I have a sincere question. When is enough enough?
Especially for rich people who have more money than they could easily spend in several lifetimes. Like is it really money that motivates them?
Ok like take the Kardashians. They are very rich. Their whole monetization allegedly comes from ripping off other creatives. They could make stuff way more ethically, charge the same price point and take a tiny cut because they dont need the money. But they don't
And I'd argue that doing so would give them everything they crave in terms of brand relevancy. They'd just have fewer profits which again they dont need they are rich
I think because you can't get really rich without exploiting people, and once you've already crossed that line, there's no real motivation or draw to stop. You've already done it and have justified the exploitation/harm once, it's easiest to just continue to do so.
I think it's hard to get rich without exploiting people but I think it's possible. Or let me put it another way JK Rowling (who I get it sucks) got rich through a system that exploits people (publishing can be very exploitative) But I don't think she herself exploited people, she got lucky
That's different to me than say the tech company founders who got rich off of gig economy stuff that eroded more stable employment. Like we can't extricate ourselves from society so I do think there's utility in delineating between explicit exploitation (i.e. coltan mining in the congo) and systemic
JKR is also different because she's not constantly delving into new scammy/exploitative ventures. She doesn't quite fit the paradigm of people constantly seeking more. But for the ones that did get rich through unethical/exploitative means (tech guys/Kardashians), I think they just keep going.
JKR used to be my single, solitary example of someone who had a billion dollars without being a rapacious shitheel.
Still true, but she’s such a shitheel in other respects that she’s no longer a good example.
I think in a country like the US money is a buffer against catastrophe. I really understand the impulse to accumulate a certain level of wealth. Which is why I asked when is it enough.
Very hard to know, all I know is if such a buffer is one's motivation; it rises fast as more scenarios become imaginable very quickly, even without paranoiac scarring
Late in school, I couldn't conceive buying more than an apple. Restaurants were unthinkable. Lunch with friends anxiety inducing.
4 years of a professional job salary and going to the dentist seemed possible. 14 years on I am planning to support a parent becoming unhoused and maybe siblings.
It is striking to me how much the ultra-wealthy have in common with a petulant, 5 year old child. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. How much candy would be enough for a 5 year old? Might be a better question to ask.
For you, it would be security. For them it is power. Having more of it than the other person does in whatever kind of negotiation/influence campaign often means you get that thing over the other person. Whether it’s a table at a nice restaurant, or a congressperson.
People who get "rich enough" exist. But because they don't pursue obscene wealth at the expense of their integrity, we haven't heard of them and they don't matter as much as the unethical gazillionaires who are hurting the world.
See, you think money is a thing people acquire because it has uses, such as paying for stuff.
Imagine you're a hollow, misanthropic bag of shit with lots of money. You have no purpose or personality, so you make the wealth your personality. You thus have to keep acquiring more to exist.
I refer to it as "billionaire's psychosis." I don't use "psychosis" there as a joke: upon acquiring so much money it's no longer an issue, many people appear to genuinely lose touch with reality. Every dream in their head is good and true; every dollar leaving their possession is evil and a waste.
At that level of wealth your social circle also gets smaller, and it’s harder to trust people. So you need to fill that emptiness up with something, and the pursuit of money and power and STUFF feels like a good substitution.
That level of money also does a number on the relationships within your family. You exert vast power over everyone's lives even if you are trying not to, and that becomes the center of family life.
Snorting cocaine with rolled up $100 dollar notes is redundant, when the money becomes the cocaine in its own right. It also brings to mind what the late great Robin Williams once said: "Cocaine is God's way of telling you you're making too much money."
Also, for those in Britain who still have chips on both shoulders about the breakup of the Empire, having billions of £ is a stand-in for the empire they've lost.
I’d be curious to see if there are any peer reviewed articles about patterns among the ultra wealthy in terms of how they use or save their cash. There must be some diversity in attitudes re wealth and how they use it.
There is some research on the ultrawealthy being less nice basically. I'll dig out the research after a call but they think it's because the rest of us need to rely on other people for help in things that the wealthy can solve by throwing money at it.
I’ve sometimes wondered how hypothetically becoming a billionaire would impact my personality. I hope I’d see it as an opportunity to connect with (and help) a broader circle of people. But who knows. Could also see it magnifying my inner jerk.
The question is: does HAVING the money break their brains, or do they naturally have brains broken in the way that makes them need to accumulate endless money?
I've been saying this for a while:
The ultra-wealthy are dragons. They don't want all this money so they can spend it, they want it so they can *have* it. If given the option, I'm sure more than a few would actually sleep on piles of money like Smaug in The Hobbit.
I've been thinking the same for a while. I remember a saying from an old Farm Banker (small town bank that worked with lots of farmers). "Money is like manure. It is only any good when it is spread around."
These wealth hoarders to the opposite.
I knew a lawyer for the rich and stupid who explained that money has no real value to them anymore. It's simply their sport to get more of it than the next guy.
I think when your system is designed to reward sociopathic money grabbers, what happens is that sociopathic money grabbers end up getting a lot of rewards. Then they, of course, tweak the system to further reward themselves.
We need systems that don't reward the worst ones. Easier said than done.
I think some of them (especially Bezos) get off on knowing how miserable the people who work making their fortunes for them are. Seriously believe that dude gets a boner from thinking about his warehouse workers running their asses off or delivery drivers pissing in bottles.
I think for the superwealthy, money = immunity. I don't think they'll ever have enough to feel truly immune from all consequences, which I think is the true goal.
I don’t know that it’s quite like that for everyone, though it’s sure the case for many. I look at it as, wealth is a publicly observable metric and we live in a competitive culture. Someone having “more points in the game” makes you lesser.
Only way to feel enough is to climb the leaderboards. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s the same motivation as monarchs and aristocrats. The system isn’t as prosperous or valuable or humane as democracy, but they refuse to just be regular people, governed by majorities. And as long as they can put space—and power—between us and them, they’re gonna do it.
Im not even arguing be regular but once you hit tens of millions never mind billions how much more do you need? Im not even arguing retire just the profit motive for running extractive businesses doesnt make sense when you're rich
