4 ms·

Personally, I think anyone who amasses oh, say, 100 lifetimes of wealth and can't stop trying to get more has a mental illness. And I don't mean that for laughs

by titzer 6y ago

Personally, I think anyone who amasses oh, say, 100 lifetimes of wealth and can't stop trying to get more has a mental illness. And I don't mean that for laughs. They have a sickness and are not well. If you've got a $300 million fortune, why can't you just go enjoy life already? It's not like enjoying your life by spending your money isn't going to also create jobs for other people. You don't need to be "a job creator" and build some huge business empire. In fact, it might create better jobs, as you want to buy better things--better furniture, a better home, art--that are not factory-produced crap made by slave labor in other lands. We'd have a better society if rich people could chill out, IMHO.

willio58 6y ago
The thing is, once you reach that level of wealth you’re surrounded by people that wealthy. There’s always someone richer and the cycle of competition never ends. The way to stop the cycle is WAY before 300 million. Stop it once you have enough to live in a nice house with a nice car and you have enough to live off of it for the rest of your life. You only need like 1-5million to do this depending on your circumstances.
hiphipjorge 6y ago
I see it completely differently. For a lot of the people that get to that level of wealth, it was never about the money. It was always about something else. I don't think the Bezos, Zuckerbergs, and Musks of the world wake up every morning wanting to make more money. They find fulfillment in their work. The external recognition is not bad either. I think you're right that some people who want to continue making money are mentally ill, but there are other reasons people continue working. For some, the money is just a byproduct.
- pksebben 6y ago
  I very much doubt that bezos, zuck, and musk share a common purpose. And whether you're clamoring to amass more wealth, recognition, or control, the top posts point stands; obsession over a singular purpose to the detriment of everyday life is a bad pattern. at the worst, it will cause emotional stress and mental disorders - at best, it will divorce someone from an understanding of shared human experience.
- titzer 6y ago
  > For some, the money is just a byproduct. In theory, sure, some are just motivated because they are driven types after a vision of conquering something or other. But this is just a story. In reality, incentives change behavior. Money motivates people. They tell themselves other things, but money motivates people. There's a reason why bonuses and equity are enormous. They attract and amplify financial greed in a vicious cycle. I used to be a free market/libertarian type, so I understand the whole "let people do whatever the heck they want with their money, as long as it's not violent" but I'm not now. It's surprising that you can just...stop...believing that. Money and its protection, the market place, property...anything that is not a banana in your hand, anything you didn't literally make yourself from rocks and sticks, requires cooperation and dealing with other people, and obeying the rules. Today's instruments of wealth aren't chickens and bread; currency, money, debt; these are social constructions and social agreements. Everything from the government to the police to the courtesy not to rob someone in plain daylight makes currency and money possible; the entire structure of society is a protection scheme for money and property. It's a "safe place" for transactions. It took a ton of work to get here, and a ton of people to keep it going! Without the protection of society, we'd be at chests full of gold surrounded by people with spears. Instead, the system we have now is a social contract--a complex one--that requires a huge amount of cooperation from a lot of not very rich people doing their jobs so rich people don't get eaten alive. I think it's entirely fair that as participants of that system, we decide what the cap on the number of gold coins you can put in your chest is. Because you can't really defend that level of wealth on your own, you need all of us to do that. So we have a say. (I would put that number, personally, at less than $1 billion. I literally believe that there should be a personal wealth cap of $1 billion. Full stop. It's actually OK to believe that, and I promise you, no one is going to die.) The rich have so thoroughly blinded and corrupted our thinking about property. They hate scrutiny. They hate people thinking seriously about what the structure of society is. They hate when people notice how insanely unfair it all is. They'll just say Marxism, or Communism, or Socialism. And you're supposed to shut up because you're a monster like Stalin or Mao, apparently. And then the lies. The denial. The koolaid. It's amazing to me that people just accept their roles in holding up the pyramid so willingly. But I guess society would have fallen apart long ago if it didn't select for people willing to hold it up, no matter what the dumbness of the day is.
golergka 6y ago
It's not about having nice things, it's about having the power to change the world according to your values.
- notacoward 6y ago
  Changing the world according to your values can be extremely good or extremely bad. Considering the selection process for billionaires, I wouldn't assume it's good or even OK for them to have that power. For example, a few billionaires (opinions vary on which ones but it doesn't matter) have been quite instrumental in turning US politics into a toxic waste dump. Maybe values should come from a broader and more diverse population.
- titzer 6y ago
  A world filled with those kinds of people is constant conflict, anger, and disappointment. A recipe for a seriously unhappy and misspent life.
knubie 6y ago
I think for a lot of people that attain that level of wealth, work is their life. In the Documentary film “American Factory” the billionaire founder of Fuyao said something to the affect of “work is life” which to me means “ my life would be meaningless without work.”

by titzer 6y ago

willio58 6y ago

The thing is, once you reach that level of wealth you’re surrounded by people that wealthy. There’s always someone richer and the cycle of competition never ends. The way to stop the cycle is WAY before 300 million. Stop it once you have enough to live in a nice house with a nice car and you have enough to live off of it for the rest of your life. You only need like 1-5million to do this depending on your circumstances.

hiphipjorge 6y ago

I see it completely differently. For a lot of the people that get to that level of wealth, it was never about the money. It was always about something else. I don't think the Bezos, Zuckerbergs, and Musks of the world wake up every morning wanting to make more money. They find fulfillment in their work. The external recognition is not bad either. I think you're right that some people who want to continue making money are mentally ill, but there are other reasons people continue working. For some, the money is just a byproduct.

pksebben 6y ago
I very much doubt that bezos, zuck, and musk share a common purpose. And whether you're clamoring to amass more wealth, recognition, or control, the top posts point stands; obsession over a singular purpose to the detriment of everyday life is a bad pattern. at the worst, it will cause emotional stress and mental disorders - at best, it will divorce someone from an understanding of shared human experience.
titzer 6y ago
> For some, the money is just a byproduct. In theory, sure, some are just motivated because they are driven types after a vision of conquering something or other. But this is just a story. In reality, incentives change behavior. Money motivates people. They tell themselves other things, but money motivates people. There's a reason why bonuses and equity are enormous. They attract and amplify financial greed in a vicious cycle. I used to be a free market/libertarian type, so I understand the whole "let people do whatever the heck they want with their money, as long as it's not violent" but I'm not now. It's surprising that you can just...stop...believing that. Money and its protection, the market place, property...anything that is not a banana in your hand, anything you didn't literally make yourself from rocks and sticks, requires cooperation and dealing with other people, and obeying the rules. Today's instruments of wealth aren't chickens and bread; currency, money, debt; these are social constructions and social agreements. Everything from the government to the police to the courtesy not to rob someone in plain daylight makes currency and money possible; the entire structure of society is a protection scheme for money and property. It's a "safe place" for transactions. It took a ton of work to get here, and a ton of people to keep it going! Without the protection of society, we'd be at chests full of gold surrounded by people with spears. Instead, the system we have now is a social contract--a complex one--that requires a huge amount of cooperation from a lot of not very rich people doing their jobs so rich people don't get eaten alive. I think it's entirely fair that as participants of that system, we decide what the cap on the number of gold coins you can put in your chest is. Because you can't really defend that level of wealth on your own, you need all of us to do that. So we have a say. (I would put that number, personally, at less than $1 billion. I literally believe that there should be a personal wealth cap of $1 billion. Full stop. It's actually OK to believe that, and I promise you, no one is going to die.) The rich have so thoroughly blinded and corrupted our thinking about property. They hate scrutiny. They hate people thinking seriously about what the structure of society is. They hate when people notice how insanely unfair it all is. They'll just say Marxism, or Communism, or Socialism. And you're supposed to shut up because you're a monster like Stalin or Mao, apparently. And then the lies. The denial. The koolaid. It's amazing to me that people just accept their roles in holding up the pyramid so willingly. But I guess society would have fallen apart long ago if it didn't select for people willing to hold it up, no matter what the dumbness of the day is.

golergka 6y ago

It's not about having nice things, it's about having the power to change the world according to your values.

notacoward 6y ago
Changing the world according to your values can be extremely good or extremely bad. Considering the selection process for billionaires, I wouldn't assume it's good or even OK for them to have that power. For example, a few billionaires (opinions vary on which ones but it doesn't matter) have been quite instrumental in turning US politics into a toxic waste dump. Maybe values should come from a broader and more diverse population.
titzer 6y ago
A world filled with those kinds of people is constant conflict, anger, and disappointment. A recipe for a seriously unhappy and misspent life.

knubie 6y ago

I think for a lot of people that attain that level of wealth, work is their life. In the Documentary film “American Factory” the billionaire founder of Fuyao said something to the affect of “work is life” which to me means “ my life would be meaningless without work.”