Monday, November 8, 2010

Money

In class on Friday we talked a lot about economic security of individuals and the country, what makes us feel economically secure, as well as how economic security fits in with national security. There was one point that someone (I don't remember who) made during class that I'd like to discuss. They said that a person who was just making enough to make ends meet but pretty much has no chance to of losing their job or something would be and feel more financially secure than someone who is making a lot of money but has a higher chance of losing it. To some degree, that makes sense, but I don't think it's true. First of all, a person making a lot of money, even if that money was not stable, would at least be able to do pretty well while they had that money, and also have the ability to save up money in case something does go wrong. On the other hand, someone who is making just enough to make ends meet would not be able to save, and because of that probably feel much less financially secure than someone in the other category. Even though logically, the person who reliably makes just enough is more financially secure, it doesn't mean that they feel that way. In my experience, the more money you have to spare, the more financially secure you feel, even if your situation could easily change. 


I really don't like thinking about money. Unless I'm getting my paycheck, in which case thinking about it makes me happy. But I hate how much it affects everything we do and everything we are. And I really hate when people take it for granted that they'll always be wealthy, or if not wealthy, at least never have financial problems. Here on the northwest side of DC, you don't see how much of a difference there is in the distribution of wealth. You don't see the homeless here, you don't see the people who struggle to get by on minimum wage. You don't see the families of 8 crammed into tiny 2-bedroom apartments. And while in some ways, it's more pleasant to not see these things, I kind of wish that I still did see them on a regular basis. Here I feel so far removed from the real world. Back at home, I would be constantly reminded that there were people worse off than me, but here I start feeling like I'm at the bottom of the economic ladder because I have to work 2 jobs just to buy enough clothes and to pay my mom back for the little bit of tuition she could afford. It's hard here to see that I'm actually doing better than a lot of people in this country. I wish I could see it more often. I don't like forgetting about reality. 


Also, Erin shared this on Facebook, but I'm reposting it here because I thought it was kind of relevant to my post. 

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