In Defense of… Orange County?

I never thought I’d be writing something like this, and from the title already it sounds as if I were contradicting myself: Am I here, really defending the town I so much detested?!

Yes, in a way, I am. This is something that’s been on my mind for quite a while now, and probably an opinion I have that I feel most outspoken about… To get to it, I guess I could generalize it as “the wealthy” of Orange County. Now, it’s not like everyone here are extremely wealthy. Although the costs of living in Orange County are obviously not low, not everyone who live in Orange County are “rich.” This entry, however, is about the so-called “rich” or “wealthy.”

Generally, there seems to be a negative stigma and perception people have of those from Orange County. And while some of those perceptions are ones that I agree with, there are others that I don’t. It’s actually more of a general perception people have of those who are wealthy/rich, that they are selfish, that they step on others to get to the top, etc. etc.

Yes, some of these perceptions are probably true. Let’s face it: who isn’t selfish nowadays, and we all step on someone to “get to the top,” whether or not we like to admit or realize it. But really, to get to the point, my problem is with people who believe that those who have the money can afford to spend it on extra things “because they are rich,” as if their money didn’t really matter to them.

I’d like to take a moment here and state that my own accusations (as some may take it) I’m making may be generalized, and even a bit harsh, but what I’m saying is the sentiment that I feel and get from many people I’ve been around who have made these comments.

What makes me angry about those who assume the above or those who believe that just because someone is rich/wealthy and therefore can spare the extra money is that those who make these assumptions don’t seem to really think about where that money came from. And I think that I have a skewed perspective, because I have seen first-hand people who build, literally, from the bottom up. From nothing to something. (Bear in mind that I’m talking about money-wise.) And, as we all know, that ain’t easy.

It’s so easy to assume for those who are labeled “rich” or “wealthy” that they are snobs, that they are “rich bitches,” and that they spend their money extravagantly etc. etc. And while that is true – and seems to be quite the case – especially for the “rich parents’” children, when we look at their family’s wealth from those who actually make the money, it’s unfair to hold these negative judgments.

It may be true that my family and I happen to live in some “premiere” community in Orange County. And, to be honest, when we first moved into my community and my parents started to be-friend many of the other Chinese/Taiwanese families in this community, I had the same negative judgments about them: that they were these conservative, close-minded Republicans. I, too, regarded them as snobby and wrote them off even before I met them. I made rude comments about how they all have too much money, and they aren’t contributing much to our society, blah blah blah.

However, after my parents got to know them, and after they told me, I found out that all of their new friends’ wealth was self-made. There is a family who came to America with no more than $1,000. There is another family that went from rags to riches, back to rags, and, once again, came to riches.

Our society nowadays reacts so quickly to the label “rich” and “wealthy” that I think sometimes we don’t give enough credit to those self-made men/women out there. For them, their workdays are nonstop. Their stress levels are constantly high, because not only did they have to and continue to have to worry about everyday life and all that comes with it, but they also have to worry about managing their small businesses, which can be anywhere from 5 employees to 50 employees. That’s a hell lot of people and weight on their shoulders.

And perhaps here is where my own personal conflict comes – when it comes to fiscal policy. Personally, I whole-heartedly and firmly support what we could say is “liberal Democratic fiscal policy”: distribution of wealth, increasing taxes for those with higher incomes, better welfare; however, I can’t say I could disagree with “conservative fiscal policy.” In my own opinion, no, I would not support conservative fiscal economic policy. But at the same time, I also see and (try to) understand the other side of the argument: that for those who took the risks and worked 15-hour work days, they should have the right to use their money as they please, because they earned it.

This is when another personal conflict comes in: that I also realize that our society and institutions were and still are “made for the rich,” whether or not people like to admit that. So, at the same time, can we continue to “reward” those who have become “successful” in an environment that was made for them, and can we continue to “punish” those who are disadvantaged to begin with?

But then I think: for those who “made it” in society – and in my point of view, more specifically my parents and their “Asian rich friends” – they, too, may not have been “advantaged” to start out with, either. In fact, most of them faced just as many barriers. Not only did they face financial difficulties, they also faced cultural barriers, language barriers, and social barriers (including the ever-present racism). Can we say that it’s mere luck that they “made it?” Or should I remind myself that these stories I’ve heard are those “cream-of-the-crop” stories? Perhaps they are, but regardless, they still serve as an example that while conditions in our society are “made for the rich,” it’s not impossible for those who are at a disadvantage to make it, too. So when they do, do they deserve the negative comments and the stigma that come along with it?

Quite a majority of the “rich people” in Orange County are small business owners. And okay, maybe the majority of them are “WASPs” and maybe we can label them as those who are “advantaged to begin with.” But still, being small business owners (it’s not like they are CEOs of corporations..) means that they are entrepreneurs. Most of the wealthy in Orange County is considered “new money”, meaning they made the money for themselves, that it’s not from their “rich families.” These small business owners took probably the biggest risks of their lives and started something new. And they made it. Is this something we should characterize negatively? Isn’t the entrepreneurial spirit, the mindset that we should and could set our own destinies, what America is supposedly about?

Sometimes I think that it’s all the TV shows and the media that talk about the kids of those who are rich in Orange County who spend like no there’s no tomorrow, who are snobby, who are “rich bitches” that give Orange County the bad rap. But it’s important to make the distinction between those who are making the money – the small business owners, the entrepreneurs – and those who just spend money they don’t earn on their own.

At the end of the day, yes, I realize that all of these negative perceptions and judgments will still exist. Stigma, prejudice, and preconceived notions will always exist as long as we are human. So, perhaps this was a pointless rant afterall.

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