4 ms·

Am I supposed to feel bad for the tax evading repeat substance abuser who's still sitting on 8 figures but didn't get to cash in on the nepotism fueling his fam

by zajd 9y ago

Am I supposed to feel bad for the tax evading repeat substance abuser who's still sitting on 8 figures but didn't get to cash in on the nepotism fueling his family's fortune? Everyone involved in this story sounds like a horrible person.

erric 9y ago
I can relate to being raised in the same wacky religion, and it does drive people to substance abuse, mental health issues, and inter-family rifts. From the purely human part, the Guys has lost his wife and kids and possibly his whole social circle. That can be very damaging, even to very well of people.
saiya-jin 9y ago
Agreed, very first world problems. Systematic substance abuser (I presume cocaine & prescription meds as is fashionable in these circles) and long-term alcoholic who cheats on his wife and leaves her, while still having at least tens of millions to fall back on. Poor guy resting out in Chamonix... I can understand that his childhood was much stricter than average, but so were of many others without mega wealth and they didn't ended up as pathetic amoral wrecks. And of course he wants to milk his family for more.
- narrator 9y ago
  Rich people have four things that go wrong in their lives: Drugs, divorce, very bad investments and entourages. Entourages being ever larger numbers of people hanging on to them and getting their expenses paid for just being friends. Everything else pretty much takes care of itself and there are many trust funders who just live lives of little accomplishment and relative obscurity. This guy had most of those things go wrong, but he still made it out, the damage being he lost a zero or two from his wealth.
  - fao_ 9y ago
    > Entourages being ever larger numbers of people hanging on to them and getting their expenses paid for just being friends. Given the size of the wealth, I don't know why these people get a negative connotation. It's the job of those with wealth to share with those who don't have. Moreso if it's inherited.
InitialLastName 9y ago
It's just so terrible that this guy might have to sell off part of his "collection of vintage Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes, and Jaguars." How will he ever survive?
IronKettle 9y ago
Maybe? Bad people can still be the recipients of injustices or undue hardship. For an extreme example, you can still feel bad for a thief who gets tortured extensively. You can even feel sorry for people who are led to ruin by their own hubris/etc. For an actual example: It's not insane to feel sorry for Travis Kalanick. Yeah, he sounds like a bad person. It would still really suck to see your "magnum opus" swept away from you. Did he need to be removed? Yes. Would I like to be friends with him? No. Do I still feel bad for him? Yeah, kinda. Sure, the guy from the article kinda sounds like a dirtbag. Still, he was shunned from his family (and a close family at that) and is essentially losing all of his close social network because of staunch religious beliefs that most of us would call silly. That sucks. People don't have to fall into this binary classification of "sympathetic" or "unsympathetic". I can feel bad for him losing his family and wife, but feel no sympathy for his financial situation. As an aside, this is also part of what makes leaving cults so hard: The thought of losing your entire social circle, including your immediate family, is daunting. If you want to know why more people are involved in cults despite being seemingly normal, this is a big part of it.
- zeveb 9y ago
  > Sure, the guy from the article kinda sounds like a dirtbag. Still, he was shunned from his family (and a close family at that) and is essentially losing all of his close social network because of staunch religious beliefs that most of us would call silly. Do most of us really consider 'don't leave your wife for your mistress' a silly belief? From the article, that really sounds like the reason he was cut off.
  - IronKettle 9y ago
    Silly in the sense that it's considered an unforgivable offense relative to how mild it actually is (in the realm of "ways you can screw up your life and others"). It's the staunchness that makes it silly. If my sister cheated on her husband, I wouldn't stop talking to her forever or kick her out of the family (to the extent that I have that power). I'd be disappointed and it would affect our dynamic, sure, but it's not even close to a shunning offense. Thinking on it, there's actually relatively few things she could do to warrant that kind of treatment.
jedberg 9y ago
I don't think you're supposed to feel anything. I think this article is just a PR move. Probably went something like this: Kid: I'm gonna publicly tarnish the family's reputation if you don't give me my money Dad: I dare you, but if you do, you won't get a cent. Kid: I care more about hurting you than the money because (I feel that) you abused me all my life
- walshemj 9y ago
  Arguably they did I mean complaining about a beard when the guy is 50.
Spooky23 9y ago
He's a human. Perhaps he is not deserving of sympathy or pity, but his life, and the reasons he is a substance abuser is a cautionary tale. Perhaps when we talk about the orgy of capitalist conquest that we are collectively part of, we should reflect on the impact on not just the losers -- but the winners to.
- geezerjay 9y ago
  The real impacts of "the orgy of capitalism" are already well known: the highest quality of living in humanity's history, longest average life expectancy ever, widespread access to education in all levels, peace, and most affluent population in the recorded history. What's your point?
  - vkou 9y ago
    That's the impact of burning millions of years of solar energy, stored as fossil fuels, in the span of two hundred years, not of capitalism. Capitalism in a society without cheap access to energy wouldn't have given you any of these things. And whether or not capitalism's dependency on fossil fuels can be broken before AGW cooks us is still an open question. If the worst case scenario holds true, will you also credit capitalism for it?
    - cgmg 9y ago
      Capitalist countries have much higher standards of living than anti-capitalist countries. That is fact, not opinion.
      - mrguyorama 9y ago
        That ignores about a billion confounding factors. Correlation, causation, not equal to, and all that
        monort 9y ago
        There are some experiments with control group. South/North Korea, West/East Germany. Taiwan/Mainland China.
walshemj 9y ago
Sounds like your just like the sanctimonious cult members he's trying to get away from.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 9y ago
In a world where families coddle and enable bad behavior, it is refreshing to see a family that actually sticks to its principles.
smellf 9y ago
> Everyone involved in this story sounds like a horrible person. I can't speak to the entire family, but in an old service-type job of mine about 10 years ago I would occasionally interact with one of the senior Marriott ladies at her home in Potomac (not sure if it was the patriarch's wife, Angie, or John III's sister). Some of the wealthy people living in that area are decent people, but Mrs. Marriott was not. Rather than speak in a normal conversational voice, she would yell orders across the room; when calling our office, she would berate the receptionist. Icy, cruel person. Edit: Just found out it was Dick Marriott's wife, the sister-in-law of John III.

by zajd 9y ago

erric 9y ago

I can relate to being raised in the same wacky religion, and it does drive people to substance abuse, mental health issues, and inter-family rifts. From the purely human part, the Guys has lost his wife and kids and possibly his whole social circle. That can be very damaging, even to very well of people.

saiya-jin 9y ago

Agreed, very first world problems. Systematic substance abuser (I presume cocaine & prescription meds as is fashionable in these circles) and long-term alcoholic who cheats on his wife and leaves her, while still having at least tens of millions to fall back on. Poor guy resting out in Chamonix... I can understand that his childhood was much stricter than average, but so were of many others without mega wealth and they didn't ended up as pathetic amoral wrecks. And of course he wants to milk his family for more.

narrator 9y ago
Rich people have four things that go wrong in their lives: Drugs, divorce, very bad investments and entourages. Entourages being ever larger numbers of people hanging on to them and getting their expenses paid for just being friends. Everything else pretty much takes care of itself and there are many trust funders who just live lives of little accomplishment and relative obscurity. This guy had most of those things go wrong, but he still made it out, the damage being he lost a zero or two from his wealth.
- fao_ 9y ago
  > Entourages being ever larger numbers of people hanging on to them and getting their expenses paid for just being friends. Given the size of the wealth, I don't know why these people get a negative connotation. It's the job of those with wealth to share with those who don't have. Moreso if it's inherited.

InitialLastName 9y ago

It's just so terrible that this guy might have to sell off part of his "collection of vintage Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes, and Jaguars." How will he ever survive?

IronKettle 9y ago

Maybe? Bad people can still be the recipients of injustices or undue hardship. For an extreme example, you can still feel bad for a thief who gets tortured extensively. You can even feel sorry for people who are led to ruin by their own hubris/etc. For an actual example: It's not insane to feel sorry for Travis Kalanick. Yeah, he sounds like a bad person. It would still really suck to see your "magnum opus" swept away from you. Did he need to be removed? Yes. Would I like to be friends with him? No. Do I still feel bad for him? Yeah, kinda. Sure, the guy from the article kinda sounds like a dirtbag. Still, he was shunned from his family (and a close family at that) and is essentially losing all of his close social network because of staunch religious beliefs that most of us would call silly. That sucks. People don't have to fall into this binary classification of "sympathetic" or "unsympathetic". I can feel bad for him losing his family and wife, but feel no sympathy for his financial situation. As an aside, this is also part of what makes leaving cults so hard: The thought of losing your entire social circle, including your immediate family, is daunting. If you want to know why more people are involved in cults despite being seemingly normal, this is a big part of it.

zeveb 9y ago
> Sure, the guy from the article kinda sounds like a dirtbag. Still, he was shunned from his family (and a close family at that) and is essentially losing all of his close social network because of staunch religious beliefs that most of us would call silly. Do most of us really consider 'don't leave your wife for your mistress' a silly belief? From the article, that really sounds like the reason he was cut off.
- IronKettle 9y ago
  Silly in the sense that it's considered an unforgivable offense relative to how mild it actually is (in the realm of "ways you can screw up your life and others"). It's the staunchness that makes it silly. If my sister cheated on her husband, I wouldn't stop talking to her forever or kick her out of the family (to the extent that I have that power). I'd be disappointed and it would affect our dynamic, sure, but it's not even close to a shunning offense. Thinking on it, there's actually relatively few things she could do to warrant that kind of treatment.

jedberg 9y ago

I don't think you're supposed to feel anything. I think this article is just a PR move. Probably went something like this: Kid: I'm gonna publicly tarnish the family's reputation if you don't give me my money Dad: I dare you, but if you do, you won't get a cent. Kid: I care more about hurting you than the money because (I feel that) you abused me all my life

walshemj 9y ago
Arguably they did I mean complaining about a beard when the guy is 50.

Spooky23 9y ago

He's a human. Perhaps he is not deserving of sympathy or pity, but his life, and the reasons he is a substance abuser is a cautionary tale. Perhaps when we talk about the orgy of capitalist conquest that we are collectively part of, we should reflect on the impact on not just the losers -- but the winners to.

geezerjay 9y ago
The real impacts of "the orgy of capitalism" are already well known: the highest quality of living in humanity's history, longest average life expectancy ever, widespread access to education in all levels, peace, and most affluent population in the recorded history. What's your point?
- vkou 9y ago
  That's the impact of burning millions of years of solar energy, stored as fossil fuels, in the span of two hundred years, not of capitalism. Capitalism in a society without cheap access to energy wouldn't have given you any of these things. And whether or not capitalism's dependency on fossil fuels can be broken before AGW cooks us is still an open question. If the worst case scenario holds true, will you also credit capitalism for it?
  - cgmg 9y ago
    Capitalist countries have much higher standards of living than anti-capitalist countries. That is fact, not opinion.
    - mrguyorama 9y ago
      That ignores about a billion confounding factors. Correlation, causation, not equal to, and all that
      - monort 9y ago
        There are some experiments with control group. South/North Korea, West/East Germany. Taiwan/Mainland China.

walshemj 9y ago

Sounds like your just like the sanctimonious cult members he's trying to get away from.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 9y ago

In a world where families coddle and enable bad behavior, it is refreshing to see a family that actually sticks to its principles.

smellf 9y ago

> Everyone involved in this story sounds like a horrible person. I can't speak to the entire family, but in an old service-type job of mine about 10 years ago I would occasionally interact with one of the senior Marriott ladies at her home in Potomac (not sure if it was the patriarch's wife, Angie, or John III's sister). Some of the wealthy people living in that area are decent people, but Mrs. Marriott was not. Rather than speak in a normal conversational voice, she would yell orders across the room; when calling our office, she would berate the receptionist. Icy, cruel person. Edit: Just found out it was Dick Marriott's wife, the sister-in-law of John III.