We don't work to make money anymore- addendum
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Winter
 March 03 2025
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    In the previous piece I wrote about the barbell distribution of people not having to work.  This included the people who were "upper class", that is, were so rich that they didn't have to work, and those who were poor but didn't have to work because they were being supported by the fat of the government, aka, you and me, via taxation and inflation. 

    The thought was that not having to work was a reward for working hard.  It was the goal and yet, ironically, those that didn't work for it had the same reward.  How cynically ironic.

    The question is: why are these 2 groups of non-working people so different?  The answer isn't about what they are not doing (working) but how they got there.  The How is so important.  I remember as a psychiatric resident sharing an apartment with my brother.  Across the hall was a couple who had lived in their apartment for 20+ years.  They told us how they were able to afford the apartment because they had a special reduced rate.  The building, in order to qualify for some tax advantage, had to dedicate a small percentage of apartments for low income residents.  

    The people across the hall were actually quite nice.  And they had made their apartment into a beautiful home.  But they were probably paying about 10% of what we were paying.  And the only way I know this was because the man had told us.  He wasn't proud of that.  He just said it.

    From a religious perspective this is like the idea of eating "the bread of shame".  

    As per google AI:

    "Bread of shame" is a term used in Jewish and Kabbalistic thought to describe receiving something without earning it.

    Our apartment at the time was expensive.  We complained, like all NYers, that their rent was crazy.  But we were proud that we felt like we kinda made it, like George Jefferson.  

    What you have means something based on how you see it, most importantly.  So the desire to "make it" financially and then have something to show for it - there is nothing wrong in that or amoral.  There isn't.  If it makes someone else jealous to see what you have, that is their problem, not your's.  They are not supposed to covet their neighbor's belongings, commandment #10.  It doesn't say, "Thou shalt not have things for fear of making your neighbor jealous."  

    But when you don't earn something and not only can shame happen but then people can suffer from, "the more you feed it, the hungrier it gets", aka entitlement.  This is the worst psychological state to be in.  It is the opposite of feeling thankful.  

    The person that the government spoiled and the person that was spoiled by his parents have a lot in common, interestingly.  I remember when I was in college going out with friends in the city.  A friend of mine who didn't have a pot to piss in and was 100+% supported by his parents would give out twenties to homeless people- this was back in the early 1990s when $20 was probably worth more like $50 or more today.  He would just give them out to people and I was like, "Wut??".  Today that person is a democrat.  

    A few months ago I wondered who democrats were.  You have these champagne socialists and people that literally depend on the government to pay their rent, food, etc.  Both groups have in common that they didn't work.  The workers, whether they made minimum wage or a good wage, worked hard and knew what that was.  These were the tax payers and voted for Trump.

    But people living off the fat of the land (the government) or the fat of the dad- these people didn't mind violating the first principle of morality- the ends do not justify the means, aka, "rules for thee but not for me".  If people need to be supported financially, it doesn't give the government the right to take it from someone working hard to support themselves and all that is their's (their family).  It just doesn't.  Compelled giving, aka, Theft, is not a right if it is done by the government or by a man on the street.

    So this is why people who made the money themselves are happier than those who didn't.  It is not about what you have at the end but the route you took to the destination that counts.  Why?  Don't ask me.  I just observe.  It is what it is.  It is fascinating to me.

    Ultimately, money is not the meaningful thing anyway.  It is the good deeds that we do here that earn us our bread in the hereafter, not the bread of shame.  Good deeds are the real currency, not dollars or gold or even  bitcoin.  Tell G-d about your bitcoins at the pearly gates and He'll say, "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"  He's looking for real currency. 

    religion g-d trump money taxes morality entitlement justice right wrong
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