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Sure, but once you’ve done that and you’re rich, what do you do then? For most billionaires the answer seems to be that you buy a moderately upgraded version o

Sure, but once you’ve done that and you’re rich, what do you do then? For most billionaires the answer seems to be that you buy a moderately upgraded version of all the stuff you had when you were middle class, and then you sit around content to watch the numbers slowly increase. Do something interesting! It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something! Build a palace to rival the Queen’s! Build an enormous statue of yourself! Hire a thousand concubines on a desert island! Colonise Antarctica! Single-handedly bring back the classical symphony by sponsoring an annual competition for the best one! Build an island and declare yourself king of it! Just do something, guys!

kortilla 7y ago
> For most billionaires the answer seems to be that you buy a moderately upgraded version of all the stuff you had when you were middle class, I don’t think you know what billionaires live like. Either that or the middle class you refer to is something very different from the one in the states. A 150ft yacht that you fly to with your helicopter from an airport you landed at with your private plane isn’t really relatable to anything in the middle class... unless you count jumping out of a tree into a canoe.
- blfr 7y ago
  A 150ft yacht is exactly the upgraded version of a fishing boat from a 1950s driveway in a newly minted middle class neighbourhood.
  - webmaven 7y ago
    But is it a moderate upgrade?
    - username90 7y ago
      In terms of cost? No. In terms of derived personal value? Absolutely.
  - kortilla 7y ago
    No it’s not. You can live on a yatch and traverse the open ocean for months at a time.
chii 7y ago
> Do something interesting! It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something! paradoxically, this is worse in terms of resource allocation, than to attempt to create more businesses. Making a statue in your self-image, or to build extravagant palaces, are expenses that would better be spent else where (since a statue derives little to no value to any one else, and thus the only expected profit is self-indulgence). Similarly to a palace, unless it is for the purposes of making profit (ala, like disney land, via tourism). Funding orchestra/competition/arts is similar, but because these arts can be used to derive profits, it means other people will also find them relevant/interesting. Therefore, it is OK to do so, and not a waste of economic resources.
CapricornNoble 7y ago
>>>It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something! I'd argue that to be inspired to pursue acts of greatness, people need to, in the words of Patrice O'Neal, "Believe in their own righteousness". I'd say that in the Western world today, that is HEAVILY frowned upon, and self-deprecating guilt over economic success is lauded as a virtue. We're in an awkward time, where we haven't reached conditions of post-scarcity, but still have instances of overwhelming material abundance. We are only a few generations removed (if at all), from times when humanity would slaughter each other by the millions to secure resources. It's in our DNA and in our culture, in deep-seated ways. So humans still have an acquisitive nature but have no muse to provide them with direction. >>>Build a palace to rival the Queen’s! Build an enormous statue of yourself! Hire a thousand concubines on a desert island! Yeah, that's how you end up with the commoners at your gate with pitchforks when the revolution comes. And on that last one.....arguably Epstein pursued that course of action and nobody says "Well at least he was doing something interesting" about that guy...

kortilla 7y ago

> For most billionaires the answer seems to be that you buy a moderately upgraded version of all the stuff you had when you were middle class, I don’t think you know what billionaires live like. Either that or the middle class you refer to is something very different from the one in the states. A 150ft yacht that you fly to with your helicopter from an airport you landed at with your private plane isn’t really relatable to anything in the middle class... unless you count jumping out of a tree into a canoe.

blfr 7y ago
A 150ft yacht is exactly the upgraded version of a fishing boat from a 1950s driveway in a newly minted middle class neighbourhood.
- webmaven 7y ago
  But is it a moderate upgrade?
  - username90 7y ago
    In terms of cost? No. In terms of derived personal value? Absolutely.
- kortilla 7y ago
  No it’s not. You can live on a yatch and traverse the open ocean for months at a time.

chii 7y ago

> Do something interesting! It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something! paradoxically, this is worse in terms of resource allocation, than to attempt to create more businesses. Making a statue in your self-image, or to build extravagant palaces, are expenses that would better be spent else where (since a statue derives little to no value to any one else, and thus the only expected profit is self-indulgence). Similarly to a palace, unless it is for the purposes of making profit (ala, like disney land, via tourism). Funding orchestra/competition/arts is similar, but because these arts can be used to derive profits, it means other people will also find them relevant/interesting. Therefore, it is OK to do so, and not a waste of economic resources.

CapricornNoble 7y ago

>>>It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something! I'd argue that to be inspired to pursue acts of greatness, people need to, in the words of Patrice O'Neal, "Believe in their own righteousness". I'd say that in the Western world today, that is HEAVILY frowned upon, and self-deprecating guilt over economic success is lauded as a virtue. We're in an awkward time, where we haven't reached conditions of post-scarcity, but still have instances of overwhelming material abundance. We are only a few generations removed (if at all), from times when humanity would slaughter each other by the millions to secure resources. It's in our DNA and in our culture, in deep-seated ways. So humans still have an acquisitive nature but have no muse to provide them with direction. >>>Build a palace to rival the Queen’s! Build an enormous statue of yourself! Hire a thousand concubines on a desert island! Yeah, that's how you end up with the commoners at your gate with pitchforks when the revolution comes. And on that last one.....arguably Epstein pursued that course of action and nobody says "Well at least he was doing something interesting" about that guy...