Divorce rates are up, because salaries are down

It would seem that the materialistic society we live in has taken its toll on relationships and love. No more do you look over a fire and see each other from afar and fall happily in love. That can still happen just as long as the person owns their own home, makes 6 figures a year, and has the latest mode of transportation. The color of your eyes over that mystical smile must only be “Green”, dollar sign green that is. I know, I have heard it all before, people claiming they are not that materialistic, and usually in the same sentence defining that, which is actually a paradox of terms.

I have often heard it said to me;” I would like you just the same if you were poor or lived in a shack”. Well, that is usually the first lie I hear, as I am the so-called “working poor” living at or slightly below the so-called “poverty line”. It seems after a few short months when they start to realize that I am not making a lot of money, they decide that there is no future with me or a better future with someone else with more money. Oh sure, they love my emotional side and like the fact that I am everything they wanted, however, just not relationship material. I just cannot give them the amount of worldly material things they want. I have often heard people say, “why would you not want to date him, he makes $X.XX amount of money a year?” or, “you should see his home ” or, “you should see the car he drives”. I am sure you have heard comments like that. It seems like the only time someone says he/she is a nice person when it is runner up to that fact they lack worldly possessions. In this society, especially North America, we base our human value on the amount of wealth the person has. When you meet someone new and you tell your friends about him/her what are the first questions out of their mouths? Where does he/she work, and how much does he/she make? If you say that they live in an apartment and do not make a lot of money, they give you this weird look, and ask you what is wrong with you?

It seems that couples somewhere have lost the attitude that they need to work together for things and somehow came to the understanding they could just walk right into everything from day one. No work involved, fully equipped with the thoughts this is what I deserve (regardless of working for it or not). It is not hard to see why marriages are failing today. We have couples trying everything to uphold an image they cannot afford, and have considerable more debt then equity. Experts tell us the number one thing couples argue about is money and the number one reason for stress is finances (or lack off). However, as long as they look important and keep up the image that is all that matters.

As long as people keep up their pursuit of wealth, greed and materialistic desire they will never be happy. Why? Because they will never have enough, the more you get the more you want. You often see couples staying together if the one person has a lot of stuff, and it seems they can treat them anyway they want. So lets replace the word love with money. Love is now defined as a set of circumstances that can only happen if our materialistic desires are met.

Posted by Chuck Zwicker