I’m aware this post may stir up quite a bit of conversation, which I’m excited about, but let me explain why I’m writing about this topic in the first place. On my regular morning routine, I was checking my twitter account and I saw this tweet:
When I clicked on the link it brought me to a short post on The End of Insanity’s blog that basically called out the guy behind I Am 1 Percent for being a douchecake. I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of a douchecake before, but I kind of like it. Anyways, if you look on The End of Insanity’s about page, you’ll find out that she’s “poor as dirt” and has a pretty heart wrenching story that explains why.
If you’ve read, I Am 1 Percent’s blog before, I haven’t really besides one post after reading his tweet, you’ll see that he is literally in the exact opposite position: wealthy, comfortable, and clearly very unapologetic about his lifestyle.
Being an avid blog reader, I find that most of the blogs I read are written by people who are in similar situations as myself: part of the middle class but striving to better their circumstances. So, when I stumbled upon, I Am 1 Percent’s blog I was honestly shocked. I’ve been following the guy on twitter for a while, but I never really read his blog before and honestly, I thought his blog’s title was supposed to be ironic. Nope, I was wrong.
This guy is well to do and apparently blogs about ways others can also get into the 1 percent club. First off, there’s only so much room in that tiny percentile, and secondly, who f***ing writes a blog like that besides Gwenyth Paltrow? I mean, I seriously had a gut reaction of, well, disgust, after reading his post about how he shouldn’t be taxed more than he is because he actually creates jobs for others (IE. his nanny, his housekeeper, his gardener, you get the picture).
Listen, I’m not trying to bash this guy, but reading his blog made me realize something. I want to be successful; I want to have ample amounts of money in the bank, but I like being a non-one percenter. I like being part of the middle class. Maybe it has to do with my Catholic upbringing, but I’ve always known no matter how much money I had when I was older, I would always live a simple and relatively unmaterialistic life.
I know I talked a bit about things I’d like to buy if I won the lottery, but as much as I like to daydream, I’m pretty sure if I got a pile of money tomorrow, I wouldn’t change my lifestyle that much. I never want someone who’s struggling financially to call me a douchecake, and I never want to be so rich as to complain about how it’s such a struggle to be so rich.
But I guess there could be the argument that I’m just saying this because I’m not a one percenter, I’m not rich, I don’t know what that life is like, and maybe I’m just bitter and jealous. I’d like to think that’s not the reason, and I do respect I Am One Percent’s opinions from a very different personal finance perspective.
I just don’t think I can relate at all, and I definitely hope that even though I write a personal finance blog, money will never be the main thing that defines my life and how I choose to live it.
Do you think rich people are douchecakes?
