Word of the day: Bougie (Aspiring to be a higher class. Derived from bourgeois)

I was introduced to this term by my college aged niece while we were on vacation in Florida.  Initially, I had a mental picture of her and her friends talking Marxist philosophy over a mug of fair trade coffee. After she accused my wife and I of being bougie, my first reaction was "yes and so are you". After some thought, I have determined that we cannot be bougie because we are no longer aspiring. We have arrived at our middle class destination. If anyone is bougie it is the young, the poor, and the oppressed -- and rightly so.

We are witnessing a worldwide bougie revolution which could be called a communist counter-revolution. The Marxist-Leninist experiment failed because people are inherently bougie. The USSR melted down because it could not meet the needs of its people. China recognized this long ago, quickly became more capitalist, and dramatically raised living standards. From Eastern Europe to Egypt to Libya, people want to move up. In the streets of Madison Wisconsin, they are trying to hold on to their gains.

I welcome the aspiring masses, but have some bad news. My advice: be prepared to be disappointed. The life you aspire to is not likely to be as good as you thought. In fact, you may end up with an entirely different set aspirations. You may find yourself envying the young with their entire lives in front of them and a body that works the way it should. You may envy having ample free time to dream of what you would do if you had the resources of those that you think are rich. To be able to go to interesting college classes and think big thoughts without reality getting in the way. To live in a blissfully semi-ignorant state while on a free vacation. Don't envy us; we envy you.

Sometimes the wanting is better than the having. Enjoy the journey my bougie friends.