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Everyone is always above money until they’re looking at a stack of it in front of them. The only folks I know that have the willpower to turn down a pile of mon

Everyone is always above money until they’re looking at a stack of it in front of them. The only folks I know that have the willpower to turn down a pile of money is someone who has their eyes set on a mountain of money.

gilleain 8y ago
Some people have burned it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation#The_K_Foundation_Burn_a_Million_Quid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation#The_K_Foundation_...
- onion2k 8y ago
  Bill Drummond from the KLF has since said he regrets doing that stunt. "Of course I regret it - who wouldn't!" Drummond now says. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3667901.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3667901.stm
  - etrautmann 8y ago
    I enjoyed reading about the soup line in that article.
- majewsky 8y ago
  I prefer what https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Fund did with their unexpected fortune.
  - corodra 8y ago
    They gave away money, in the public light, to attract more donations... to take off the top. More donations, more “top” to take from. Just because it was bitcoin, doesn’t mean they aren’t human. I think the past few years of bitcoin has proven that bitcoin isn’t magically immune to human corruption.
- Asooka 8y ago
  A bit offtopic, but I've been wondering - is it possible to destroy money in any way other than literally burning banknotes. With electronic money you can only transfer them between parties, so while you can give away all your money, the money still exists in the system - you can't call the bank and ask to have 100k deleted from your account. Am I missing something or is there no way for money to ever disappear from the banking system?
  - foxhop 8y ago
    You cannot destroy money, the government literally adds money at any time (physical and electronically). Deleting 100k would be a drop in the bucket. Often when the government creates new money it's given to the banks who loan it to the rest of us with interest...
  - jpetso 8y ago
    Money is created when debt is taken out. By repaying debt, the allowed maximum amount of loaned money (i.e. arbitrarily created money) is reduced. If all debts everywhere were repaid, all money would stop existing. Therefore, if you give your money to people who use it to pay off their loans, you effectively do the same thing as having it "deleted". The other question, of course, is how to keep those people from taking on new debt now that they have some breathing room.
- corodra 8y ago
  Proves my point. He burned it in front of a freelance reporter and filmed it. Then released a film about it. Sacrifice a small pile of money to try making a bigger pile. There are smarter ways, but making more was the intent. If it wasn’t the intent, it would have been done in private.
scandox 8y ago
The way you tell it everybody has some moment in life where they're confronted by a pile of cash and then their true nature is revealed (conveniently letting greedy people everywhere say "hey you see you're just as base and materialistic as I am"). But in real life many people show their basic disinterest in money simply by choosing to do things and pursue activities that have no financial incentive. So in fact most people are above money. Can they be tempted with a one-time solution to the many tribulations of their daily life? Yes. But I would argue they're still "above money" in the most important sense - they're interested in other things.
- corodra 8y ago
  Are there truly folks “above” money? I believe so. But not a single one is or wants to be in the public light. Ever. The same drive that lends someone to desire public attention, also drives the want of money. So if there’s a public statement about “oh, I don’t care about money. I’m just going to give it all away.” I smell bullshit. Sounds more like trying to gain sympathy purchases. Nothing against dwarf fortress or these guys. But I’m sick of the tech high and mighty bullshit that everyone’s good saints with no desire of money. The more someone says they’re good little Boy Scouts, the more dirty they are.
  - stnmtn 8y ago
    I mean the two brothers that develop Dwarf Fortress for the past ~2 decades have made a completely free game, only asking for donations. Don't you think if they were as dirty as you say, they would have started to charge a long time ago?
    - jerguismi 8y ago
      They most definitely aren't dirty, but also there is nothing dirty in wanting money. Practically everyone needs money to survive, and if you want to have more money than just survive I don't think there is nothing wrong with that, if you acquire that money ethically.
- jerguismi 8y ago

gilleain 8y ago

Some people have burned it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation#The_K_Foundation_Burn_a_Million_Quid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation#The_K_Foundation_...

onion2k 8y ago
Bill Drummond from the KLF has since said he regrets doing that stunt. "Of course I regret it - who wouldn't!" Drummond now says. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3667901.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3667901.stm
- etrautmann 8y ago
  I enjoyed reading about the soup line in that article.
majewsky 8y ago
I prefer what https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Fund did with their unexpected fortune.
- corodra 8y ago
  They gave away money, in the public light, to attract more donations... to take off the top. More donations, more “top” to take from. Just because it was bitcoin, doesn’t mean they aren’t human. I think the past few years of bitcoin has proven that bitcoin isn’t magically immune to human corruption.
Asooka 8y ago
A bit offtopic, but I've been wondering - is it possible to destroy money in any way other than literally burning banknotes. With electronic money you can only transfer them between parties, so while you can give away all your money, the money still exists in the system - you can't call the bank and ask to have 100k deleted from your account. Am I missing something or is there no way for money to ever disappear from the banking system?
- foxhop 8y ago
  You cannot destroy money, the government literally adds money at any time (physical and electronically). Deleting 100k would be a drop in the bucket. Often when the government creates new money it's given to the banks who loan it to the rest of us with interest...
- jpetso 8y ago
  Money is created when debt is taken out. By repaying debt, the allowed maximum amount of loaned money (i.e. arbitrarily created money) is reduced. If all debts everywhere were repaid, all money would stop existing. Therefore, if you give your money to people who use it to pay off their loans, you effectively do the same thing as having it "deleted". The other question, of course, is how to keep those people from taking on new debt now that they have some breathing room.
corodra 8y ago
Proves my point. He burned it in front of a freelance reporter and filmed it. Then released a film about it. Sacrifice a small pile of money to try making a bigger pile. There are smarter ways, but making more was the intent. If it wasn’t the intent, it would have been done in private.

scandox 8y ago

The way you tell it everybody has some moment in life where they're confronted by a pile of cash and then their true nature is revealed (conveniently letting greedy people everywhere say "hey you see you're just as base and materialistic as I am"). But in real life many people show their basic disinterest in money simply by choosing to do things and pursue activities that have no financial incentive. So in fact most people are above money. Can they be tempted with a one-time solution to the many tribulations of their daily life? Yes. But I would argue they're still "above money" in the most important sense - they're interested in other things.

corodra 8y ago
Are there truly folks “above” money? I believe so. But not a single one is or wants to be in the public light. Ever. The same drive that lends someone to desire public attention, also drives the want of money. So if there’s a public statement about “oh, I don’t care about money. I’m just going to give it all away.” I smell bullshit. Sounds more like trying to gain sympathy purchases. Nothing against dwarf fortress or these guys. But I’m sick of the tech high and mighty bullshit that everyone’s good saints with no desire of money. The more someone says they’re good little Boy Scouts, the more dirty they are.
- stnmtn 8y ago
  I mean the two brothers that develop Dwarf Fortress for the past ~2 decades have made a completely free game, only asking for donations. Don't you think if they were as dirty as you say, they would have started to charge a long time ago?
  - jerguismi 8y ago
    They most definitely aren't dirty, but also there is nothing dirty in wanting money. Practically everyone needs money to survive, and if you want to have more money than just survive I don't think there is nothing wrong with that, if you acquire that money ethically.
jerguismi 8y ago