Class struggle: the 1%

I grew up poor. It was okay, as we got out of the house and went to parks (free), the beach (free), the country (my grandparents) and stores (window shopping). Things weren't perfect, of course, and sometimes things got scrappy, but it never stopped us from enjoying life. Nevertheless, we learned a code of ethics as we grew up, based mostly on common sense, decency and conscience. We learned to share. Even if we didn't want to, we had to. While there was always something we preferred to keep to ourselves, after awhile, we found we couldn't hoard something while someone else went without. Many rich kids don't understand that--what's theirs is theirs, and what's yours is also theirs. We learned to be kind. Too often, some other living being is in a worse off position than our own, and it doesn't hurt to offer them a hand, and be good to them. It helps your karmic destiny, and it helps a fellow being. Kindness is underrated for so many people above a certain station. They never really understand why they need to be kind to anyone. We learned to be polite. Good manners aside, it's always right to respect your elders, say "please" and "thank you" and "have a good day." Sometimes your politeness might be the only spirit of goodwill someone receives all day. Politeness to anyone under their class level is ludicrous. Why should they be polite to their servants and other workers? We learned to be hopeful. We knew that hard work and persistence could create a world we would be comfortable in--nothing fancy, but a home and a lack of worry about basics. We might not have a mansion and a fleet of Ferraris, but the world we knew held promise, and we wanted to get that promise. Comfort is something many rich people don't have. The comfort many of us look for is beyond their comprehension. They are never comfortable. They are always filled with dissatisfaction, wanting, more, more more. They fall in love with their things and the power they hold, and forget about the small things which make most of us happy. We learned to find happiness when and where we could. It meant that it wasn't the big things which kept us going, it was the small things. A hug. Stroking the fur on a pet. Watching a TV show that made us think, or laugh, or invigorated us. Smiles. Memories. A sea shell on the beach. A box of crayons. A Thanksgiving turkey. A Christmas present just for us. I guess after a while, happiness becomes irrelevant when you no longer know what makes you happy. Too much of a good thing, and all that. A person becomes quite jaded living in a world where you are lost, and don't know what you are looking for. There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, near the end when Voldemort and Dumbledore are combating each other in the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort is trying to get Harry to go over to the dark side. Harry, in the throes of being possessed, tells Voldemort that he feels sorry for Voldemort, because he will never know love, or friendship or any other "feel good" emotion. THIS is the 1%. They are frightened little children. They need power because they have nothing else at all. They will never learn what it's like to be excited over a day at the public beach, or putting a sea shell up to your ear and listen to the ocean. They will never know what it's like to get a bicycle only half put together on Christmas morning. They will never know what it feels like to excited about their first real paycheck. They will never understand all the joys of being be happy over the small things as much as the big things. They end up being aimless, only living to acquire more--more money, more power, more influence, more danger and anything else that can pierce the thick skin of their indifference. With privilege comes boredom. With privilege comes an inescapable apathy over the human condition. Sometimes, we have to feel sorry for them, but sometimes, we need to make them see whose red blood keeps this country--and all the others in the world--running, and who is really in charge. Perhaps we can teach them some humility along the way, and show that money isn't everything.