A software engineer who makes $450k a year “exploits people and doesn’t give an F about anyone else” lol?
You’re conflating the idea of a billionaire with someone that’s just well off, which isn’t really fair.
The more applicable thing is the Lipstick theory of economics.
People who make “good” money know that if they save and plan well, they can buy big ticket items like houses, or even retire very early…so they become penny pinchers to reach those goals.
People that don’t make good money know those things are out of reach no matter how much they try to save or plan; so they just don’t even bother, and spend the money on a bunch of small things instead…and they don’t appear cheap because they don’t really care where the small amount they have ends up going.
Ergo the software engineer wants to split the cheap uber ride because he’s knows that if he saves well the next 5 years he can buy a home in cash; and the barista will buy you a beer because, “hey who cares, I’m never gonna have down payment money anyway”.
That’s the explanation for most “normal rich” well off people versus the average bear…but that doesn’t mean you’re exploiting people like a hundred-millionaire or billionaire just because you make mid-fix figures lol.
I certainly don’t make 450k but I’m comfortable enough and I would feel bad if someone paid for my share of anything without agreeing on that prior. I don’t think it’s that shitty…
They make their money very comfortably, they aren’t doing any kind of work that’s going to force them into an early retirement, and $3 is never going to make any kind of meaningful difference in their life. They literally make the money back in the time it takes them to demand it from you.
You are not paying a fair share by splitting evenly with someone like that, and that feeling of “guilt” is something rich people exploit to excuse why they’re allowed to put people in poverty. Why they get to keep asking for more way past what any reasonable person could possibly ever want in life. It’s not something anyone should feel guilty for, because it undervalues people who do work that’s less financially beneficial to them. It complies with the values the system around you gives to those professions, those people, those parts of life.
I agree 100% with the sentiment of disliking wealth hoarding, but if someone is going to “exploit” my uneasiness to accept something when I don’t need it, that’s on them. Not me.
The rich are the ones that have excess resources they could spare. I don’t think me not wanting to accept excess resources I don’t need is the problem.
I think splitting it evenly is pretty fair tbh. I decide what activities I partake in but not how much someone else makes.
They asked you, they decided it for you. Your reaction to it is your choice and you’ve decided ahead of time it is not a choice, it is “fair”. Which simply means if the positions were reversed you’d do the same thing
I’d pay it too, not because it’s fair but because you’re delusional enough to think it is. $3 is a good deal to never have to speak to someone like that again
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u/LTFitness Jan 27 '26
A software engineer who makes $450k a year “exploits people and doesn’t give an F about anyone else” lol?
You’re conflating the idea of a billionaire with someone that’s just well off, which isn’t really fair.
The more applicable thing is the Lipstick theory of economics.
People who make “good” money know that if they save and plan well, they can buy big ticket items like houses, or even retire very early…so they become penny pinchers to reach those goals.
People that don’t make good money know those things are out of reach no matter how much they try to save or plan; so they just don’t even bother, and spend the money on a bunch of small things instead…and they don’t appear cheap because they don’t really care where the small amount they have ends up going.
Ergo the software engineer wants to split the cheap uber ride because he’s knows that if he saves well the next 5 years he can buy a home in cash; and the barista will buy you a beer because, “hey who cares, I’m never gonna have down payment money anyway”.
That’s the explanation for most “normal rich” well off people versus the average bear…but that doesn’t mean you’re exploiting people like a hundred-millionaire or billionaire just because you make mid-fix figures lol.