by L. Merlino

Created on: September 07, 2008   Last Updated: September 10, 2008

Many things inadvertently reveal our income, including our homes, the types of cars we drive and clothes we wear. It is not always a good idea to flaunt either wealth or poverty if one can help it. Folks may be discriminated against either for being prosperous or impoverished. Even the modest middle class may be victims of class envy or scorned by high society. There's wisdom in being discreet about one's income.

In our society, it is generally considered taboo to openly disclose one's income level and for good reason!

1) It leaves you open to many types of predators. Scam artists and gold-diggers of every persuasion may be tempted to hit on you; or if your income is meager, it may close the door to social opportunities that could otherwise work to your financial advantage. Better to keep 'em guessing.

2) It is considered an unbecoming, egotistical tooting of one's own horn. Those who are economically more advantaged than you may roll their eyes, and those below your standard of living may experience turning stomachs.

Basically, this cultural taboo is in place to protect "your interests" except when it comes to shielding the ears of the unwary from loud horn-tooting.

You wouldn't flash the contents of your wallet on a street corner, would you? Conversely, would you post your deficits on a public billboard for your creditors to gloat over? The revealing of one's income is a matter of discretion for the wise, the wary, or anyone endowed with common sense.

OK, it's tempting to broadcast when you've made a killing on the stock market or won a lottery - or whenever fortune has marked you out as a winner. This tendency of human nature harkens back to earlier hunter-gatherer societies when it was important to broadcast who was the baddest hunter-gatherer of them all. Call it Social Darwinism. Such winners were the future tribal leaders; the ones on whom the rest of the clan could lean during lean times - sure to put meat or fruits and nuts on the table - the best prospects to procreate with. That was in the days before modern enterprise and a whole subculture of shady enterprisers entered the picture. There were also fewer middle-men, tax-collectors and alimony was unheard of.

Given our DNA and genetic memory, the urge to toot one's horn is understandable, but why on Earth would anyone want to admit to a lesser income? Reverse killing? Maybe.

There's a whole school of thought that glorifies debt. Think of our Nation's deficit. If one's debt could rival that of Uncle Sam's

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