It must be nice to be rich.

Got that e-mail from a bunch of people re my Groupon rant.

What is wrong with America that everybody boasts about being poor?

I know, not everybody. Certainly not the rappers. And the Republicans. And you can’t get a peep out of the truly rich, they’re smart enough to shut the fuck up.

But the middle class… It’s a race to the bottom.

When I went to college 45% of the students went to prep school. Many were scions of household names. But in addition to wearing their jeans and threadbare sweaters they never had a buck in their pockets, they couldn’t afford a pizza, and if you convinced them to come along, you had to pay for them.

It doesn’t make you better than someone if you’ve got less money. It just makes you poorer.

Now don’t confuse the above with a diatribe on income inequality. What I’m talking about here is perception, not reality. If you’re truly poor, if you’re homeless, if you can’t afford health insurance, I truly feel sorry for you, you’ve got my compassion, we need to lift those on the bottom up.

But the ones bitching most are not this financially-challenged. They’re just holier-than thou. They like to count everybody else’s money and sit in judgment, explaining that the reason they’re not where you are, where they want to be, is because they just can’t afford it.

Meanwhile, they lease a brand new car.

And they live in a generous apartment or a house with a yard.

We all choose to spend our money in our own ways.

Furthermore, it’s been documented that some of the poorest people are the most generous, they donate a larger proportion of their income to charity and they demand no plaque in return, they just believe it’s the right thing to do.

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret… If you keep complaining how you haven’t got it, how you can’t afford it, how it must be nice to be a winner, you’re gonna remain a loser. People are going to dismiss your ass and ignore you. Because no one likes a whiner, no one likes a complainer. You just need to justify how the system screwed you and you’re down there while the winners are up here.

What’s the punch line of that old joke? BUY A TICKET?

If you want to win, you’ve got to play.

And if you never play, you’re never going to win.

Stop denying yourself and stop apologizing for the fact that you make choices that might be different from someone else’s.

If I don’t use a coupon, that does not make me rich.

Then again, I AM!