chat

I can’t stand this person btw, and I don’t think they are a good person.

This family member is a nurse practitioner who I know pulls in at least $150k a year. They are sure that there all sort of people who are working in jobs that don’t require a degree or all that much training that are making total bank. This isn’t based on data of course, just from spending hours a day on Facebook. They will go on and on about they saw someone saying they know a server who makes $50 an hour when you include tips, that sort of thing.

I have never heard (or seen - I’ve worked at a number of different employers and my line of work lets me see payroll) of anyone who isn’t a doctor, software engineer, or high level executive who makes that kind of dough. I’ve tried explaining this it just goes in one ear and out the other.

Knowing this person, this serves two ideological functions. The first is that this person is also totally convinced the economy is great and that the only people who are suffering are “lazy”. Apparently there are just an abundance of high paying jobs that anyone can just have, so this fuels their sense of superiority. Probably no surprise to you all, but this was raging about SNAP benefit nonstop the other week. If there are good jobs out there for everyone, then of course no one needs any help and capitalism is just working great.

But also, despite how much this person makes, they actually think they are way underpaid. I have tried explaining to them that what they make puts them in like the top 5%-10%, but hear them talk and they are absolutely convinced that people stocking shelves at Costco are making close to what they make.

Social media in general and Facebook specifically is such a cancer on society. Folks can use it to just live in their own reality and absolutely nothing will convince them otherwise.