Trashy If You’re Poor But Classy If You’re Rich

In a world that is divided by race, gender, sexual orientation, and whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza; we must be sure not to forget the primordial social divide.

Money.

We all know that people with an enormous amount of wealth are afforded a certain amount of privilege on a daily basis that some live their entire lives without ever even being aware of. However, there is also something to be said about the significant collective differences between even the upper middle class and the lower middle class.

Not only does money bring opportunity, but it also shifts perspective and perception.

What’s the difference between a flower and a weed? Perception. A sweet sentiment I’m sure. However, looking at it the other way around; we all have to accept the fact that perception can also make a weed look like a flower if it’s surrounded by enough money and social status.

What’s trashy if you’re poor but classy if you’re rich?

Lots of things. Today I’m going to be discussing a couple of them.

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Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

“Let’s get breakfast tomorrow morning! Let’s order mimosas!”

Oh so your idea of a perfect morning is chugging copious amounts of overpriced champagne with your best friends at 9:00 a.m.?

Oh so your role model is that dude that works on Wall Street that’s savagely addicted to snorting cocaine on his lunch break?

Oh so you’ll still judge that homeless drug addict just because he smokes crack instead of downing overpriced prescription Xanax at his executive corporate job?

So your idea of success is that 45 year old accountant smoking heroin in his office bathroom yet you’ll still turn your nose up at that meth addict on the street corner?

Cool. Cool. Cool.

Drug addiction is somehow idolised for people over a certain tax bracket (hilarious choice of words since rich people don’t even pay their taxes half the time- stay tuned for that discussion later on this list), yet substance abuse is still considered ‘cheap’ for poverty-stricken people.

Why is the bored housewife swimming in copious amounts of tequila before noon that drunkenly exclaims “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!” considered the epitome of elegance and sophistication, yet the twenty-something drinking a couple of beers in their apartment considered ‘cheap?’

So that 60 year old Ponzi-scheme running rich dude smoking Cuban cigars in his mansion is just so classy yet you find the old man smoking a cigarette disgusting and ignorant?

And let’s not even try to pretend like race has nothing to do with people’s perception of drug addiction. That’s a discussion for another time.

Tax Evasion

There are all sorts of weird loopholes and potential deductions that wealthy people can take advantage of that don’t benefit the poor.

In fact, Warren Buffet once proudly declared that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary. Can you imagine your billionaire boss paying less income tax than you- his employee working at an entry level job? It’s just incredibly frustrating.

Extremely wealthy people like Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are able to make their official salaries an extremely minuscule amount like $1 because they can afford to keep their wealth stored in own companies.

In fact, the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) currently audits so called ‘poor’ Americans at the same rate as the top 1%.

The salary scam is just one of their options.

Just because these random rich dudes can afford not to take a salary from their own conglomerate corporation, they get away with not paying their taxes.

Let’s get this straight- the people that can actually afford to pay their taxes can simply choose…not to?

Don’t even get me started on those weird teenagers that idolise them for it. P.S- reading that one personal finance book doesn’t put you on a pedestal anywhere near these billionaires.

Also, just in case you didn’t realise- Jeff Bezos isn’t going through Instagram comments to see who’s furiously defending him, so you can press pause on that job offer you thought was going to turn up in your inbox.

I guess having an experienced accountant that can help you with tax evasion is just the classiest thing ever.

Collecting vs. Hoarding

Rich people have extensive, lavish ‘collections.’ Poor people have disgusting, unaccounted-for piles of hoarded garbage.

Once again, the rich old dude with random glass trinkets is a ‘collector’ but the twenty-something that likes vintage comic books is a ‘hoarder’?

You can even see the difference between how this monetary divide plays out in traditional media depiction. Along the lines of the ways people are treated in reality shows like ‘Hoarders‘ vs ‘Collectors.’

Don’t get me wrong. Hoarding is a serious behavioural issue that is closely associated with mental health. Hoarding behaviour can be linked to depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

So I’m not saying that every person that likes to collect stuff is automatically a hoarder. I’m just saying that you’re more likely to incorrectly label someone as a hoarder if they’re collecting cheap stamps instead of Fabergé eggs.

Vintage vs. Hand Me Down

For centuries, it has been customary for some families to pass clothing down through generations, especially for siblings, as an effort to save money.

Ah yes, the wretched ‘hand me down’ curse.

For those of you without siblings, this phenomenon might have manifested itself in the form of shopping at thrift stores. You know, out of necessity?

However, this all changed a couple of years ago when rich Youtubers decided to turn ‘thrifting’ into a trend. Now, ‘thrifting’ has become so completely and utterly trendy that the people that used to shop at thrift stores out of absolute necessity are unable to find quality clothing anymore.

The people that shop at thrift stores because they literally can’t afford to shop anywhere else have been mocked, shunned and berated for decades; yet when the rich white Youtuber decides to profit off of it, it’s all of a sudden acceptable?

That teenage girl wearing her mom’s old clothes is only considered “vintage” if it has a designer label hanging off of it huh?

It seems that ‘thrifting’ is only trendy when you can afford not to.

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Thank you for reading! What do you think about today’s discussion? What, in your opinion, is trashy if you’re poor but classy if you’re rich? Let me know what you think in the comments!

You can check out my last few posts here:

• The Scariest Things That Actually Exist
• borrowed poems from an anonymous- ‘Expressions of Love’ and ‘Experience’
• The Horror of Surveillance
• Pet Peeves
• Happy Panda- Random Blogger Interviews

Until Next Time.