Not Logged in.
Book Jacket

America for Beginners


A poignant debut that explores unlikely friendships forged in unusual ...
Summary and Reviews
Excerpt
Reading Guide

Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

Created: 07/26/19

Replies: 9

Posted Jul. 26, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

Ronnie "had heard that Indian-Bangadeshi relationships had improved since his departure from his native land, but he suspected strongly this only applied to wealthy people, who were all the same anywhere, wherever you went." (p10) Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?


Posted Jul. 29, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JLPen77

Join Date: 02/05/16

Posts: 362

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

I don’t agree with him. I live in a community that has a lot of wealthy second-home owners, along with some longtime wealthy families. (I am not wealthy myself—quite the opposite.) In just one town in one state, I’ve observed many differences in attitudes towards public service, contributing to and participating in the life of the community in ways large and small, support of school budgets, national politics, neighborliness. Some of this may reflect how the wealth was acquired, or family values, or whether the person has a particular faith orientation. Who knows? When teaching (at a public school) I also saw a wide range of attitudes amongst families of my students, both professionals and struggling families.


Posted Jul. 30, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
teacher reader

Join Date: 02/14/18

Posts: 64

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

Referring only to wealthy people who come from a long history of wealth (old money), I do believe that there are many common characteristics. They see themselves as "above the fray." In ways that JLPen77 refers to there are differences, of course, but there is a commonality in never having to be concerned about the cost of anything.


Posted Aug. 02, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ritah

Join Date: 05/26/11

Posts: 80

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

I would not be inclined to agree with Ronnie. Some of this opinion is, of course, based upon what one considers wealthy. Wealthy in one country, the U.S, for example, may be quite diffierent than wealthy in another country, Ethiopia. But, even within the U.S., there are wealthy people like Warren Buffet who sponsors many programs to help others and Charles Koch who is not known for such philanthropy. It is probably true that they want nice places to stay when traveling and that they can afford to go to concerts, plays and nice restaurants. But, they do not all buy yachts or airplanes and they are not all rude to those who serve them, whether in restaurants or in their homes. They do not all seek the same type of cultural experiences or adventures. They probably do tend to spend more time with others who are wealthy which is part of how we humans tend to cluster ourselves. They do not all have similar ideas about conservation or scientific ideas and they do not all have the same politics. I think that, perhaps, Ronnie's experiences with wealthy were limited and rather culture-specific and his wife might have an enlightening effect upon him as she gets him to travel and as she behaves as an individual rather than a cliche' herself.


Posted Aug. 02, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
reene

Join Date: 02/18/15

Posts: 497

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

I do not agree with Ronnie. Wealth, like everything else in life is personal. Each person, depending on so many factors in their background, will see wealth differently. What is wealth to one person, may not be to another. Some of the wealthiest people I have met are also what one might consider cheap. How people choose to spend or save their money is very individual. Today a lottery winner could become a multi millionaire over night and studies have shown that they are not the happiest people.


Posted Aug. 06, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianeh

Join Date: 08/01/16

Posts: 70

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

I do not agree with Ronnie either. I have known many wealthy people who did behave as if they were superior but I have also known many who were the most humble caring people in the world. The advantage wealthy people do have is the security of knowing that they are fine financially and are therefore free to attempt things many of us would not.
It is always a mistake to lump people together and paint them with the same brush


Posted Aug. 06, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
acstrine

Join Date: 02/06/17

Posts: 438

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

I think Ronnie's lumping all wealthy people into the same group is based on his personal experiences. I would imagine that he feels inferior/insecure in some ways due to being looked down upon as he was growing up for being from Bangladesh- -and even now that he has more opportunity in the United States, his livelihood depends very much on fooling people about where he came from. He fears at any moment that everything he has worked for could be taken from him. And I know that when I feel insecure or frightened by someone else's perceived power over me, I sometimes "protect" myself by falling into the generalization trap.

I do not think all wealthy people are the same everywhere. By saying they are, Ronnie is doing exactly what he dislikes about the Bengalis. An experience with one wealthy person, or a group from one region in the world is not representative of everyone who falls into this category. I think that Satya, after spending two weeks on the road with wealthy Pival, would also disagree with him too.

The more connections we make with people who are different than we are, the greater chance we have to see them as individuals rather than through the lenses of our biases and stereotypes.


Posted Aug. 13, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliaa

Join Date: 12/03/11

Posts: 276

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

That may be true in Ronnie's experience, but in mine, though I'm not wealthy, I don't agree with him. I do know a few wealthy people and they are very much individuals and different from each other. Though they may have some common experiences and travel in the same circles, they are very much each individuals. I'm not even sure I would comfortably say they are very different from non-wealthy people, except that they don't have to worry about money.


Posted Aug. 16, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
xandrabk

Join Date: 04/16/19

Posts: 44

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

Ronnie's opinion comes from what he has experienced and been exposed to. In my opinion, it is a stereotype and that people cannot be judged based on having the same characteristics (wealth) as a group. Individuals are individuals and it is usually based on their family's values and/or what they have been exposed to or learned from their experiences.


Posted Aug. 21, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
BuriedInPrint

Join Date: 08/03/19

Posts: 8

RE: Is Ronnie correct that wealthy people are the same everywhere?

It's understandable that he would hold this opinion. I think stereotypes grow out of tendencies. One's day-to-day priorities are very different if one is wealthy than if one is living in poverty, and an individual in one circumstance cannot truly inhabit the other's experience, even in imagination.

If you have never known what it's like to go to bed hungry, you cannot approximate that kind of want/need. And if you have never had the opportunities that wealth offers, you cannot truly know how you would conduct yourself if you possessed it.

But just because the tendency might exist for certain people to behave in certain ways, given the privilege they possess or lack, doesn't mean that every individual who possesses/lacks that privilege will follow exactly the pattern: I think other life experiences influence the outcome.


Reply

Please login to post a response.