Complaining about costs to people who are less fortunate is in bad taste
People should give up this practice as their New Year’s resolution, and then stick with it for always
I have lived in poverty for most of my life; 11 years of my childhood, and at least 20 years of my adulthood, and I am not even including the years I served as an AmeriCorps VISTA because that was voluntary poverty. I have experienced poverty despite getting an education, working hard, and serving my country. I likely suffer many of my health conditions because of growing up in poverty. My family struggled. My parents were both hard workers, but my dad worked in a service industry job for years until he got hired at the lowest paying division of a local paper mill. My parents spent many years in the lower middle class, or working class, which is about as high as I made it. Despite this, none of us ever complained much about the cost of things. However those around us who had more money would. They still do.
I know it might be asking too much for people to check their privilege, but what about counting your blessings? It is in incredibly poor taste to complain about costs when you make a six figure income and are sitting across a dinner table from someone who is legitimately poor (as in has an income of less than $15,000 for the year). What so many people need to do is to think before they speak. Learn to read a room. Don’t quibble about having your tax dollars help out less fortunate people. Christmas is really for the poor and the sick. I know that people like to say it is for children because they seem to enjoy it so, but it is the poor and the sick that require the compassion that so many can only muster once per year.
If you look at older pagan holidays, you can see a commonality shared among so many celebrations that occur this time of year. The themes of hope, light, rebirth… all of these are really tied to the promise that we will come out of these dark days, when so much plant life has died off or gone dormant, and enter a season where life springs anew. It is the poor and the sick who need that hope, and they don’t need people privileged with both health and wealth complaining about the costs of all the things they can still afford.
Maybe, in the spirit of the swear jar, people should put a few dollars in a gripe jar, and that money should be given to the people who really do have something to complain about but remain silent. But you know, I would just rather not hear the complaints. I often find myself wishing that President Biden would have just let this country enter into a recession. So few people seem to appreciate everything he has done for this economy, and don’t realize how they might’ve very well been out of a job and still been burdened with having to pay a lot for goods if not for his leadership. Many things have lead to inflation, but none more than consumption. Instead of complaining, people should be learning to live simply. They would probably be happier and find they have little to complain about.
I read an article awhile back about how there's never been a bigger gap between people's perception of the economy (really bad), and the actual health of the economy (actually pretty good). It probably has something to do with social media and the skewed reality presented there.
But, yeah, I do my best to count my blessings (I keep a gratitude notebook). Sometimes, it just doesn't work, though. Maybe over time I do feel better than I would otherwise, but it's hard to measure without a control "me" who didn't do the journaling.
I had some sticker shock when I first moved here from Japan. When I left, Japan still hadn't experienced any pandemic inflation. Everything still cost the same. Later, I found out that it's less a US thing and more that things are just more expensive in California. So, obviously, if I want to pay less, I can just leave the state. But, overall, I'm pretty comfortable not participating in consumerism, so I don't think it's a big deal, really.