THE FORKIE PHILOSOPHER

Where does it end when you measure your self-worth by your net-worth? What is enough for such a person? I reckon almost all human beings would appreciate financial security; a clean and safe place to live and enough money to afford decent food. I can already see a rift appearing between individuals and what they consider ‘enough’ and/or ‘decent’. People may have huge variations regarding what they consider the essentials.

Leaving those who opt out of society for religious, spiritual or any other philosophical or moral conviction; along with the people who choose to live ‘off the grid”, I doubt anyone would consciously choose to live in poverty. To live in constant depravation and peril is not conducive to human life. Eliminating these abhorrent conditions should be considered a baseline if you genuinely see others as human beings. That is a whole other worm hole!

Let’s assume you are fortunate enough to be living in a first world country AND have managed to keep your ass out of the gutter. Welcome to the ‘working poor’; things are far from comfortable and your position on this rung is perilous at best. You need to increase your net-worth if you want any semblance of economic security.

What is enough in terms of net-worth?

Own your own home? How big is that home? What neighbourhood is it in?

Own your own car? Need I ask more on that one?

‘Decent’ food? Fresh meat, bread, water, milk, fruits and vegetables? Quality cuts of meat, gourmet cheeses and seafood? Good restaurant meals once a week? Twice? Every night? What constitutes good? How many Michelin stars?

Moving on…

So, you have played the game well and had some luck along the way. You succeeded in moving up a couple of rungs and you can probably cruise from here. So long as you don’t overspend and invest your money wisely you can retire in your own home and have a decent nest egg for your twilight years.

That still feels a little shaky. Not enough of a buffer. Okay, so you hustle and strive and are one of the few who gain entry to the higher rungs (the very bottom of those of course). Now you own more than one house and have a diverse investment portfolio, plus stock options and a nice golden handshake if things go south at your company.

Coasting at this altitude begins to feel rather foolish. You’ve got your fingers in the cookie jar now. Would be a terrible waste not to take advantage of such an opportunity. Of course, many don’t break through the ceiling and others crash and burn; we just don’t hear about those ‘losers’.

The ones who do get a seat at the high roller table (maybe the kids table just next to the big shots for starters) have entered a game that operates in a very different manner than the lower forms of life are used to. Yes, the stakes are higher and your chances of winning big are greatly improved; paradoxically though, your chances of losing big are somewhat less. The honcho back slapping society take care of their own. They can’t allow themselves to be held to the same standards of accountability as the plebs. They’ve clawed their way to the top! They can’t be wiped off the board just because they fucked up; that’s how you treat peasants. You are in the realm of corporate cover-ups and golden parachutes now my friend. Stay out of the scapegoat pool and you’re home free.

Again, many are more than happy here, and they enjoy their extravagant lifestyle, retiring in luxury and maintaining a healthy distance from the unwashed masses. They will never pass an opportunity to earn some more to stash away, but their quest for success and wealth has been satiated. There is an important proviso here though…

Those who push on through that level are after the summit; nothing less will do! I’m sure many fail, but failing here almost never means slipping below the rung under you. You’re sitting at the final table, and everyone gets a share of the prize pool now. So, fuck it!

You are now rubbing shoulders with billionaires, trillionaires and any other ludicrous number followed by “aires”. These people live so high above the toiling throng they don’t even register as the same species. Some of them were born into such obscene opulence and thus can never comprehend what it is to struggle against impoverishment daily.

Your desire for financial freedom has introduced you to a whole new dimension of avarice. While the faceless slaves trudge away and fight over crumbs, desperately vying for any sliver of a safety net, the elites are pining for their own private island. The workers scrimp and save yearning for a way out of the rental rat race and actually own even the tiniest place for their old age. The people in your lofty circle are complaining about flying first class instead of owning their own jet.

Loop back to the proviso I mentioned earlier. It would take something akin to sainthood to be able to avoid being sucked into this vortex of rapacity! You stand among the embodiment of the seven deadly sins. Here they are not just accepted, they are nourished, nurtured…they are fucking worshiped!

Make no mistake, if you have busted your ass to get into this group there is no turning back. In one way or another, you have sold your soul. People born into it have a whole other perspective from the one who battled their way up. You have seen the lower depths, and you know what you have escaped; the high-born fear the unknown, but they have no connection to those bottom dwellers.

The one thing those mega-rich have in common with a stooge like you is a pathological loathing of losing status and affluence. To keep those deflating demons at bay they will require more. These lofty heights have now become essential! The bare minimum. We cannot sink from here. We must shield ourselves from any possible loss. We deserve this.

Look at my super-yacht. I fucken earned that! I must be a magnificent person to be surrounded by such grandeur. Gaze in awe at my brilliance!

Are they looking away? Oi! Check out my prestige car collection. Who has a fucken rocket? Yeah, well going to space isn’t that special.

This has become a vile arms race of fortune flaunting. These people will never have enough; the very word is meaningless to them. They are competing against themselves, and we simply do not register in the game. You need to be high up that ladder just to be considered a fucking pawn. Destitution for these people would be the lap of luxury for many working stiffs.

Corporate rulers and gazillionaires are the embodiment of hungry ghosts. Those wretched creatures with huge mouths and no stomachs, relentlessly devouring what they desire with no way of utilizing its sustenance. Like a hopeless addict desperately trying to find that wonderful high that just gets further away the more you take. Your obsessive consumption only serves to increase your tolerance, thus providing a tortuous vicious circle. In the end you take in ruinous amounts just to not feel horrible.

These people are running the world!

To stop them you must compete with them; to be competitive you must think like them; think like them long enough and you become them.

Thinking in terms of addiction: A partier who stops when they have had enough is going to have an impossible task trying to outlast an alcoholic who has yet to destroy their liver and gut in a week-long binge drinking session.

The multi-millionaires are the ones who stopped. In this world you truly would need that kind of wealth to feel financially secure. It is still a vulgar amount of wealth for one person to control while others starve, but that just seems to be the way things turn out.

Burn it all down (it has been done before) and hit restart. The masses will plod along with little ambition, while the go-getters live up to their name. Eventually we end up with an eerily similar wealth and power disparity – a tragic folly of large societies.

The difference we are seeing nowadays is the wholesale destruction of anything that may slow the gluttonous marauding of insatiable appetites. Laws, rules and regulations are being watered down and circumnavigated at best; being eliminated or blatantly ignored at worst. Corporations and the ludicrously rich reach beyond borders and have unprecedented influence over any government or institution that may attempt to curb their never-ending need for more.

People, we have unwillingly placed the passwords to our accounts in the hands of a bunch of degenerate gamblers!