6 ms·

What am I supposed to do with wealth if I shouldn't use it to purchase it the childish things that I enjoy?

K0balt 3y ago
Idk, use it to make the world a more just and survivable place? Help to develop practical fusion power so we can avoid extinction? Preserve some biodiversity? Anything vaguely useful to the next generation? Nations prosper when old men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.
- zer0tonin 3y ago
  Even Bezos amounts of money won't achieve any of the things you've listed.
  - kbelder 3y ago
    He listed three things, and two of them are pretty easy: >Preserve some biodiversity? Anything vaguely useful to the next generation? Fusion is harder, but hey.
  - K0balt 3y ago
    You don’t have to do it big, just do it small. You aren’t making landfills, you don’t need to save a forest. Make a little house for solitary bees on your windowsill. Guerilla plant a tree once a week. Flower-bomb some vacant lots for the local bees. Create something useful that reduces wasteful consumption, and open source it to the world. The key here is that everything I mentioned is a positive motion. It creates something new that is useful. You cannot create a worthwhile world just by using public transportation or biking instead of driving. Sure, reducing your footprint matters, but it will go to zero when you die anyway. Do things that can transcend your tiny life, do them frequently, and some of them actually will. All of those things are doable with minimal effort, and everyone who does those kinds of things it changes the world in significant ways.
- Jevon23 3y ago
  >survivable Ok. Let’s assume we’ve made the world a more survivable place. …what then? What do we do with all this newfound “survival”? At THAT point are we allowed to watch anime?
  - K0balt 3y ago
    You can watch all the anime you want, the only thing we “owe” the world is to attempt to offset our costs of existence to future generations, which given our current personal footprint is not a trivial task. Otherwise you’re just another jerk that wants all the cake for themselves.
    - jjulius 3y ago
      >Otherwise you’re just another jerk that wants all the cake for themselves. Wow, blanket generalization much?
- jjulius 3y ago
  Are you viewing this as an "either/or" situation, or are we cool to do both? Eg, plant those trees and then go play some video games?
  - K0balt 3y ago
    Of course!
- brvsft 3y ago
  Lol you're not even being a jerk about it and this still gets downvoted.
  - amelius 3y ago
    HN doesn't make it very clear whether the downvote button is also a "disagree" button.
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
      I sometimes observe things in the phrasing of comments which might incline some to downvote on the basis of incentivizing a better discussion (if I assume generously of the downvoters’ intentions). The comment stating, “I dunno, how about [Suggestions]?” could instead be “[Suggestions].” and the downvoters’ perspective is that it should be. It’s not necessarily being used as a disagree button in such a case. It’s similar to, “This might be unpopular but ...”; some people will principle-downvote (right or wrong) for what they see as conducive to a bad discussion.
    - Shared404 3y ago
      IIRC, Dang's explicitly stated that the downvote button is ok to use as a disagree button.
      - notmypenguin 3y ago
        How come you get a downvote button? I’ve never seen one here. This place has an in group, I see… serves me right for typing comments on a VC blog
        defrost 3y ago
        It's an age of account | depth of engagement thing. Stay a while longer, get a few more upvotes on your comments (the general key is to add substance), and one day you'll get the option to downvote comments | flag topics / comments, etc.
        3y ago
- ianbutler 3y ago
  I work hard at work, and have multiple side projects outside of work which I rotate working through daily. At 28 I'm a top 1% earner for my age group. By every measure of my friends I am one of the most productive people they know. In the words of one of them yesterday "you're a beast". I still game every Tuesday and for a few hours on the weekend, I also watch Anime. I find your argument pretty ridiculous. It's not like these things are mutually exclusive. The reality is everyone gamer or not is just generally inneficient with their time.
  - californical 3y ago
    Yeah kinda same, as many people on HN. Similar age range. My partner and I are in the top couple percent of incomes, have more savings than the average retiree, have both achieved a lot in our careers, and have spent time volunteering for causes that genuinely improve people’s lives or contribute to the world. I also “waste” a lot of my time doing silly things (including video games, but other hobbies as well). I got the new Legend of Zelda game on release day! It makes no sense to say that these two can’t coexist. I think that doing enjoyable hobbies like video games makes me a more interesting person overall. Friends at work were asking about the new Zelda game when I said that I’d spent the weekend playing, for example. But like, why work so hard if I can’t do my video games and art and athletic hobbies?
    - K0balt 3y ago
      Nobody born tomorrow cares if you make money or game. They care if they inherit a world that their grandchildren can prosper in. That’s what we all should be focusing some of our energy on.
      - jjulius 3y ago
        >Nobody born tomorrow cares if you make money or game. It's like you willfully ignored the following part of OP's comment and decided to continue to criticize them as though they didn't say this... >... and have spent time volunteering for causes that genuinely improve people’s lives or contribute to the world.
- ajuc 3y ago
  If you spend your money on the "child-like" activities (fantasy, gaming, etc) as opposed to adult-like ones (huge suburban house, car, boat) you help preserve biodiversity and help other people as a side-effect. Also - planting trees is largely pointless. Trees plant themselves if you leave land unused. If they don't that usually means you have to waste a lot of resources to maintain the trees that you planted in particular spot. It's funny how the societal norms work.
  - positr0n 3y ago
    > Also - planting trees is largely pointless. Clearly this is a metaphor for doing things that will benefit future generations after you are gone. Planting a shade tree in a park, or planting trees (of appropriate species) along a street or sidewalk is not useless.
  - K0balt 3y ago
    Wow. You really only think of the costs of your consumption? It’s the costs of our production that propagates through time. Your consumption ends with you and is largely irrelevant. What are you helping to create? What does that look like in 50 years? I can’t imagine justifying my existence by what I don’t leave in the toilet.
    - jjulius 3y ago
      You implied someone else is a jerk in another comment, but really, I think that title might belong to someone else here. You're being quite judgemental.
- xg15 3y ago
  > Help to develop practical fusion power so we can avoid extinction? If that's your weekend hobby project, what do you do at work?
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
I don't know about the rest of you, but I hope to set it up so my grandchildren and great-grandchildren don't have to carry debt around like millstones and boat anchors chained to their necks. And while by no means is it certain, hoping I succeed a little earlier and settle that for my children too. Once those issues are secured, maybe there will be a little extra to buy a few toys.
- sureglymop 3y ago
  Thinking about your children and grand childrens lifes is good. What about your own life though?
  - NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
    When I decided I wanted to be a father, I realized that the rest of my life would become one of being a bullet shield or spare parts as necessary. Seriously, every once in awhile I catch myself wondering exactly how I'd manage to become a heart donor for my kids if they ever needed that. I started too late to be able to be anything but a K strategist, but even if I could've been the other I wouldn't want to. My children are my life. The part no one reading this comment will believe is that my life has been so much better than it was before. I was a worthless asshole, and all the misery I experienced was no one else's fault but my own.
    - sureglymop 3y ago
      That is interesting. Would you say your empathy increased after having children?
- thatfrenchguy 3y ago
  I mean, you can also teach them French or German and they’ll never have to be in debt. If you never have fun, especially next to your children, your kids won’t forget. Your great grandchildren won’t know you and they probably don’t want to be shackled with the expectations that comes with your money.
wholinator2 3y ago
Use it to keep playing the game of acquiring wealth, silly! But seriously, the answers are probably forego entertainment and try to build something, or like donate it or something.

Idk, use it to make the world a more just and survivable place? Help to develop practical fusion power so we can avoid extinction? Preserve some biodiversity? Anything vaguely useful to the next generation? Nations prosper when old men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.

zer0tonin 3y ago
Even Bezos amounts of money won't achieve any of the things you've listed.
- kbelder 3y ago
  He listed three things, and two of them are pretty easy: >Preserve some biodiversity? Anything vaguely useful to the next generation? Fusion is harder, but hey.
- K0balt 3y ago
  You don’t have to do it big, just do it small. You aren’t making landfills, you don’t need to save a forest. Make a little house for solitary bees on your windowsill. Guerilla plant a tree once a week. Flower-bomb some vacant lots for the local bees. Create something useful that reduces wasteful consumption, and open source it to the world. The key here is that everything I mentioned is a positive motion. It creates something new that is useful. You cannot create a worthwhile world just by using public transportation or biking instead of driving. Sure, reducing your footprint matters, but it will go to zero when you die anyway. Do things that can transcend your tiny life, do them frequently, and some of them actually will. All of those things are doable with minimal effort, and everyone who does those kinds of things it changes the world in significant ways.
Jevon23 3y ago
>survivable Ok. Let’s assume we’ve made the world a more survivable place. …what then? What do we do with all this newfound “survival”? At THAT point are we allowed to watch anime?
- K0balt 3y ago
  You can watch all the anime you want, the only thing we “owe” the world is to attempt to offset our costs of existence to future generations, which given our current personal footprint is not a trivial task. Otherwise you’re just another jerk that wants all the cake for themselves.
  - jjulius 3y ago
    >Otherwise you’re just another jerk that wants all the cake for themselves. Wow, blanket generalization much?
jjulius 3y ago
Are you viewing this as an "either/or" situation, or are we cool to do both? Eg, plant those trees and then go play some video games?
- K0balt 3y ago
  Of course!
brvsft 3y ago
Lol you're not even being a jerk about it and this still gets downvoted.
- amelius 3y ago
  HN doesn't make it very clear whether the downvote button is also a "disagree" button.
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
    I sometimes observe things in the phrasing of comments which might incline some to downvote on the basis of incentivizing a better discussion (if I assume generously of the downvoters’ intentions). The comment stating, “I dunno, how about [Suggestions]?” could instead be “[Suggestions].” and the downvoters’ perspective is that it should be. It’s not necessarily being used as a disagree button in such a case. It’s similar to, “This might be unpopular but ...”; some people will principle-downvote (right or wrong) for what they see as conducive to a bad discussion.
  - Shared404 3y ago
    IIRC, Dang's explicitly stated that the downvote button is ok to use as a disagree button.
    - notmypenguin 3y ago
      How come you get a downvote button? I’ve never seen one here. This place has an in group, I see… serves me right for typing comments on a VC blog
      - defrost 3y ago
        It's an age of account | depth of engagement thing. Stay a while longer, get a few more upvotes on your comments (the general key is to add substance), and one day you'll get the option to downvote comments | flag topics / comments, etc.
      - 3y ago
ianbutler 3y ago
I work hard at work, and have multiple side projects outside of work which I rotate working through daily. At 28 I'm a top 1% earner for my age group. By every measure of my friends I am one of the most productive people they know. In the words of one of them yesterday "you're a beast". I still game every Tuesday and for a few hours on the weekend, I also watch Anime. I find your argument pretty ridiculous. It's not like these things are mutually exclusive. The reality is everyone gamer or not is just generally inneficient with their time.
- californical 3y ago
  Yeah kinda same, as many people on HN. Similar age range. My partner and I are in the top couple percent of incomes, have more savings than the average retiree, have both achieved a lot in our careers, and have spent time volunteering for causes that genuinely improve people’s lives or contribute to the world. I also “waste” a lot of my time doing silly things (including video games, but other hobbies as well). I got the new Legend of Zelda game on release day! It makes no sense to say that these two can’t coexist. I think that doing enjoyable hobbies like video games makes me a more interesting person overall. Friends at work were asking about the new Zelda game when I said that I’d spent the weekend playing, for example. But like, why work so hard if I can’t do my video games and art and athletic hobbies?
  - K0balt 3y ago
    Nobody born tomorrow cares if you make money or game. They care if they inherit a world that their grandchildren can prosper in. That’s what we all should be focusing some of our energy on.
    - jjulius 3y ago
      >Nobody born tomorrow cares if you make money or game. It's like you willfully ignored the following part of OP's comment and decided to continue to criticize them as though they didn't say this... >... and have spent time volunteering for causes that genuinely improve people’s lives or contribute to the world.
ajuc 3y ago
If you spend your money on the "child-like" activities (fantasy, gaming, etc) as opposed to adult-like ones (huge suburban house, car, boat) you help preserve biodiversity and help other people as a side-effect. Also - planting trees is largely pointless. Trees plant themselves if you leave land unused. If they don't that usually means you have to waste a lot of resources to maintain the trees that you planted in particular spot. It's funny how the societal norms work.
- positr0n 3y ago
  > Also - planting trees is largely pointless. Clearly this is a metaphor for doing things that will benefit future generations after you are gone. Planting a shade tree in a park, or planting trees (of appropriate species) along a street or sidewalk is not useless.
- K0balt 3y ago
  Wow. You really only think of the costs of your consumption? It’s the costs of our production that propagates through time. Your consumption ends with you and is largely irrelevant. What are you helping to create? What does that look like in 50 years? I can’t imagine justifying my existence by what I don’t leave in the toilet.
  - jjulius 3y ago
    You implied someone else is a jerk in another comment, but really, I think that title might belong to someone else here. You're being quite judgemental.
xg15 3y ago
> Help to develop practical fusion power so we can avoid extinction? If that's your weekend hobby project, what do you do at work?

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

I don't know about the rest of you, but I hope to set it up so my grandchildren and great-grandchildren don't have to carry debt around like millstones and boat anchors chained to their necks. And while by no means is it certain, hoping I succeed a little earlier and settle that for my children too. Once those issues are secured, maybe there will be a little extra to buy a few toys.

sureglymop 3y ago
Thinking about your children and grand childrens lifes is good. What about your own life though?
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  When I decided I wanted to be a father, I realized that the rest of my life would become one of being a bullet shield or spare parts as necessary. Seriously, every once in awhile I catch myself wondering exactly how I'd manage to become a heart donor for my kids if they ever needed that. I started too late to be able to be anything but a K strategist, but even if I could've been the other I wouldn't want to. My children are my life. The part no one reading this comment will believe is that my life has been so much better than it was before. I was a worthless asshole, and all the misery I experienced was no one else's fault but my own.
  - sureglymop 3y ago
    That is interesting. Would you say your empathy increased after having children?
thatfrenchguy 3y ago
I mean, you can also teach them French or German and they’ll never have to be in debt. If you never have fun, especially next to your children, your kids won’t forget. Your great grandchildren won’t know you and they probably don’t want to be shackled with the expectations that comes with your money.

wholinator2 3y ago

Use it to keep playing the game of acquiring wealth, silly! But seriously, the answers are probably forego entertainment and try to build something, or like donate it or something.