4 ms·

Its hard to take the article very seriously from the title, but it does make for a slightly cringeworthy read. As someone from a very poor background (actual p

by jheriko 12y ago

Its hard to take the article very seriously from the title, but it does make for a slightly cringeworthy read. As someone from a very poor background (actual poor - starving in africa poor, not US overprivileged 'I can eat for free out of bins' poor, but this is all relative...) I can sympathise somewhat too. I agree with the point made here in this comment- personally, I never felt like I had the kind of disadvantages described in this article, and I'm sure its partly because I pass very well for an upper middle-class man thanks to a spiffing british accent I inherited from my mother - and partly down to a tremendous effort socially. I've always presented my background as exotic and interesting rather than woeful and sympathy-worthy. All that being said, I am now doing quite well and earn a considerable amount of money, but still always find myself broke at the end of the month... its shameful. A very rich man once said to me that if you act like a rich person eventually you would find yourself to be rich... I think there is an element of truth in that.

protomyth 12y ago
"I pass very well for an upper middle-class man thanks to a spiffing british accent I inherited from my mother" Its amazing how a "upper crust" accent will play versus something something considered "low class". Its one of those hidden assumptions that adults make. I have a deep, loud voice that was tinged with a rez accent and quite a lot of slang. Watch a kid react to Mater from Cars versus an adult. The story of the voice acting for that part worldwide is quite interesting.
- jheriko 12y ago
  thanks for that little gem about Mater's voice. looking at efforts spent on voices around the world in high quality productions is always interesting (in high quality dubs, even ambient background conversation is re-recorded, for example), and a strong reminder of how US-centric a lot of media is. people still build 'new' software with ansi strings after all... :)
AnimalMuppet 12y ago
> A very rich man once said to me that if you act like a rich person eventually you would find yourself to be rich... I think there is an element of truth in that. Unfortunately, there is also truth in the idea that if you act like you're rich, you end up poor, because you wind up spending all you have (probably plus some).
- jheriko 12y ago
  true. its one to take carefully with consideration.... have you met many rich people who spend like there is no tomorrow? its about acting like a /rich person/ not as if you have a limitless supply of money and are actually rich. :)
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    Not the person you asked but: I have met people that became wealthy and acted like you describe and they usually ended up broke some years or decades later. I've also met some extremely wealthy people and they in fact were visually very modest (but worth more money than one could spend in a lifetime). The contrast runs something like this: German dude, worth $10M made his money in real estate, started an online company, lost it all but bought Porsches and hired fancy places, in the end turned to crime in order to continue to finance his life-style. American dude, worth > $50M (at one point...), spent money like it was toilet paper, golden taps in the bathroom, fancy Rolls-Royces (multiple...), used to be the #1 in a hotly contested tech field, lost it all when the market turned and he didn't adapt. Swiss dude, worth >> $1B, modest house, drove a VW Golf (ok, a nice one), absolutely incorruptible. They're nice examples to have and I understand that for someone worth that much there is no need to signal anything and that Germany guy may have had to keep up with his 'circle' in order to be seen as successful but still it makes you wonder how much pain there is behind all those frustrated faces in fancy cars living in expensive houses.
    - jheriko 12y ago
      i never really took the advice that way. this is probably down to my stereotype of the rich person... people who stay rich do not just spaff their money around left, right and centre. i think rich people call this 'new money' and using such a term would be an example of acting like a rich person.
caseysoftware 12y ago
> A very rich man once said to me that if you act like a rich person eventually you would find yourself to be rich... I think there is an element of truth in that. People are criticizing this line but I think there's a lot of truth in it. Despite what most people believe, people who get and remain rich don't spend every dime they have. They live below their means, save, invest, and grow what they have. Our family got on the Dave Ramsey plan years ago (2008/9?) and it radically changed our thinking and life in a matter of months. After a couple years, it radically changed our lives.

by jheriko 12y ago

protomyth 12y ago

"I pass very well for an upper middle-class man thanks to a spiffing british accent I inherited from my mother" Its amazing how a "upper crust" accent will play versus something something considered "low class". Its one of those hidden assumptions that adults make. I have a deep, loud voice that was tinged with a rez accent and quite a lot of slang. Watch a kid react to Mater from Cars versus an adult. The story of the voice acting for that part worldwide is quite interesting.

jheriko 12y ago
thanks for that little gem about Mater's voice. looking at efforts spent on voices around the world in high quality productions is always interesting (in high quality dubs, even ambient background conversation is re-recorded, for example), and a strong reminder of how US-centric a lot of media is. people still build 'new' software with ansi strings after all... :)

AnimalMuppet 12y ago

> A very rich man once said to me that if you act like a rich person eventually you would find yourself to be rich... I think there is an element of truth in that. Unfortunately, there is also truth in the idea that if you act like you're rich, you end up poor, because you wind up spending all you have (probably plus some).

jheriko 12y ago
true. its one to take carefully with consideration.... have you met many rich people who spend like there is no tomorrow? its about acting like a /rich person/ not as if you have a limitless supply of money and are actually rich. :)
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Not the person you asked but: I have met people that became wealthy and acted like you describe and they usually ended up broke some years or decades later. I've also met some extremely wealthy people and they in fact were visually very modest (but worth more money than one could spend in a lifetime). The contrast runs something like this: German dude, worth $10M made his money in real estate, started an online company, lost it all but bought Porsches and hired fancy places, in the end turned to crime in order to continue to finance his life-style. American dude, worth > $50M (at one point...), spent money like it was toilet paper, golden taps in the bathroom, fancy Rolls-Royces (multiple...), used to be the #1 in a hotly contested tech field, lost it all when the market turned and he didn't adapt. Swiss dude, worth >> $1B, modest house, drove a VW Golf (ok, a nice one), absolutely incorruptible. They're nice examples to have and I understand that for someone worth that much there is no need to signal anything and that Germany guy may have had to keep up with his 'circle' in order to be seen as successful but still it makes you wonder how much pain there is behind all those frustrated faces in fancy cars living in expensive houses.
  - jheriko 12y ago
    i never really took the advice that way. this is probably down to my stereotype of the rich person... people who stay rich do not just spaff their money around left, right and centre. i think rich people call this 'new money' and using such a term would be an example of acting like a rich person.

caseysoftware 12y ago

> A very rich man once said to me that if you act like a rich person eventually you would find yourself to be rich... I think there is an element of truth in that. People are criticizing this line but I think there's a lot of truth in it. Despite what most people believe, people who get and remain rich don't spend every dime they have. They live below their means, save, invest, and grow what they have. Our family got on the Dave Ramsey plan years ago (2008/9?) and it radically changed our thinking and life in a matter of months. After a couple years, it radically changed our lives.