I live in India and I am pretty poor, I hope to be middle-class/upper-middle class someday, but I have noticed something sinister from some people who are extremely privileged, they can be still be bought with money.
Lack of money makes you desperate, and paranoid, and comparison drives you crazy, hard to be morally perfect as a poor man, but I see actors who have made insane amounts of money on the backs of their Indian fans like Shahrukh Khan, Canada Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Hrithik Roshan and many more who are well-respected in the industry and who still can sell their own fans financial ruin (gambling) or death (Tobacco) in ads. I thought the point of being rich was that you could be more moral, what is the use of getting rich if you use your influence and fame to do more harm than good?
Also, all the actors mentioned above have made numerous movies about patriotism, many in their private conversations like to brag how much they “love their country… blah… blah… blah”, but yet they feel ok selling Tobacco to their fans who made them what they are.
I have a cousin who worships Shahrukh Khan and who took up Pan(Tobacco) because he was naive and because he probably thought it was “cool” since his favorite actor (on whom he has modeled all aspects of his life was selling tobacco), thankfully we were able to get him off that a few years ago, but he spent money like water and he gained worse health for it. He got off easy, many suffered financial ruin or even death. So, when is it fucking enough!? When will these people have enough money?
edit: It’s just not India, it happens everywhere (just watch CoffeeZilla to see more prime examples of this) Also, I am not saying I am perfect, if someone gave me an insane amount of money to sell Pan, I will, judge me if you will. But, I like to think if I had “enough” money, I would be immune to the attractions of blood money, I like to think I can try to be as moral as I can be then, but these people almost make me think that there is never “enough” money.
The rich will never have enough money and we will all suffer to that end.
It never is. It’s the same everywhere too.
I once read on the Internet if you’re dependant on income you are poor. I think that is a perfect definition, because it removes the rivalry between all, well, slaves.
By money count I am possibly rich in direct comparison to you. Yet here I am, requiring income for my family and me to survive alone, additionally being bound by long term costs.
So it’s basically the same for all of us (albeit with different numbers and different conditions) except for a handful who can do what they want.
If you’re interested in details in my case hit me up by pm.
People can be satisfied and have enough, but those people are generally not CEOs or famous actors. Read @Azzu@lemm.ee comment for someone who thinks they have enough money
Epicureanism teaches that you will never have enough money, enough fame, enough influence, so chasing after those will never make you happy. Instead, you should focus on fulfilling your needs and fixing problems in your life, getting enough to eat, enough sleep, surrounding yourself with friends and enjoying the small things in life. When you’re unburdened by needs, you reach long-lasting happiness.
So to me, that means earning enough to fulfill your needs is enough, especially if you don’t have to worry about losing your job any time soon
Oooh look at Epicure over here, just casually getting in his 8 hours of sleep. Brag more king.
On a serious note, the capitalists have commercialized all of this. Getting enough to eat might be doable with a meager income technically, but eating well and healthy is expensive. Getting a good bed in a nice living space that facilitates rest well costs a fortune. So you need two middle class plus jobs to afford it for yourself and your partner, which comes with its own set of stressors.
The small things in life are also actively commercialized. A coffee with friends? Better save up for the chain cafe prices. A movie night in? Remember to pay your Netflix subscription. A hike? Gotta pay for gas to get there, depending on where you live. I’m not saying it’s impossible to have small things for free/cheap, it’s just not that easy. There’s also going to be constant social pressure, through advertisement or influencers, first or secondhand, to do all the things they tell you will make you more happy. You’ll have to actively resist that, which in turn can cause you to become distanced from your social circle.
God forbid you get sick, the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry will fleece you and in some countries leave you with crippling debt, making all of the above out of reach for you.
All of this to say: money isn’t just something you have to chase after for the sake of it in our current society, it’s an absolute necessity to try to have more than what you think you actually need in the moment to get by and enjoy the small things. It might sound cliche, but “society is like stacked against us, man” is actually a completely true statement.
Bollywood actors aren’t moral agents. They’re all assholes, all from upper-caste Sindhi, Punjabi and Tamil background, and the new talents emerge from nepotism, which is why today’s Bollywood, once revered in the entire Global South, has gone to dog-shit. These actors have used loop-holes in the system to amass wealth.
How Shahrukh Khan’s Family Is SECRETLY Scamming India (while we are busy watching Jawan Trailer)
How Sunny Deol Is Secretly Scamming India (while we are busy watching Gadar 2 and its success party)
If you just watch movies from the 40s and 60s in India, you’ll be surprised to see how pro-communist Bollywood was. You know, movies like Awaara and Namak Haraam. I mean, to be honest, the communists had almost five chances to form the government with Jyoti Basu as the prime minister, but fuck him and his ideological purism.
You get to define your own sense of what “enough” money is. Many people will never have enough.
The philosopher Diogenes was sitting on a curbstone, eating bread and lentils for his supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king. Said Aristippus, “If you would learn to be subservient to the king, you would not have to live on lentils.” Said Diogenes, “Learn to live on lentils, and you will not have to cultivate the king.”
I like to reference Maslows Hierarchy of needs for a different perspective of personal value.
I learned this the hard way for myself.
I’ve lived on the street defending myself against violence, and growing gnawingly more hungry every day, and dealing with sleep deprivation from always being moved along.
I’ve also been a senior software developer at a company that broke promises to me, and I smiled and ate that shit for the money and also to “grow up” and be less naive and idealistic. Also, I started breaking promises to them too.
When I lived on the street I was happy and whole, despite the discomfort. When I was working that dev job I went to the hospital twice with stress-related issues I thought were going to kill me, and separately, shelled out over $7k on neurofeedback training to reduce my beta wave amplitude and cut down on my panic attacks.
That learned me good. I am done sacrificing my integrity for any material comfort. It simply does not work. My body was suffering despite the cushy conditions around me. I was uncomfortable in my own skin, and not in a trivial way. I was fucking ill from that.
Long story short, I realized the reason to stand up and face the cavalry is that it hurts less to die fighting than it does to die running away.
There’s nothing wrong with the lesson here but this sounds fake. Those are the two most superficial stereotypes of class life with no explanation how you bridged that gap. There is a big jump in happiness when you no longer have to worry about making ends meet. From there, you just have to not get caught up in consumer envy.
But hey this is the internet so who knows
Well I’m sorry it sounds fake. Stories about my life often do because I have a weird combinaron of characteristics that lead to weird situations, leading to a density of adventures that most people find simply unbelievable.
Also, if it’s fake there’s definitely something wrong with the lesson. Nobody should be making shit up to teach lessons. Lessons need to come from the truth.
