By American standards, I’m middle class, and my family has been middle class and American for generations. Yet, as I traipse off to Paris, live in New York City, and spend my summer in various lake and beach houses, I wonder if my life style is close to approximating the upper class, or at least the upper middle class. After reading most of the NYTimes magazine from June 10th which focuses on international issues of class, economics, and social responsibility, I know that I fall thoroughly (and comfortably) far from the top.
One of the ethical problems that wealth attempts to ignore is how little it pays to receive services. Even middle class people who shop at WalMart for the cheap prices that don’t pay the workers or manufacturers enough face a similar conundrum. Similarly, those of us who love the cheap manicures and pedicures that we can get all over the city are taking advantage of how little the women make at those nail salons. However, from an economics perspective, we ought to offer maximum employment even if they don’t pay much more than minimum wage. Isn’t it better to pay people a little instead of nothing? Sill, I feel less guilty about partaking in luxury, even on the smallest scale, if no one is serving me. I can stay in the exclusive beach house on the private drive if I’m doing my own laundry or hang out at the “yacht club” guilt free if I’m taking care of the boats.
Yet from this standpoint, I suddenly feel ill-suited to change the world if I clearly can’t comprehend how to employ the masses well or cater to the wealthy elite who maintains the current status quo.
