It’s just math, but I didn’t really think about it until it started happening to me.

These days, when I get a raise at work as a percentage of my income — damn, that makes a lot more difference than it used to.

(humblebrag incoming, I guess) Not too long ago at work, I got a raise that alone as an absolute amount was approximately more than I made in two entire years of work in the Army (even inflation-adjusted).

I don’t know if others in my position think about it, but I do. It’s not quite guilt because I am not sure I have even the capability of that feeling, but when I walk into a fast food place or somewhere like that I strongly realize that my raises alone these days are often more than the folks working the counters pull down in an entire year.

And that’s not a good feeling. It’s not about “deserving” or not. Not like I am turning down those raises, or that the eschewal of them would even help. It’s just fundamentally wrong, and if it’s wrong at my relatively-modest level then it’s even more wrong for those who are vastly more wealthy than I am.

Beyond a certain point, money just builds itself higher without you doing anything. Stock accounts make more in dividends than the average daily wage. The pyramid of loot grows ever taller from which you can gaze disdainfully down at those around you. All without any interaction at all.

This system is unsustainable. I say that even though I benefit from it, and even though if it were to cease I’d probably lose more than I’d gain.

There’s no way some people’s raises should be more than some others working full-time make in a year, just as there is no way a CEO should bring in hundreds of times what the average worker does. On that base a true civil and civilized society cannot be built nor sustained.