[Good Rich, Bad Rich] If You Can Afford a Honeymoon Abroad, You’re Already Rich

When a plane carrying Korean tourists crashed in Cambodia on June 25, 2007, we were able to see just how difficult life is for the people of that country. Even in Phnom Penh, the capital, there was not a single decent refrigerated facility properly equipped to store the bodies.

To Cambodians, whose per capita national income is less than $400, South Koreans wearing sunglasses, boarding planes, and traveling to Angkor Wat for leisure must surely seem enormously wealthy. Even by simple calculation, with a per capita income of $20,000, we earn 50 times more than Cambodians. From a global perspective, most Koreans already belong among the rich. Can someone who can afford to go abroad for a honeymoon really be said not to be wealthy?

And yet, among those Korean tourists, very few would probably consider themselves rich. They would likely think of themselves as rich only if they could take a cruise on a luxury liner. In Korea, people generally regard about 2.76 billion won as the benchmark for being rich. That was the result of a survey conducted by Hankil Research Institute of 904 men and women aged 19 and older. But in reality, someone whose assets total 2.76 billion won would not necessarily think of himself as rich. In particular, someone who meets only other wealthy people every day is quite likely to think of himself as poor. That is because wealth is a relative concept.

If, as presidential candidates have promised, income of $30,000 or $40,000 is achieved in the near future, then the benchmark for being rich will probably rise to at least 4 to 5 billion won. By that time, people with assets of around 2.76 billion won will be so common that they will no longer consider themselves rich.

That is why, even though most people in our country have become wealthy, envy and finger-pointing toward the rich have not disappeared. Until the late 1970s, owning a private car was a dreamlike privilege reserved only for the rich. Now, even though almost every household owns a car, people still envy the rich.

Of course, it is natural to envy those who have more money than oneself. But only by channeling that envy in a productive direction can one become much wealthier as well.

Original title: [좋은 부자, 나쁜 부자] 해외로 신혼여행 가는 나는 이미 부자다

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2007-12-17

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=19&idx=10707