Nah man, redefining things doesn’t work at all. I’m not wealthy. I’m pretty firmly middle class based on just about every definition of middle class that’s available to any sociologist on this planet. People ignorantly seem to think that middle class is tied to your salary or household income which is not the case.
I’ve got no problem with people seeing me living the life that I live. I grew up in a twice broken bankrupted household and I’m pretty damn proud of what my partner and I have been able to achieve. I live a pretty comfortable middle-class life and I try to help uplift the people around me so they can do the same.
I look around me and I see people struggling to achieve the middle class lifestyle that I’m grateful that I have but the fact that parts of society are falling behind doesn’t by default make me wealthy. If I were wealthy I wouldn’t have a mortgage or a host of other things that are currently saddling me financially. The people who can be categorized as wealthy are those who don’t need to work for a living and whose capital sustains them.
You might not agree with me but that doesn’t change. The facts are reality surrounding our individual financial situations.
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You are literally amongst the wealthiest people and are trying to create your own categories. Not working on me, and you barely seem like you’re convincing yourself.
S_204@lemm.ee 2 months ago
If I were wealthy I sincerely doubt I’d be driving my broken down Ford but you tell yourself whatever you gotta to alleviate your feelings of failure.
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You’re telling on yourself here … you think wealth is associated with success. You think I am just critical because I am jealous? I am critical because you downplay your privilege and then look down on others. Conservative, bootstraps way of thinking. You are benefiting from a system that requires impoverishment of other people, and you aren’t even willing to name your place in that system.
If your lifestyle is as you claim, then driving a broken down Ford sounds like a choice whereas for others, it would not be. Earlier you tried to gloat about having a couple of nice cars, going on vacation, living in a big house?
S_204@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I’m not telling on anything by being honest with you. I can’t afford a new car right now. In 2 or 3 years. I’ll have saved up enough to be able to afford one, but right now it’s simply not in my budget. I also can’t afford the kitchen renovation that I have planned. Can’t afford a lot of things that you seem to think the wealthy people can.
I can’t afford them because I’m a pretty firmly middle class household that can afford some of the nice things in life but not without working for them. Like the wealthy are able to. At no point am I downplaying my privilege. I’ve said a number of times even in these posts how fortunate that I am. That you think admitting to going on a vacation is gloating just reinforces your jealousy. We budget to be able to take a vacation. I read the other week that over 30% of Americans take multiple vacations per year. By you’re jealous framework, you’re claiming that they’re all wealthy, which is obviously an absurd thing to say or position to take. I’d chalk much of my fortune up to the fact that I’m not a moron with my money running around charging my life on a credit card, like the vast majority of people that you see around you today. I’m not benefiting from the exploitation of others any more than the manager at a McDonald’s is. I get paid for the work that I put out. I don’t get paid for other people’s work and I don’t get paid from real estate holdings or investments or any of the other wealth creating vehicles that the wealthy in our society utilize, if I had the ability to I certainly would but seeing as a middle class those avenues to earn are not available to me.
You’re accusing me of lacking critical thinking when you apparently don’t have the ability to think critically enough to budget your own life or to think critically enough to put yourself in a position where your paycheck will allow you to live the middle-class lifestyle that I happen to be able to live right now.
That you think my understanding my place in the social hierarchy is an attempt to make me look bad. Really demonstrates your lack of ability to think critically your poor emotional intelligence and your lack of overall social context… Which probably at least in part explains why you’re jealous of someone who’s living a middle-class lifestyle and probably why you’ll live in poverty for the rest of your sad life. Crabs in a bucket.