A sociocultural thought on the rich and the poor.

 When I imagine the future—decades from now—this is what always appears in my mind: one side obscenely rich, the other utterly poor. A person belongs either to the “noble class” or to the proletariat. There is no middle ground. And in truth, one can already see signs of this today. The simplest way to understand it is to compare the life of an average rich person to that of an average poor one. The rich indulge themselves on yachts, drifting from drinks to sushi, from bars to vacations, while the poor toil endlessly, rummaging through garbage on the streets. Their children mirror them: the capitalist’s child, spoiled by ease and security, does nothing but chase pleasure, show, and amusement, whereas the poor one’s child struggles even to find clothes to wear. What I want to draw attention to here is not economic or ideological but sociocultural: these two come from entirely different worlds, yet they are still the same in essence. One cannot think because of too much leisure, the other cannot think because of the absence of it. That is why the world appears to be in a constant, relentless rush. If these classes were somehow equalized—if such a thing were possible, in a hypothetical world—I believe the world would not become entirely tranquil, but it would at least become much calmer. This would destroy the compulsion to survive and the compulsion to consume, which are signs that one is nothing more than an animal. And perhaps then there would be room for deep reflection and questioning; humans might even transcend their humanity. Because both the constant drowning of the soul in pleasures and the perpetual worry of keeping the body alive destroy all nobility and forever prevent genuine existence of the individual. As long as the condition of utter worldliness persists, those wandering around will not be beings with consciousness and awareness, but merely drifting silhouettes.