Bailey, but no one has ever accused me of being a Potter, a Trump, or a Musk. Of course, my opportunities never really presented the prospects for their kind of prosperity. Boy am I grateful they never did. Because I am pretty sure if I had gotten rich, I probably would have become as big a bastard as those guys, maybe worse.
I tell you, brother, if I ever win the lottery, I am going to give it all to charity. I may not be so great, but, in my present condition, I can afford to avoid the temptation of thinking that sending human beings to live on Mars make sense. I can keep my mouth shut when the thought of defaming the victims of a mass shooting crosses my mind. I don’t have to run for the presidency to save my skin from prosecution.
Not being rich is a wonderful blessing.
Merry Christmas everybody! It’s a wonderful life—for most of us.
UFA
Don Hergumino
PS: Taylor Swift may some poverty come to your rescue before it is too late.