Though I have been living above the poverty line for almost 2 years now,
I am certainly not rolling in it. Many of my friends think my lifestyle is extravagant, what with the rent I've been paying on time, eating in restaurants, purchasing lattes, and riding in cabs. I have friends on the other end of the spectrum. They are horrified that I don't have a savings account, health insurance, sicks days, or pictures from a vacation in Costa Rica. I am safely in the middle.

I am representative of many people in their mid twenties. I know that some of my peers will work their way up to making six figures and we will slowly drift apart. They will develop a taste for the finer things and we will have less common ground. When this happens, I hope that they will not loose their integrity, that greed does not creep in.

I've heard people say they don't want to pay for services for poor people, that progressive taxes aren't fair. Somehow it turns into a debate of poor vs rich and blue vs red. I try my hardest to see their point of view. If someone can clarify, please post a comment.