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Living In The First World

This past week I got into a discussion with a friend that left me saddened and angry. I hesitate on how to share this discussion because it flows from the very core of who I am, and if you don’t fully understand who I am and how I live my life you may miss my point. We’ll get back to my friend but first here’s a little bit of context about me.

I am a rich man, but not in the sense that I’m sure you are thinking. I have been blessed to have been born in the United States and therefore rich compared to much of the world. I make more money than 80% of the worlds population. Compared to my fellow americans though I’m pretty much broke. My wife and I are totally upside down in our home, and I have huge school debt. I have a BA in Graphic Design and my Masters in Media Design, I own my own business that barely breaks even and my wife doesn’t always make enough to pay our bills, let alone buy luxury items. And you know what? I’m ok with that. We’re content, we don’t NEED anything else.

We have one working car, a 1991 GMC pickup that I paid $800 for. Our second car is a 1958 vw Beatle that we can’t afford to get running again. We do not have a car payment, we don’t want a car payment. My truck gets us from point A to point B and it doesn’t matter what it looks like? Even if we could afford it I doubt we would buy a much nicer car, maybe a running second car but nothing fancy.

Back to my friend… she asked, “Can you see me driving a H3 Hummer?” It was all I could do to hold back a loud mocking laugh. She has a nice newer car that I’m sure gets good gas mileage and is so much more than just a tool to get her from point A to B. I asked her why she would want to do that and she proceeded to explain how she wanted something more luxurious. She wanted to upgrade to something more flashy, that makes a statement about her. I asked why she needed that, and why she would choose to have a car payment. Then she informed me that she already has a $300/month car payment so it’s no big deal.

NO BIG DEAL? I sat there stunned thinking of my past due bills, the extremely difficult past year or so and how much could be done with $300/month. I’m not saying that I need more money, like I said earlier, I’m rich. But with an extra $300/month I could pay for a drinking water well in Africa every 4 months. I could be saving hundreds if not thousands of lives every year.

This is a situation that I’ve heard called a First World Problem. First World Problems refer to people needing something better than they have or how what they have isn’t good enough. Even when that thing is more wonderful than anything 90% of the world will ever know.

I firmly believe that while we are on this earth we should bless others that are less fortunate than ourselves. The more resources I have the more I can give away or use in a way that benefits my fellow man. This is something that is at the core of who I am, it is part of a love I have for humanity. My wife and I spent every last cent we could find this past year to get out of credit card debt. That still leaves a mortgage, and my enormous school loans that sometimes get paid and sometimes don’t. We did that so we could try and free up more of our resources to bless others.

We are all in this human experience together. Why not try to bring joy to those around you if you can. We americans have such an infectious disease of consumerism, we fill our lives with stuff, and forget that at the core of our humanity we need personal relationship with other humans. Our stuff be comes a distraction and the rest of the world suffers more because of it. Relieve suffering if you can. There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but please think of others first and maybe save a life rather than trying to impress your friends or buying that new cool gadget.