I don’t comment on things people say on Facebook very often….unless it’s to say something so transparently silly that it might be amusing….but not usually offensive.

When I interjected the comment “extremes distort perception” into some friend’s conversation a while back, I was surprised how upset people got.

I don’t think that I handle confrontation very well.

Maybe that’s why I try and stay a little bit “silly”.

Maybe it’s all a passive aggressive dodge?

I don’t really know.

I think I know what I meant when I said “extremes distort….” ….but I’m not sure that I explained it at all at the time.

I think that what I was trying to get at is that “extremes” on either side make people make judgements that aren’t always accurate.

The rich think that poverty is a failure of intelligence or character or energy or motivation…..and the poor think that the rich have stacked the game….that they’re selfish….greedy…..

I don’t think that you can make a value judgement about any of it.

I’ve never been rich….yet….

I’ve lacked money….to a big degree.

The lack of money with a new family can make things pretty strange.

Not having any money when I was single was kind of a funny game sometimes.

Not having money is different with a young family.

(What young family doesn’t need money? What the heck….that’s a silly observation. That’s part of the typical experience….)

Anyway…that personal stuff is kind of irrelevant.

If you fall at the outer edge of the extreme, it would be hard not to have some strong opinions about what the “other side” is up to.

I guess if you were “rich”, you’d figure out a way to get richer….and figure out a way to keep your money out of the hands of the “other guys”.

Who wants to give most of your money to some poor dude?

And who cares about running your camel through the eye of a needle, anyways?

Who even has a camel these days?

And if you were really poor….maybe the rich would be the enemy….somebody different who has everything that you think that you want?

I guess that’s what I meant by “distorted perception”.

We can’t bridge the differences.

We can’t bridge the differences…..and we don’t want some ragamuffin tromping around in the lower garden if we live in a mansion.

I would love to figure out a good, non-damaging way to make a bunch of money.

That would be kind of fun to make a bunch of money.

I don’t have any judgements to make about what anyone else is up to….not all the rich people are from the dark side.

Maybe extreme wealth….or poverty…takes you away from a place where you can understand what the other person is going through?

Maybe when you are really poor, you’re too busy just trying to survive to think about any stupid class conscious BS?

Maybe the rich are really just a bunch of evil people?

That’s a whole lot easier to just say that the wealthy are evil.

That’s a weight off my shoulders….now that I finally can say that.

The evil rich.

Maybe that’s what I meant all along?

Forget all that “understanding each other” crap.

And….check this short article out.

That’s what I thought. The deck is always stacked.

That’s the real perception.