So I came across this random image today, and while the facts are interesting, what made me repost it is the argument one of the figures sparked in the comments — Oprah’s $523 per minute. Actually, I doubt it mattered whether the figure was $5.23 or $52,300, but rather the fact the Oprah, a self-made black woman, was chosen to represent American wealth in somewhat of a negative connotation, and not the white men who dominate the list of America’s wealthiest.
I personally don’t think too much of these things. Maybe I’m just culturally insensitive. Being a minority, I sometimes feel entitled to do so. There’s a fine line between asking others to respect one’s culture and taking people’s unintentional ignorance out of context. In this particular instance, why don’t people look at the big picture instead? Be amazed at what we have versus the rest of the world? Be grateful that we weren’t born into poverty or with birth defects? Be happy that we have food to eat and maybe think twice about ordering that extra dessert that we can’t finish (ok, totally guilty on this one)?
It’s too easy to think about how others have wronged us, and not how much we’ve been given.
The other topic I wanted to address from the comments is the idea that the wealth builds on wealth. Someone noted that looking at the Forbe’s rich list, the top ten people all had family money. Even Bill Gates, however self made, was from a wealthy family and provided a great education from a young age. I take it to imply that had he not been provided with such opportunities, maybe he would never have reached his full potentials.
And perhaps that is true. But can anyone confidently tell me, had he been given the same opportunities as Bill Gates, he can match or surpass what Gates has accomplished?
When I was younger, I spent my fair share of days wondering how much better life would have been if my parents were rich. I would be in orchestra playing fancy instruments like the violin. I would invite friends over without being embarrassed about our tiny apartment where I shared a room with my sister. I would be able to apply to any school I wanted without worrying about how to pay for it. In that sense I always carried with me a slight sense of resentment, and/or arrogance, during my four years at college. “I could do so much better,” I thought, somewhat bitterly.
I don’t know what gave me that false sense of elitism back then. Because the thing is, I never tried. It’s not like I got into Stanford or Harvard and rejected them because I couldn’t afford it, I didn’t even apply. Nor did I get straight As in all my classes at this “mediocre” university, in fact, I started off with a 3.4 that nearly cost me my scholarship. Was it really that I didn’t have the opportunity? Perhaps I just lacked the confidence to take it.
I share this story not because I think a first generation immigrant from a family where no one finished high school has the same opportunities as Bill Gates. I just think, before you blame your misfortune or mediocrity on others, perhaps you should first look at yourself. Bill Gates could have squandered his opportunities like many of the rich spoiled brats we see in the news (My Super Sweet 16 comes to mind). For the rest of us, time may be best spent thinking about how to use what we were given rather than praying for what we never had.
A friend and I once spent one evening amusing ourselves with studying the average household income in America. I was complaining I don’t get paid enough after looking at glassdoor.com and lamenting at how much more I would need to get paid to live in my favorite city. Then I took a look at the income percentiles and started calculating in my head how long it would take for me to make it to a certain percentile. I even went as far as to try and fit myself into an academically prescribed “social class,” before coming to my senses.
I think at one point in my life, I had a goal. A hazy one at best, but still, a goal. To know that I contributed to someone’s happiness, and through it, find my own contentment (I told you it’s hazy). At first I thought about teaching. Then for a while I thought it may be non-profit, or sustainability, or micro-financing. Then later maybe just a company that makes something I believe in. You may snicker at my lack of direction, but at least I’m searching, and in the process learning, about the world around me and more importantly about myself.
So something else happened in this one minute (ok, so it took me quite a few minutes to ramble). I learned a little bit about the world, and remembered something about myself that I keep losing sight of.
http://contexts.org/socimages/2010/01/30/20-things-that-happen-in-1-minute-graphic/#
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