Pick any specialty item that requires more research and understanding. This item is safer, longer lasting, and a much better value. Think Volvo instead of Chevrolet. Think toys from high-end toy store down the road instead of lead based toys from China. Think suburban schools instead of urban blight. Since the specialty items require advanced access to information via probably the Internet (since you're not going to hear about it on the news) and the ability to purchase a higher priced specialty item, only the well off middle class and above will be able to afford said specialty item. As soon as you start going down that line of thought, you find all kinds of alarming things that the "rich" have that the common man doesn't:
1. Since I live in the West, I already have better sanitation and access to clean food and water than many in the rest of the world.
2. Since I live in the U.S., I'm not crammed into ramshackle huts of 15 to a hut to live on a dirt floor.
3. Since I'm college educated, I have access to jobs that pay significantly better than those without a degree (but only to a point).
So, at least Im marginally healthy and can choose not to be really poor and I don't live in the slums. But the benefits expand as you enter the next level up:
4. The truly rich can choose to live in more rural areas without the air pollution of the cities.
5. The truly rich can afford to buy organic food (much more expensive) rather than the chemically treated food in the normal supply chain.
6. The truly rich can afford to get a full 8 - 10 hours of sleep a night. The poor often must work 2 jobs (or more) to make ends meet.
7. The truly rich can afford better education for their children through private or home schooling.
8. The truly rich can buy entrance into the Ivy League for their children, effecting a step up for the family
9. The truly rich can afford to live in better neighborhoods that, even if their children don't go to private school, their schools are better, their libraries are better, their community is just safer.
10. The truly rich have the leisure time to exercise and take care of their bodies because they are not stuck commuting 2 or more hours a day to their jobs.
11. The truly rich don't have to pay for health insurance, they just pay as they go and since they are healthier in general, don't have to go to the doctor as much. So they get to save their health insurance premiums. Either I or my company will pay $10,000 per family in premiums every year.
12. Finally, the truly rich have the free time, education, health, creativity, money, and access to opportunities for furthering their wealth through new ventures. This solidifies their status for themselves and their families.
So there you have 12 reasons why money does indeed buy happiness, and I'm just getting started! So the rich will be able to afford a chemical free mattress while the rest will die in ignorance.
