The resentful and guilty majority?

A mentality I saw reflected in a New York Times piece about middle class New Yorkers that just, well creeped me out:

You wish for more; so many others seem to have it, after all — more space, nicer furniture, a greater number of things from Lululemon. But you also harbor a discomfort at possessing plenty while legions haven’t nearly enough. In any given hour you might veer from feeling unduly blessed to woefully disadvantaged.

I used to think that people like that were pathetically neurotic, if not nutjobs. Definitely a tiny minority not worth much attention. But the fact that the Times seems to consider it quite mainstream, even reflective of their readership is worthy of serious attention. I consider such people to be loons. Envying those who have more than you do is sick, sick, sick. And the only thing sicker than that is feeling guilty because some people have less than you do. For cripe’s sake, some people will always have more and some will always have less. It’s simple reality, and while it might be healthy for the former to motive a person to work harder and the latter might motivate charitable feelings, neither should generate feelings of resentment or guilt.

I used to think that the sort of inane airheadedness displayed in the Times was rare, because none of my friends are like that. However, having being put on an Ann Arbor neighborhood discussion group list made me realize that people like that are living all around me. It has been disturbing to realize that my friends might be the exception rather than the rule.

Perhaps I have been living in a bubble.

Within a bubble.