What do I deserve?

A wise man once asked me, “Do people that are unable to work (even if they are willing) deserve a lower standard of living?”

And he followed his question with “For the children of people who can’t find work deserve a lower standard of living?”

Before I answer, let me say this:

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A fully-loaded Tesla Model S P90D is probably the best car man has ever created (at least in a production capacity).  I’d really like have one.  They are prohibitively expensive for a person of my income though, so instead I will be confined to simply appreciate the beauty of their engineering.  That is, until…

One day, a rich man approached me and said “I’m leaving the country for awhile, but I don’t want my favorite car to go to waste.  Would you like to borrow my Tesla while I’m gone?  I won’t charge you anything, all I ask is that you take good care of it, and give it back without complaint when I return.”

“Uhhh…yeah!”

“Ok, I should be gone for a few years, but I may be gone longer, or may return sooner.  There is no way to tell, at present.  The only thing I know for certain is that I will return one day, and need my vehicle back.”

“Uhhh………………yeah!”

Does it matter when the rich man returns to reclaim his vehicle?  If he returns tomorrow, have I been wronged?  If I wash and wax the car daily, should I get to keep it after he returns?  Would it be reasonable and prudent to assume I’ll have the car forever?  When the car is reclaimed, if I make every reasonable effort to afford my own, do I deserve the shame of driving a piddly Ford Fiesta?  Have I been wronged?  

Or should I always be mentally prepared to return the vehicle?  Should I use my access to such a vehicle without charge to save the money I’d otherwise need to spend, so that when the bell tolls, I have a warchest to better handle my situation than I otherwise would have been, had the vehicle never been lent to me?

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My Answer: No

No, they do not deserve a lower standard of living.  No, they do not deserve a higher standard of living.  Nobody deserves anything.

Was the Tesla a metaphor for a “good” job? Was it a metaphor for a “better” standard of living?  The Tesla was a metaphor for life itself.  As with the car, not a single one of us did anything to deserve being alive in the first place.  Therefore we don’t deserve to be alive.  We are simply lucky to be alive.

When the rich man lent me his Tesla, without charge, did I deserve the heated steering wheel option?  What a ridiculous question.  So too, is it impossible to deserve anything in life if we don’t deserve life itself.

Do not twist my words.  I have not said that we all deserve to die.  I did not deserve to return the Tesla to it’s owner – it was simply a term of the benevolent deal I undeservedly received.  But I know it will happen someday, though I know not which.  Best to use my good fortune to prepare for such a day.  And, best to take the best of care of my temporary gift, so that my benefactor might be impressed with how I have treated his benevolence, and perhaps reward me again one day with something beyond my grasp.

If he does not, shall I be indignent?  No, I should always be thankful for the awesome opportunity.