Chelsea Clinton: I Tried to Care About Money, But Just Couldn't

[SheilaT]

69. I'd recommend your post if I could.

Because while I agree that Chelsea clearly does not understand how very much she has, she can't help it that she doesn't get it. Back when Bill was first President I can recall Hillary complaining about how little they had, that they'd been just scraping by in Arkansas because the state didn't pay its Governors very much and they were forced to live on what she made as a lawyer. I think I knew at the time about what those figures were, and they weren't trivial. But it didn't put the Clintons in the same ballpark as some big players they hung out with. Chelsea has grown up inside a great deal of privilege which has been largely invisible to her. When you live in the White House because your dad is the President, you simply don't have any money issues whatsoever, even though you are nowhere near the richest family out there.

Your Oprah anecdote is spot on. I also recall some years ago Roseanne Barr rather bitterly complaining that people thought that just because she had a lot of money people seemed to think she had no problems any more. And I'm not at all a fan of Roseanne, but she's right. She just didn't have any real money problems any more.

I can also recall reading years ago that most Americans tended to think they were worse off then they were because they almost invariably compared themselves to those a little farther up the economic ladder. It's hard not to, especially in the very vast middle, by which I mean everyone not in dire poverty to those not above the top 10%. For one thing, especially for those in the lower two-thirds or so of the income ladder, almost everyone watches TV and goes to movies, and so we see ads telling us there's something wrong with us if we don't own all these wonderful things. On TV shows and in movies people rarely actually live as those of their supposed social economic status actually would. But reality is glossed over to make the show or movie more interesting, and people get a totally unrealistic idea of how they should live.

Most of us spend all that we earn and often a little more. If we get a raise we buy more things or a bigger house or a newer car. Not everyone, of course, but it's an easy trap to fall into, because people admire the nice house, the new car, the fashionable clothes, and so on. It's considered ill mannered to talk about exactly how much is in the 401k, or how gratifying it is to retire early with no financial concerns by foregoing the spending. Nope. We're encouraged to want more things. And so Hillary Clinton lives in an amazing mansion and can still consider herself not all that well off. She's a lot like most of us, only with a whole lot more money, even if she doesn't really get it.