4 ms·

Are you from america? As a european, this assumption that everyone would value getting as rich as possible as their top priority seems really weird.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
I'm American. The friend of the family in question was a German immigrant.
rolltiide 7y ago
I’ve been surprised at how uncomfortable people are with capitalism in various parts of Europe Talk about my fintech venture or trading and young people are visible apprehensive Very distinct from the general awe and congratulations and “wow but you're so young!” that comes with completely misunderstanding what personal and liquid monetary wealth is Outside of Monaco and Zug I just started telling people I was a student studying communications
- noize 7y ago
  nah, people are just suspicious of people calling bitcoin "fintech"
  - rolltiide 7y ago
    I’d have a chuckle if you weren't assuming that about my venture No bitcoin involved
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  - drdeadringer 7y ago
    > fintech I had to look up what this brand new slang term meant. fintech = "financial technology". Linguistic evolution -- be it wanted, needed, or not.
- EugeneOZ 7y ago
  Agree. And that raise of socialism is also annoying. But some of US citizens are communists, not just socialists, so it's not just Europe :)
  - rolltiide 7y ago
    > But some of US citizens are communists I really appreciate the business climate of the US, the tax and accounting rules are so complex that even communists likely wouldn't achieve much if they gained representation. they'll focus on "income tax" and "wealth tax" because its all they know, and their state planning would never gain consensus. Mark to Market elections on securities transactions at arbitrary prices causing Net Operating Losses forever no matter what the income tax rate is? 60/40 rule on futures trades? Its unlikely they would ever notice.
anon9001 7y ago
For Americans, getting rich should be the top priority. There's not much of a safety net if you fall ill and can't work. You have to use your healthy/productive years to build up wealth so you won't be homeless later.
- regular_person 7y ago
  This is a great point. It's not (necessarily) that Americans are just inherently money-hungry; we just have to be because we live in a system that is really callous and unmerciful compared to other places in the world.
  - pmoriarty 7y ago
    There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. I don't know if I'm qualified to compare Americans to Europeans, but many Americans really are enamored with money and judge material wealth as the be all and end all goal of life.
    - DoreenMichele 7y ago
      When you live without a real safety net, no amount of money is ever enough to guarantee anything whatsoever. Plus decades of doing what you have to do to survive at all and not end up being a victim of such a system powerfully shapes your psychology. It's hard to just put it down one day after your net worth hits $X.
    - mrmuagi 7y ago
      > There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. I mean take a look at rich (m/b)illionaires. It's a life style they can't give up.
    - burntoutfire 7y ago
      > There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. That's probably because, over time, you become what you practice. So, even if you were not obsessed with money and work at 20, you might be at 40, after 20 years of chasing money and success to stave off potential disasters.

DoreenMichele 7y ago

I'm American. The friend of the family in question was a German immigrant.

rolltiide 7y ago

I’ve been surprised at how uncomfortable people are with capitalism in various parts of Europe Talk about my fintech venture or trading and young people are visible apprehensive Very distinct from the general awe and congratulations and “wow but you're so young!” that comes with completely misunderstanding what personal and liquid monetary wealth is Outside of Monaco and Zug I just started telling people I was a student studying communications

noize 7y ago
nah, people are just suspicious of people calling bitcoin "fintech"
- rolltiide 7y ago
  I’d have a chuckle if you weren't assuming that about my venture No bitcoin involved
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- drdeadringer 7y ago
  > fintech I had to look up what this brand new slang term meant. fintech = "financial technology". Linguistic evolution -- be it wanted, needed, or not.
EugeneOZ 7y ago
Agree. And that raise of socialism is also annoying. But some of US citizens are communists, not just socialists, so it's not just Europe :)
- rolltiide 7y ago
  > But some of US citizens are communists I really appreciate the business climate of the US, the tax and accounting rules are so complex that even communists likely wouldn't achieve much if they gained representation. they'll focus on "income tax" and "wealth tax" because its all they know, and their state planning would never gain consensus. Mark to Market elections on securities transactions at arbitrary prices causing Net Operating Losses forever no matter what the income tax rate is? 60/40 rule on futures trades? Its unlikely they would ever notice.

anon9001 7y ago

For Americans, getting rich should be the top priority. There's not much of a safety net if you fall ill and can't work. You have to use your healthy/productive years to build up wealth so you won't be homeless later.

regular_person 7y ago
This is a great point. It's not (necessarily) that Americans are just inherently money-hungry; we just have to be because we live in a system that is really callous and unmerciful compared to other places in the world.
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. I don't know if I'm qualified to compare Americans to Europeans, but many Americans really are enamored with money and judge material wealth as the be all and end all goal of life.
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    When you live without a real safety net, no amount of money is ever enough to guarantee anything whatsoever. Plus decades of doing what you have to do to survive at all and not end up being a victim of such a system powerfully shapes your psychology. It's hard to just put it down one day after your net worth hits $X.
  - mrmuagi 7y ago
    > There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. I mean take a look at rich (m/b)illionaires. It's a life style they can't give up.
  - burntoutfire 7y ago
    > There are plenty of people in America who continue to chase money long after their safe retirement is assured. That's probably because, over time, you become what you practice. So, even if you were not obsessed with money and work at 20, you might be at 40, after 20 years of chasing money and success to stave off potential disasters.