Jealousy of the rich

[april47]

I was reading the comments about Princess Catherine's new $6000 dress and was really surprised by the number of pure hate comments because she spent so much on a dress. Not too many anti-royal comments. Mostly hate because she spent so much and they have to go to Wal-Mart. My thinking is that money spent by the rich helps the economy and provides jobs. Someone had to make and sell that dress. What good does it do to hate the rich? When you have something that is upscale do you find that people are jealous and hate you?

[Deleted]

Haters are going to hate, nothing knew there. It makes them feel better about themselves.

My policy: if you can afford, go for it.

[lulubean]

It gets difficult when the rants on FB are your friends like "the rich get richer and the poor starve" type of stuff, democrat stuff. MY DH has worked very very hard to get where he is and he would like to keep his hard earned money please.

[zibazinski]

I think it is tasteless to tell anyone what you paid for anything and I'm surprised she was that stupid. She played her cards very well for a great many years.

[april47]

I doubt that she announced the price to the media. The media found out how much the honeymonn cost too. They have no privacy.

[zibazinski]

It was a pretty dumb move for someone who made an art out of not making any dumb moves.

[MN-Investor]

I think it is tasteless to tell anyone what you paid for anything and I'm surprised she was that stupid. She played her cards very well for a great many years.

Did someone ask her how much it cost? Did she, without being asked, just volunteer what it cost?

The designer is well known. One of the articles about the fashions mentioned that that dress was sold out in the U.K. So it sounds like it would be easy to find out what the dress cost if it were generally available to the public in the U.K.

[zibazinski]

It isn't smart to spend like that in this world now.

[schildi]

Are they not paid by tax money? Maybe I am wrong on that, but that's how I thought this royal BS works. I could see some people having a problem with this, especially if you are the one paying the taxes, lol.
Yeah, I'd have a problem with her buying a $6,000 dress if I paid for it. And I would not call that being a hater of the rich, or being jaleous.

[zibazinski]

They are and to buy a dress costing that much knowing that everyone will find out what it cost was not the move of a smart woman.

[MN-Investor]

Are they not paid by tax money?

Prince William is paid a salary for his job, but I think that's the only money from the government that he gets. The royal family is quite wealthy. I'm pretty sure they spend their own money on living expenses which would include all the clothes they wear.

[cronewitch]

Poor people are jealous because they don't see themselves as having a choice in life. They seem to think the rich all got money in unethical or illegal ways on the backs of the poor and shouldn't get to keep it.

Our method of deciding who has how much is not based on fairness. We aren't born equal and we don't stay equal. Some families have money to pass down to children or raise the children in luxury some don't. Some are born with major problems like birth defects or parents who are on drugs, or mentally ill. '

The night my great nephew was born to married homeowners who wanted him he was welcomed by maybe 20 people. He was first grandchild on both sides, his room was ready, at least two years of clothing ready. His mom gave him every chance at a healthy birth, gave up soda when she found out she was pregnant and got good prenatal care. He was born without a problem in the world. The other baby born the same night was born addicted to drugs and removed from his unwed mother the same night. The only people waiting for him were foster parents who had taken other babies before and had been called to come get another.
Those babies are 15 now, ours is a athlete with good grades and a life guard this summer, varsity soccer and swim team. He has every thing he needs in the way of tutoring or lessons. He lives on waterfront in a home with both parents still and a little sister. I don't know how the other boy turned out but my guess is he hasn't had the same breaks. Foster parents don't normally treat the kids like my great nephew has been treated, they are lucky to be treated with kindness but may not stay in the same homes, some get given back to the birth parents a few times.

We have wealth depending on skills, looks, families, abilities, risk taking. Those born without a normal body or brain or into less advantaged families will not have as much. Special needs kids who can't go to college or live alone can't compete. Lazy people and those without ambision will not have as much. It is a special combination that gets people high income. Many of us were lucky to make it to middle class.

I am not jealous, maybe because I know much of the reason I am not rich isn't anyone's fault. My family was poor, we didn't get lessons or tutors or told we should go to college. I am a bit lazy so didn't be all I could be. But I am pretty solidly middle class and don't blame anyone for where I am.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I second the comment that the media probably dug up the price for themselves.

Also, they are ROYALTY, they are not going to shop at thrift stores. Didn't a lot of Williams friends make fun of her for her "working class" background? She is going to be Queen someday.

[MN-Investor]

They are and to buy a dress costing that much knowing that everyone will find out what it cost was not the move of a smart woman.

Which is better for the economy? To spend $6,000 on one dress, or to spend $500 on a dress and buy stock in GE for $5,500?

[Deleted]

And if I remember correctly her parents are millionaires.
So it's not like she is depending on the government dime for every penny.

Also, the royal family have their own money even if they do get some sort of compensation from the government.

$6,000 to them (just considering her parents that are filthy rich) is basically $100 for my wife on a dress if you consider the income level.

And like WBBG said, she is going to be Queen one day. What is she to wear?

Same argument about how Mrs Obama went on vacation to Europe. First off she is the first lady of the US and second even if her husband does get paid a salary. They make more money off the sales of their book.

[Deleted]

There's a lot of resentment of royalty. Before the wedding one of my FB friends posted, "Is anyone else tired of hearing the nonsense of the wedding of disrespectful brats across the pond?" Later a friend posted that she had the same wedding date and my friend responded, "They stole your wedding day. They are not only disrespectful but thieves. Shame on them. They should pay for their own wedding and not on a friday, the Sabbath of the Muslim faith, of which many British citizens practice." Umm, any day they chose would have been someone else's wedding day and any Friday, Saturday or Sunday would have been someone's sabbath. I supposed they could have married on a Wednesday and she would have complained about the effect on the working people.

Kate does not seem to be the type to respond to a compliment with, "Thanks, I'm so glad you like the dress. It cost $6,000." I can, however, picture someone from a fashion magazine guessing the designer and looking it up. And it was ever thus. Princess Diana was criticized because she had a new outfit for every occasion. She started wearing some a second time and got criticized for that. And if she went out looking grungy, you can be sure it would be on the tabloids the next day. The press is merciless.

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2011 14:24:55 GMT -5 schildi said:

Are they not paid by tax money? Maybe I am wrong on that, but that's how I thought this royal BS works. I could see some people having a problem with this, especially if you are the one paying the taxes, lol.
Yeah, I'd have a problem with her buying a $6,000 dress if I paid for it. And I would not call that being a hater of the rich, or being jaleous.

The agreement the royal family has with Britain is their expenses are paid for and in exchange the british government receives the income from a property leased to the british government from the royal family. The amount the government gets is more than they pay out (oh and the royal family pays taxes on it). Also different members of the family own other investments that they earn from.

[Deleted]

DH just bought up another point. If I want to buy that dress, the cost is $6,000. If a famous woman is going to wear it in a very public place and look gorgeous in it and women will be screaming the next morning that they want THAT dress... well, the famous woman might get a discount.

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2011 19:51:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

DH just bought up another point. If I want to buy that dress, the cost is $6,000. If a famous woman is going to wear it in a very public place and look gorgeous in it and women will be screaming the next morning that they want THAT dress... well, the famous woman might get a discount.

Yep and my wife told me that now there is a waiting list for the hats she usually wears (can you even call them hats?). So she is definitely boosting the economy and doing her part.

Why do you think so many designers are trying to get their clothes on prominent public figures? Even if they give it away for free the return on it more than make up for it.

Isn't said that every time Mrs Obama wears something from a national retail chain that item is guaranteed to be sold out the following day?

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2011 20:15:22 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

You should have seen how many millionairesses would wear the dress, tags and all and then return it after the party.

Ethel Kennedy was famous for that- she'd reurn it and say she didn't really like it and her picture would be in the papers- with that dress. I suspect that first ladies and princesses don't have to play those games, though- they get things free or at a good price in the first place.

[daylight]

I love this thread, the comments are great.

I don't have a problem with the cost of her dress, but I'm not paying taxes in Great-Britain either.

Sometimes I think that having the press at your heels in every waking moment of your life is way too much hassle and too high a price even for the kind of luxury they get to live in. I mean, most of us would be peeved if the birth of our child, the first day of our child at daycare would be a first page article in all tabloids and even respectable newspapers. They are practically signed up for this nonsense and the members of the royal family don't even get a choice. Kate sure did, and I bet we will find out in a couple of years or decades whether she thinks she made the right choice - even if we don't care.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2011 5:41:11 GMT -5 daylight said:

Sometimes I think that having the press at your heels in every waking moment of your life is way too much hassle and too high a price even for the kind of luxury they get to live in.

I agree. I shudder when I see tabloid front page with some celebrity with a glamorous image, leaving her house in jeans and sweats, with no makeup and her hair tangled. I have days like that, too, but no one's waiting to snap my picture and sell it for a fortune. Kate is pretty mature and I htink she had a much better idea of what she was getting into than Diana did- she probably learned a lot from how the press treated Diana. I think she'll be OK unless popular sentiment turns against her for some reason.

[wodehouse]

"Jealousy of the rich"...But the irony is that people, some people certainly, eat up these "reality" shows on television that illustrate hugely expensive life styles and then "everyone"(some people) thinks that they should rightfully expect to live that way too. This makes no sense to me. And it's not just television, it's all media, print and internet...like that "Wonderwall" thing on MSN. It just presents people with images of lifestyles that most people can never expect to attain.

[Deleted]

I don't understand what British Royalty is supposed to mean these days. In years past they ran the country, were the gov't if you will. And it was believed they had some kind of divine right to do so. What are they today? What does it mean to be "royal"? Why do people have to curtsey and follow strict etiquette? I don't understand.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2011 14:33:42 GMT -5 @horatiolegrand said:

a lot of people who criticze some rich person for some legitimate reason are called jealous when really they are just criticizing something legitimate and it has nothing to do with the wealth of the person being criticized.

Well, it's easier to criticize surface things such as the price of a dress than to offer cogent arguments against legitimate issues such as whether a country should have a heriditary monarchy. There ARE good arguments against monarchy (and for monarchy) but they don't sell in the tabloids.

[Phoenix84]

"I don't understand what British Royalty is supposed to mean these days. In years past they ran the country, were the gov't if you will. And it was believed they had some kind of divine right to do so. What are they today? What does it mean to be "royal"? Why do people have to curtsey and follow strict etiquette? I don't understand."

I don't understand it either. It's my understanding that GB has parliment (congress) and a prime minister (president) so what purpose does a royal family serve? Is it just tradition?

[Deleted]

In most countries, monarchy has had to change with the times. Few developed countries want a benevolent Daddy or Mommy in a crown making all the decisions. Their role is more ceremonial. Unfortunately, some families such as the French royal family and the Russian Tsars "got it" too late or didn't get it at all.

I have to confess to picking up a French magazine called "Point de Vue" every time I'm in Europe- it covers the lives of current and deposed monarchs and their descendants, right down to the baptisms of the latest Hapsburg archdukes and archduchesses. We were in Spain when the royal wedding issue came out and they had a picture of all the crowned heads at the ceremony. Some were a little puzzling- the King of Romania? The King of Bulgaria? (Actually, the latter was a descendant of the last king and lived in exile for years till he returned and got elected Prime Minister.) Some people follow rappers, pro athletes and Paris Hilton. I follow the Hapsburgs. ;D

[phil5185]

What are they today? What does it mean to be "royal"? Why do people have to curtsey and follow strict etiquette? I don't understand.

LOL - I thought those of you in the Great North were a part of all that stuff a couple centuries ago?

[april47]

I actually would rather read about Europes royals than Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga and sports stars. Each to their own I guess. Actually the dress was just an example of hate against the rich in my OP. Those messages were scary they were so full of hate. What I meant to ask is if any of you have experienced or know of some one who was "hated" because of a fancy house, car, watch, whatever. I know someone who was talking about a fancy restaurant she went to. Not bragging, just came up in conversation. One of her co-workers was pretty snarky to her about it.
Lottery winners probably get some hate because of jealousy too.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2011 18:34:57 GMT -5 april47 said:

What I meant to ask is if any of you have experienced or know of some one who was "hated" because of a fancy house, car, watch, whatever.

Coveting is defined as a sin in many religions, and the best explantion I ever got about when wanting something crossed the boundaries into sin was when you hated the person who had something you wanted, or you wanted something so badly you didn't care what you had to do to get it. My Ex was really resentful of everything his sister and her husband had, which they had because they'd started a business, worked their buns off, and were very good at it. He felt that HE was the oldest son, the Golden Boy, HE should have had it. He maxed out charge cards and spent money faster than I could make it to try and keep up. I don't blame his sister and their husband at all. They're good people, and they buy what they like but they don't flash it at you or try to make you feel bad because you have less. We're still on good terms and I think it's because they respected me for living within my means and being happy with what I have. In the end, my Ex was a very unhappy man.