Cross Posted at http://leftturnsonly.wordpress.com/
I start my new job next week. I'm not looking forward to it. I had to take what I can get. I'll be a desk jockey in a call center. I'll make $11 per hour, get 8-10 hours per week of overtime, and a bonus that caps out at $500 per month.
It's not much money, but that's not why I don't really want the job. I'd gladly take less money to do what I love, but right now, I need the money, and more importantly the health insurance. The premiums will take about $300 per month out of my pre-tax income, which means I'll be taking home less money than I did on unemployment, but that's okay because the insurance is important.
I live in a modest house in Kansas City in what most people would consider to be the hood. I love it up here though, we have Cliff Drive, Budd Park, Gladstone Boulevard and most importantly, Taqueria Mexico! Mmm! People walk their dogs, jog and hang out on porches. It's nice. We've even befriended many of our neighbors!
We bought the house a year ago with an FHA loan and the Homebuyers Tax Credit. I'm thankful for both of these wonderful government programs.
I have a pair of shitty cars: A 12 year old Taurus that's seen better days, and a 2 year old Aveo that I got new for a smoking deal.
I have a laptop and a 32" plasma TV, both of which I won as incentives at one of my previous jobs. Hey, I'm a good worker, what can I say. After that our biggest asset is our Wii60.
Other than that, we don't have much. Our biggest expenditure after the mortgage and utilities is a Karate membership for my wife and stepson. We don't even have cable. We go out to eat a couple of times per week, which stretches our meager budget.
I have too much, more than I deserve. We eat our fill, have clothes on our backs, and have a wonderful place to call our own. We're better off than 99% of the rest of the population on Earth. Most of my success can be attributed to circumstance. I was born in America. I'm white. I have a family who raised me.
I have no aspirations for more. I don't like fancy clothes, I don't like fancy cars, my wife, thankfully, has no use for expensive jewelery. I graduated in May, and have yet to find work in my field, but I would have to take a low paying entry-level job if I did. Like I said before, I'd gladly do it. Jump at the chance. I have no lust for money.
A few times in my prior lives, I've made an attempt at entrepreneurship. I failed miserably. It's not that I didn't have the drive, I worked extremely hard. But I didn't have the acumen. I'm a terrible salesman, an inept bookkeeper. I choose fields where there's too much competition or not enough demand. I'm just not a businessman.
So I'll never "get ahead." And that's okay with me.
But that's not American. America means that you try to get all the money you can possibly get your hands on. And when you get that money, you get more. It's our moral obligation as Americans to have more than anybody else, even if our neighbors are starving. Fuck them. It's their fault that they're poor. Even if they do work three jobs.
I should dream big. I should strive for a McMansion and a Lexus, as a stepping stone to my Bugatti and Castle. My wife should have a diamond on her finger instead of the silver piece she has. I should be wearing Armani instead of Target brand.
There's no place in America for people who want to live a modest, decent lifestyle. There's no place for people who want to see wealth and economic opportunity spread across classes, and not limited by borders. And there's no place in America for people who don't want to see the least of us go without, so that I may have more.
I am a bad American.