The Gratitude Trick

Be careful what you thank for

- Deliberations with Devdutt

Have you seen the rich constantly talk about gratitude on social media? Are they thanking people for making them rich? Are they thanking God for making them rich? If they are thanking people for making them rich, then they see people as donors to their lifestyle, who seek nothing in return. If they are thanking God, then they are seeing themselves as moral and ethical beings who have been rewarded by the divine. Gratitude is a clever trick marketed to avoid taking responsibility and being accountable for one’s actions. Gratitude is a masquerade of humility. Unless it is accompanied by generosity.

The poor are also told to be grateful. They could have starved to death, but they must be grateful to get the leftovers of the rich. The ritual of gratitude comes from a warped reading of Christian and Islamic mythologies, where God is all powerful so no one has any power. Those who are rich and powerful are because God wills it so. The rich must be grateful to God for their fortune. The poor must be grateful to God for at least being alive, and not as miserable as others.