IT DOESN’T HURT
RICH PEOPLE.
Exactly how does it hurt you if someone else has a billion dollar income? That person isn’t taking YOUR money away from you. If that person suddenly went bankrupt it wouldn’t help you one little bit. Here’s where it helps you a lot: That person pays more in taxes every year than you will in your lifetime.
To be honest, if someone being rich was a crime against the citizens, how is it that our federal government can make trillions and not be indicted?
On the other side, poverty. There are reasons for it. Some are not the fault of the impoverished (like illness, divorce, or age-related issues). Some are. Lack of education (in a country where education is free), criminal behavior (in a country where crime should be punished and where there are police to catch and prosecutors to prosecute), addictions (in a country with some of the best anti-addiction programs), out of wedlock pregnancy (in a country with the miracle of birth control medicines), and poor choices. Poverty hurts us all because it siphons tax revenue away from beneficial civil projects. The poor receive far more investment than they contribute. Failing to teach kids basics in math and English can lead to poverty, so maybe we SHOULD do a better job there!
So, I have to laugh aloud when I see articles like the following from BuzzFeed: “Americans Are Losing Their Minds After Learning That Elon Musk Will Make More In A Year Than Every Single US Grade School Teacher Combined.”
If you are “losing your mind” about that you need an attitude correction. He’s the one who also took the risks of investing his time, talent, and money to make products people need and want. He’s saving NASA billions of dollars in research and development of launch vehicles. (Did you see how many of his rocket launches FAILED? NASA does not have the money to put into failures at this point.) I personally detest his wacky e-vehicles, but people are still buying them. No one is forced to sign those contracts, are they?
ANIMALS are the SAME as HUMANS.
This is another joke going round and round on the internet. Whales and bats “talk” to one another they say. Fine. We also share being vertebrates, but that doesn’t make a whale cow into a good human wife! (Too sloppy for me and she would never launder my socks.) Birds and other animals use “tools” like sticks and rocks (like children playing games sometimes do). Some birds collect pretty baubles (like some men and women I know).
Let me share a nugget of truth I learned long ago: “It isn’t the similarities that matter, it is the differences.” You could, by the same type of game-playing as the first paragraph, say that a secretary is the same as a novel writer. They are both human, both wear clothes (most of the time), breathe, eat foods, and type on a word processor. Therefore they are exactly alike. BUT, he smokes a cigar while he transcribes the boss’s notes while she researches and crafts language to elicit thoughts and emotions in a cohesive, plot-driven, horror story. Not the same at all.
So, should we eat animal flesh? A cow may moo, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I enjoy a nice steak from time to time. A cow is not a human. Similarities aside, the differences matter. On the other hand, I wouldn’t eat a pet. Affection for a pet prevents me from making it into a meal for guests. Yet, I understand as well that a pet is also not human, even if it begs like a spoiled toddler it is NOT a human in any sense of the word.
It doesn’t hurt me if someone decides to become vegan, vegetarian, or even a trans-veganitarianist (I made that up). Do as you wish, just don’t impose your food religion on me. I still won’t eat kale!
So, I laughed at this headline from The Conversation: “When did kissing evolve and did humans and Neanderthals get off with each other? New research.” I don’t care and it doesn’t matter if animals do it. Animals have reproductive sessions, too, and have a far easier time with it. For example, foxes don’t visit porn shops to view the newest hot young thing. Old creepy foxes don’t pay young vixen money to do it.
TECHNOLOGY.
Then there was this posted by Tim Brookes at “How to Geek” … “Is it safe to share your living space with a 3D printer? Here’s what the science says.”
I had to wonder, exactly how many people have to worry about this? I don’t have one and no one I know has one, let alone having one in a “living space.” Our public library has a few. I have met some crafters who have one in the shop. OK, show of hands, how many of you have one on your kitchen counter?
It doesn’t hurt me or about 70 million people I know, … so just don’t do whatever it is when I come over for a visit and we’ll be fine friends. Also, don’t store gasoline in Mason jars in your cupboard if you’re going to invite me over. Are you good with that?
Copyright 2026 Donald Whelpley
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
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