"rich" people

Over the last few weeks, I've had a couple encounters with people who have made comments related to "rich" people. I've head these types of comments for years, but I've been thinking more about them of late. These are comments that hint of anger, jealousy and outright disdain towards people who have wealth. I've never understood this attitude. Maybe I've been lucky but all of the "rich" people I've been around have almost all been fantastic people.

In my own life by American standards, I've been very poor and very rich and now consider myself somewhere in between. In terms of the standards that really matter to me, I'm wealthy beyond description now given the wonderful family I have. My point being, I've lived with no income and no cash in pocket and I still never resented people who had everything and then some. And when I've had cash to spare, it never really changed who I was, except that maybe I was more charitable with money and gave more away than at other times in my life. So, I just have trouble with statements like "I could never imagine that kind of life" or "some rich guy did so and so". In every instance that I've ever heard someone say that, the person saying these things would likely be "richer" than 75% of the world's population. I guess this leads into more of class envy than anything else.

I remind my wife often that if you always compare yourself and your situation to people that have more money than you, you will always feel poor and underprivileged. However, if you turn around and look at the world around you, most people go through the same challenges you do and many are much worse off. You can always find people with more assets and more wealth than you but those shouldn't be the metrics by which you judge your own life. That is a recipe for certain failure. If you choose to, you can always find people around you with less wealth than you too.

I have many friends who are multi-millionaires, I even know a few billionaires, and for the most part, they all are wonderful people. In fact, most of them, you couldn't even tell they are wealthy just sitting next to them on the plane or at a restaurant. Most have kids and are your typical families. The main difference being they don't sweat the small things in life, mainly because they don't have to. They do struggle with discipline for their children, bad airline connections, traffic on the highways and a whole host of other day to day challenges that we all face.

I think people tend to forget that they are people too and have families just like the rest of us. Maybe I am so fond of the Yellowstone Club simply because that place is built and designed around letting families be families. Every time I'm there, I find kids running around having a great time, parents relaxing and not worrying about their kids and people in general just being themselves. The membership is by and large made up of self made wealth and is a bit of a younger population than typical populations of wealthy people. I think that lends itself to a better environment all around. Yet people who don't know that or don't understand label it as "the playground for billionaires" when in fact, its primary purpose is to let families enjoy themselves with some privacy. Lets face facts, there is a higher probability of kidnapping and extortion when people have deep pockets. The privacy afforded by the Club simply lets people be people without worrying about stuff like that. Of course there are lots of other benefits of that place but to me and many of the members I know, that is the primary reason for their being there.

I also occasionally hear "rich" people referred to as "rich snobs" and I suppose that mainly comes from some of the exclusive memberships people with wealth participate in. Things like the country club or private beaches or whatnot. However, I'd like to point out that there is a population of "rednecks" out there that are just as exclusive and just as snobbish, just in different ways. Maybe they don't see themselves as being in a glass house when they point their fingers at the "rich snobs"?

So, in the end, why do people in general have such a disdain for people with wealth? Is it simply because they themselves don't have monetary wealthy? Is it because they squandered opportunities or never walked through doors when they might have had a chance to become financially successful? This is America and I have yet to see laws written the keep anyone from reaching success. Yes, it is hard, very hard at times and takes guts, endurance and willingness to take risk (and a certain amount of luck doesn't hurt), but in the end, everyone has the chance to strike it rich in this country. I think it is more important for people to find happiness with what they have in their lives. If they allow the bitterness of looking at greener grass across the street to hold their focus, they are setting themselves up for a lot of disappointment in their life.

So here's to a new year full of hope and optimism. Follow your dreams and passions and don't worry about what the person standing next to you has, make your own destiny.