Thursday, May 24, 2012

How many kinds?

I am not generally someone who believes there are two kinds of people. There are as many kinds of people as there are people. But uniqueness aside, there are sometimes issues that divide humanity into two sections. I think this US election has brought one of these to the surface. Envy.
The Republicans use this term to describe the unhappiness of those who are trying to change the inequality in our country. I believe this might be because of their viewpoint based on their own envy. People like Mitt Romney ARE driven by envy, by the desire to have at least as much, if not more, than the next guy. This is so deep in their nature they cannot imagine people who don't feel that way.
But many of us truly don't care how much someone else has, AS LONG AS we have enough. Enough to live a reasonable, comfortable life. We don't need or desire car elevators, just accessible transportation. We don't need five houses, just one decent one.
In fact, that is probably why we don't have anywhere near as much as Romney. We didn't have the intense drive to get there. But we still believe we deserve a decent life. It seems in this world, that means people who get paid 20 million dollars a year might have to give some of that back. Not because we envy them, but because all human beings deserve a decent life and because somewhere along the way, they could have shared the credit for their success a little differently. No matter what they tell themselves, they didn't get where they are alone.

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