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People lose everything when they die, but very wealthy's 'everything' is far more than the typical person's. >>They lose the universe. I don't see a distinctio
by CryptoPunk 5y ago
People lose everything when they die, but very wealthy's 'everything' is far more than the typical person's.
>>They lose the universe. I don't see a distinction, to the person.
One loses access to billions, and the other to access to thousands.
People who 'make it', to the degree Branson has, have far less need to take risks, because they have already achieved most if not all of their financial goals. Yes they still want to achieve more, but they are undoubtedly far more satisfied with their current life than a typical person, and could enjoy being at their station for years, immensely, due to the comforts, luxuries and experiences they can afford to partake in.
I think contrarianism, when taken to the extreme, like arguing the rich don't have more to lose than the poor, becomes unconstructive.
The ego gets wrapped up in arguing against some allegedly oppressive/elitist truism, and that leads to biased analysis that selectively examines the evidence to push the contrarian position.
- Applejinx 5y agoNobody becomes a Richard Branson, or an Elon Musk, or a Jeff Bezos, or a Mark Zuckerberg, because they have finite goals and they are satisfied. I would argue that the rich on that scale have MORE dissatisfaction than the poor, otherwise they would have cashed out and retired quite happily. How dissatisfied do you have to be to leave the planet? I don't think you understand entrepreneurs that well. They're a mixed blessing at best, but a worthwhile societal sparkplug if properly harnessed… and they are defined by a burning ambition and dissatisfaction. I'll grant you they keep score and are very aware of the high value of what they've achieved (some are even driven to inflate this with obvious lies) but if you think that's the same thing as ease and satisfaction, you'd be mistaken.
- CryptoPunk 5y agoOnly one in a thousand people with this kind of burning ambition, become successful on the scale that the billionaires you listed have. They're aware of their good fortune, and they undoubtedly know what they have to lose from taking part in an experimental voyage to the edge of space.