I came across a news article featuring an interview with a delivery driver with 10 years of experience, discussing the differences between people in wealthy neighborhoods and those in poorer neighborhoods.
According to the interview, people in wealthy neighborhoods generally had bright expressions, were polite, and always used honorifics. They were also generous, sometimes even offering drinks or snacks to the delivery drivers. On the other hand, people in poorer neighborhoods tended to have dark expressions, didn’t acknowledge the delivery person’s greetings or used informal language, and were generally rude. Their homes were often described as messy.
The article even mentioned that security guards in wealthy apartment complexes treated delivery drivers with kindness and respect, while security guards in poorer neighborhoods would be condescending and territorial.
The comments on the article overwhelmingly agreed with the interview. Comments arguing that poor people were lazy, uneducated, and therefore rude were particularly popular. Many comments stated that while the media portrayed the poor as kind, in reality, wealthy people were kinder due to their affluence, and poor people were much more evil.
It’s certainly true that not only in our country but also abroad, poor neighborhoods are often dirty, dilapidated, and crime-ridden. Wealthy neighborhoods tend to be clean, have high levels of education, and people, both adults and children, generally possess basic manners and civility.
However, despite this, the proposition that “poor people are more evil” is wrong.
Poverty cannot be pleasant. This is especially true for people living in poverty in wealthy countries. Therefore, it’s natural that they find it difficult to have positive expressions. Consequently, they are more susceptible to the temptations of petty crime. They are relatively more likely to risk becoming criminals for a small amount of money or a moment of pleasure. They also have a lower tendency to make long-term life plans and live with a long-term perspective. Someone delivering food and meeting dozens of people a day in such neighborhoods is certainly less likely to have pleasant experiences.
People in wealthy neighborhoods relatively value their reputation. They, as well as their children, are careful not to do anything that others might criticize. Therefore, children in wealthy neighborhoods are also more likely to be polite. They don’t commit petty theft or impulsive crimes that are easily discovered because they have much more to lose. They sometimes even offer snacks to delivery drivers. This is to satisfy themselves by looking at their own image of being wealthy, well-educated, and even kind. However, they don’t engage in anonymous charity.
The Nth Room incident, which shocked the nation with its underage sexual exploitation, had membership fees approaching one million won per month. Most of the members were likely from wealthy neighborhoods. The users of Club Burning Sun’s VIP rooms, the men buying sex in hostess bars and the prostitutes themselves, the members of illegal gambling rings, and the buyers of methamphetamine in Bukhansan were all from wealthy neighborhoods. People who rent pensions or villas to engage in “spouse swapping” while drinking expensive wine, or those who join online pornographic communities like Soranet and enjoy various perverted acts, are also relatively well-off. It would sound like a story from another world to ordinary people struggling to pay their monthly rent.
People who commit corruption by colluding with those in power, people who engage in stock/real estate speculation using insider information, and stock manipulation groups all live in wealthy neighborhoods. Drug traffickers, those who arrange celebrity prostitution, illegal sports betting operators, loan sharks, fraudsters, gang leaders, and businesspeople who make money through connections with the Chinese Communist Party, private equity fund managers, etc., all live in wealthy neighborhoods.
People who devise schemes in secret and commit large-scale evil deeds to satisfy their greed all live in wealthy neighborhoods. But it’s difficult to distinguish them by their outward appearance because they possess “resources for hypocrisy.”
“Resources for hypocrisy” include money, education, appearance, and social status. With these, even a serial killer can perfectly become a cultured and kind philanthropist. People in poor neighborhoods simply lack “resources for hypocrisy.” However, without exception, evil people reveal their true colors when their “resources for hypocrisy” run out. A corrupt businessman who has lost his money will have a darker expression, be more rude and eccentric, and live in an even messier home than a jobless thug in a poor neighborhood. If he were to read this, he would think, “I will definitely make money again,” but his problem is not money. They don’t know what their problem is.
It’s the same. People in poor neighborhoods and people in wealthy neighborhoods are equally capable of evil. Everywhere, there are a small number of good people who live by their conscience, and a large number of evil people. We simply cannot see what kinds of evil deeds they commit. And the act of covering up evil deeds with hypocrisy and pretending to be a good person is in itself another evil.
Leave a Reply