Is it normal to hate first world life, even though we're privileged?

61% Normal
9 Comments

Please don't get me wrong.
I know that we are far richer than a ridiculous number of people in the world. We lead privileged lives and have opportunities to change the world for the better using free, indiscriminate education and healthcare.
But I don't want this lifestyle; I don't feel like I deserve it. I take advantage of it, but do I deserve it any more than others do?
I think that we live in excess and take so many things for granted.

Perhaps it's just because I feel aimless and as though humans are not benefiting the world. Perhaps it's because I listen to my friends whine about their jobs and their partners constantly when it could be a lot worse. Perhaps it's because I look in the fridge and wonder what it'd be like to have almost no food at all in there but... is this normal??

Voting Results
61% Normal
Based on 36 votes (22 yes)
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Comments ( 9 )
  • bigtoy
    12 years ago

    First world...third world...anyone know where the second world is?

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  • dappled
    12 years ago

    You're not only in a privileged position, you have the privilege of choice. I'm not suggesting you change places with someone, but you do have that option. And many other less drastic ones.

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  • emilydoll
    12 years ago

    Maybe there's some way you can help the less fortunate. You don't want to live with that guilt.

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  • dom180
    12 years ago

    I sometimes feel guilty as well. It makes me feel sick that I live in such a privilaged position, and all I do is post on the internet and listen to my iPod all day, while thousands of people everyday are dying in such horrible conditions that we can't even imagine them. If we could imagine it, maybe more people would care. Governments and people in the street need to dig their heads out of the sand and see the truth of what the world is to so many people. Then we can do something about it. There is so much that people in our position could do, but only a tiny number of us ever do.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    We're just dumb bastards that take shit for granted. I agree with you.

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  • Ihadtomakeyetanotheraccountffs
    12 years ago

    Yes, to someone with a guilty conscience it can be a burden. I think the best thing to do is to use any power/authority/wealth to help those less fortunate. Whether that be political change, financial aid etc.

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  • Just1question
    12 years ago

    I wish I was a tebetian monk in the mountains... tha would be cool.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    So go to Uruguay or Uganda.

    I never tire hearing these self-deprecating narcissists who lament their first world status yet at the same time do nothing to help the third world.

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  • Solophonic
    12 years ago

    You should be glad you live in the first world. If I get hungry I don't have to hunt and scavenge to get food, and I can choose what I want, like with many other things in life. If you're talking about living just to stay alive, no thank you, I ain't getting mauled by some beast for food when I can work instead.

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