Austerity Chic

Every once and awhile, I come across a ludicrous idea that people want you to participate in. Usually, these ideas come under the guise of being politically correct which serves the same function as pie in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which is to fill in the cracks in the heart. “Go away, pain. Go away.” Instead of taking action to improve things, they want to put a better face on their miseries.

This morning, I read a newspaper columnist ranting on how wealthy people should join the austerity chic movement so as not to make the people who didn’t have money feel worse by comparison. In other words, stop enjoying the fruits of your labors because the fruits of my labors aren’t that good. They are trying to put the responsibility of their current situation on something besides themselves. That’s like hitting yourself in the head with a baseball bat and then blaming the bat.

First, you are where you because of the choices you have made. The way to change where you are is to change your choices. Take responsibility for your situation.

One of the ideas that really hit home for me was the idea that everyone is self-employed. You have a personal services business that you are selling to other people. Your employer is paying your company for the value your services provides. In order to receive more money, your company must provide more value. If you demand more money without more value, they will turn to another company who will provide that value for a lower cost.

Also, remember, value is not the same as difficulty. A person performing manual labor has a physically difficult job but they tend to be valued less than a bookkeeper who tends to have a much better work environment.

Another reason this is bad is that in difficult times you need examples to show you that life can be better. It gives you something to shoot for. “Where there is no vision, people perish.”

Instead of trying to make yourself feel better by tearing other people down, you should figure out how to make your situation better.