05 August, 2018

Comment on rich peoples' homes

https://np.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/94m9vp/were_not_jealous/e3m50sc/I clean rich people's houses as a part time job. When I'm at a multi-million dollar house envy is not what I feel. Primarily I feel disgust. The rich segregate themselves in these neat little gated communities, with so much land around them that they could build several smaller houses. Their lawns stretch far, immaculate and disciplined, brought to a lush green by a massive amount of water. They have security systems which alert them to any door opening, cameras which can be accessed remotely, in neighborhoods where no thefts happen. They buy useless antiques and set them in dusty rooms which no one uses, because their houses are too big for every room to see occupation or use in a four person family. They have multiple kitchens, stocked with all the necessary amenities -- brand new fridges, dishwashers, ovens. They buy toys like single person aircraft and huge televisions and projectors for game and living rooms. At a certain point the abundance just numbs you. Who needs this much stuff? Why do they have it? What hole are they trying to fill? How much could be repurposed towards people that actually need it? How much water and gas and resources in general go to the upkeep of their properties -- which they always have multiple of -- and how much could those resources help the needy?
I see a mountain of waste; a monument to the useless. They want more and more, an endless charade of performance and presentation. They don't even need cleaning, they can't possibly make a 6,000 square foot house that dirty in the intervening week or two. It's once again a competition to keep up with neighbors. "Who has the most spotless house" is as competitive a statement as "who has more and nicer things?" It's all pointless, cynical and nihilistic. I don't want any of it. I just want to survive comfortably and not die in ditch from indebtedness and the privations of poverty. No one needs any of it and, deep down, I feel like no one even really wants any of it, except as a proclomation of superiority to their supposed peers.