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Perhaps peculiar to the incoherent egalitarian of our age, particular to the middle class: not quite rich enough. The same impulse that motivates the "oh, you shouldn't have, I can't accept this" bit of sentimental moral theater. There's a certain fear of being unmasked as a fraud. You don't quite have the money or je ne sais quoi you feel you should have before you can confidently claim the sense of superiority you'd like. Ah, yes, it's that old mysticism of money again. Note that the king serves his people, and we do not typically characterize kings as inferiors. Parentd feed, clothe, and bathe their children in their early years with no risk to their rank. Perhaps here lingers a contempt for the work of the working men, an ingratitude, that inflames the strange spectacle of overcompensation, of overvaluing their work. But it is simple. Either the arrangement is just, in which case there is no problem, or it is, in which case, what are you doing partaking in it, unless it is licit nonetheless, in which case, why the anxiety? Learn to receive what is given with the right amount of gratitude. Also, I don't especially care for cruises. |