As a younger man l invested a lot in these superficialities, my appearance was an asset and l spent enough on clothes to keep the DWP afloat. This meant l could mask my chronic underachievement with a blagged confidence based on the fact that, on their shallow metric of superficiality, l was on an equal footing when swaggering around bars and clubs, thinking l was hot shit. This worked for a while but is ultimately fake, a papering of cracks, and as l matured l appreciated the strength of my personal qualities were of greater importance. If you hold values true to yourself and are loyal to them, the metric you assess yourself on becomes your own. I don't know you beyond your input on here but you're clearly smart, thoughtful, with sound political principle which suggests integrity. There are people out there who wrap themselves in ostentatious signs of wealth who lack all of those things, and often envy those who do. Most people with acquired success attain this through either luck or a privileged starting point, and secretly they envy those who have ability they do not have, who have appealing personalities, who are able to make others laugh. The premise that they succeeded and others failed because the "failures" lacked required personal qualities such as ambition, endeavour, motivation is a fallacy they perpetuate to mask the fact that they got lucky and to promote the notion that their wealth, and by extension all wealth and the poverty of others to boot, is deserved. Most of these people are fucking insufferable to be around and if I'm a failure for preferring the company of those with honesty, integrity, humour, intelligence and humility then l frankly don't give a shit, and imho nor should you.
