It is a sad fact about human nature that we, unfortunately, like to laugh at poor people. It is a guilty pleasure to watch to listen to other people’s misfortunes and poor personal and financial decisions.

Media industries and media personalities are built upon the misfortunes of people with low incomes.

Financial podcasts like the Rich Dad and poor dad radio show hosted by Robert Kurosaki take advantage of and allegedly manipulate the fears of the desperate to improve their financial situation.

Another excellent example of this form is the Access Vegas podcast, Fresh and Fit podcast and a host of other independent media outlets that make money by manipulating people who are poor and vulnerable as well as giving the viewer the euphoria of knowing they are somebody worse off than they are.

Why You Should Not Laugh at Poor People — Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on Unsplash

Playing on People’s Fears

There are industries particularly the beauty industry plays upon the fears of men and women, with British women spending £10 billion annually on cosmetics and hair products.

A new report has revealed that British women splurge on average £95.94 annually on make-up and a further £162.52 on hair products, totalling an annual total spend of £10 billion.

As for men Globally, the number of men who enjoy routine spending on beauty products has risen from 17% in 2015 to 21% in 2019.The rise of the cosmetic industry and the rise of people’s laughing at poor people is linked to internal insecurity and the need to feel positive about oneself by laughing at other’s misfortune.

Humans naturally gravitate towards negative content. For example, a man comes home to his wife and finds her in bed with a milkman.

In this event, he is divorced, loses his home and now suffers from type III diabetes.

We look towards this kind of negative content because, in our natural hunter-gatherer environment, we look at bad events and try to learn from that experience to avoid that happening again.

Financial influences and over-influences podcasts are trying to monetise people’s insecurities and fears regarding relationships and their financial worries.

They don’t give genuine and practical financial advice.

The advice people are being given is only tenable to high earners and people making over a six-figure income.

Also, they don’t consider other people’s mindsets, their attitudes towards money and any problems that may cause them to spend excessive amounts of money.

The point of financial advice is that it is targeted towards the capabilities and the means of each person or household and their needs.