Putting Things In Perspective

When it comes to defining what characterizes a life of privilege versus a life of poverty, it's all very relative. I mean, what defines a life of privilege? Is it having enough money to pay for your children's college tuition in full or buy a house in the Hamptons? Or is it simply having enough money that you can live comfortably within your own means, simply having enough money to live your life without having to worry about how you'll pay for your next meal? Is it privilege enough to be able to live the American dream without concern?

I've always considered myself to be a very privileged person. It's funny because although I feel my family is so wealthy in the grand scheme of things, within our own community my family is average. Our lifestyle is nothing close to some people I know, let alone similar to the "fabulous lives of" celebrities and the really top high rollers. This summer my sister went to a friends house for spring break, it was someone she knew from school. Little did she know that the house would have a coach house twice the size of my own house and a rolls royce complete with driver ready always to take them downtown or to the beach. I mean really? How more Gatsby could we get?
Anyway, so while sometimes people are so over the top wealthy, it makes me lose perspective and I start to think of myself and my family to be average. All it takes is a little bit of perspective though again to realize just how fortunate I am. The fact that there are people so poor within our own nation, in our nation-not just overseas in villages of third world countries, who are so poor that they couldn't even pay for a cab or rental car to get them out of New Orleans before the devastating storm is truly an awful, and yet completely true point.
Living in the north shore, I'm afraid I have a warped view of what characterizes privilege and poverty. Poverty isn't always something reserved for huts in Africa or slums in India, it lives within the borders of our very own nation.

The Fabulous Life Of...

For one reason or another, I feel like American society really has a fixation on wealth and the lives of rich people. In class we read the poem "Graceland" by Carl Sandburg that highlighted the grave of "a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, ladies and gentlemen", advertising it as if it were some fascinating show. Although I can't say I've ever been compelled to visit someone's burial place simply because they were rich, I have to admit that from time to time-I have done what I consider to be the modern day equivalent: watch "The Fabulous Life Of...". Just in case you're unfamiliar with it, it's basically a show that just talks about rich people and the ridiculous things they spend money on. It's not alone in it's kind either-MTV and VH1 feature several shows centered around this same concept, for example "Cribs", a show that explores the fabulous homes of celebrities, and "My Super Sweet Sixteen", a television show that shows the planning and execution behind birthday parties costing tens of thousands of dollars.

It really makes me wonder, why are we, as a society, so fascinated by the lives of rich people? Society glorifies wealth so much-they have sections of magazines dedicated to showing how celebrities are "just like us" because they eat french fries or walk their dogs. The fact that they have those sections means that many people don't think of celebrities as being regular people, that somehow with their aquired wealth they've become more important then the average person. In the second part of the poem I mentioned earlier, "Graceland", it talks about a working girl and other poorer people. The entire section in parentheses, as if to signify that the whole second part is just an after thought-that the people it talks about are less important then the dead millionaire talked about in the first part. It was true then and it's true now, but why? Why is it that rich people are so glorified and does that tell us something deeper about our American society?