The Empathic Millionaire

Economic crises, the pandemic, inflation, war, affect us all, but not equally.

For the majority, financial or geopolitical phenomena mean tightening their seatbelts without heating in winter (and when shivering on the sofa buried under thick blankets, the television reasonably justifies the cold one is experiencing: of course, there is a war in Ukraine) or boiling alive in the summer (and while he is dripping with sweat in the heat, the media tells him the source of his discomfort: of course, we have just emerged from a global pandemic) or becoming a vegan out of monetary imperative (and when opening the umpteenth jar of chickpeas or boil four potatoes again, not the quinoa or kale that the ecopijos show on Instagram, follow the thread of the explanations: of course, of course,

inflation because such and such...) or buying second-hand clothes (without the shame of yesteryear because now we don't do it for the poor but for conscientious saviors of the planet).

For a misunderstood minority, on the other hand, the problems are much more complex: they have the misfortune of being forced to manage huge sums of money.

Rich who suffer and cry.

What's more, they cry to us so that we feel sorry for their delicate situation.

An example from this week is the very hard-working Juan Roig, president of one of the hegemonic supermarket chains in Spain, with the power that this entails: imposing the conditions on suppliers and charging the consumer the price that the company decides.

Roig admitted what any of his clients have known for a long time: that prices have gone up “a nonsense”.

But he tells us that he has been forced to do so, because he is one of those paternal and generous bosses, who did not want to sell at a higher price, but of course, the context, inflation, etc.

It will be necessary to thank the honorable Valencian for understanding what he means for customers with "more modest incomes" the increase in the price of the shopping cart.

Appreciate the imagination that is needed to understand what it is like to calculate every penny you spend when your gross salary is 11 million euros and you pay 88 million in dividends or your company has a net profit of 718 million euros in a year of war, inflation, postcovid, crisis, etc.

That you with your little blanket and your chickpeas don't understand how good Roig is is because you don't have the capacity to understand the complicated lives of the very, very rich.

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