Fairness, or jealousy?

Now that we essentially have an effective diet pill - Ozempic and its ilk, there appears to be some disgruntlement from those who lost weight the “right” way. The diet and exercise weight losers are saying the Ozempic users are merely taking a shortcut. And by taking a shortcut, they are a lesser people because they did not put in the long and consistent work necessary.

Those who summited Mount Everest would rightly jeer at a person who took an elevator up there instead. Those who work and saved diligently to pay off student loans would rightly condemn those got theirs loans forgiven by the government. That’s just how the world works: fairness is not a guarantee.

But I don’t think it’s about fairness. It’s simply jealousy. Those who diet their fat off are jealous of the possibility that Ozempic now offers, a possibility that they can no longer take (because they’re now skinny). The envious ones would have no qualms about taking the drug if they were to start all over.

Those who paid off their students loans are just mad the offer of forgiveness no longer applies to them. The government is giving out money, and they are not eligible.

Good news for them: federal student loans aren’t in danger of being forgiven anytime soon. Not with this administration, not with this Supreme Court. And honestly, why should all taxpayers subsidize a small group of people who chose to go to university? A group who are more likely to come from the middle class. Armed with a degree, a group with higher lifetime earnings on average.

The high school dropout earning minimum wage at a fast food restaurant should not be forced to have his tax money pay for that.

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Or else!

Once you have success, you will be hated

Piggybacking on yesterday’s post, particularly about Jeff Bezos’ multiple billions of dollars in net worth. Why does the general public shame people with money? Is it jealousy? It’s got to be jealousy, right? Underneath reports of Bezos’ immense wealth are be comments and tweets about how being a billionaire is immoral and ought to be illegal, and how could Bezos hoard this massive money while there are people suffering. 

Another example is Elon Musk. He gets pilloried on the daily simply for being a billionaire that dared to start an (electric) car company from scratch. The have-nots and non-doers hating on those that actually produce and changing people’s lives. 

And should’ve they get rewarded for it? Think of how indispensable is Amazon to each of our lives; I do as much of my shopping possible through it. Tesla is the absolute vanguard of the electric car evolution; mainstream automakers would not be jumping onboard now had Tesla not shown its viability

It seems once a person have achieved great financial success they get magically transferred over to the villain category, and their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities become no longer endearing but the stuff of scorn. Elon Musk’s preference to date girls many decades his junior? That’s just pure evil! Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post is surely a move to push his corrupt agenda! 

A few years back I read about the ‘stealth wealth’ movement, that people with money are purposely hiding the fact from the general public, precisely due to the jealousy and rage factor. Think of the legions of tech-bros blending in with plain shirts and jeans, and the protestors blocking and vandalizing tech company charter buses.

Mustn’t be conspicuous or else risk the wrath of someone keying your nice Porsche car. Never mind the hard work done to buy that Porsche; nobody cares about that. They just see a spoiled 1%’er and his superfluous toy. 

Only the ridiculously rich can afford to be outwardly ostentatious, what with their protected neighborhoods, vast estates, and ultra exclusive gatherings. But if you’re a public figure like Bezos and Musk, the clamor and anger from the cheap seats is a fact of life. 

A rare sight in San Francisco: free-flowing traffic on the highway.