Rich Man’s Burden(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Rich Man’s Burden
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/opinion/02conley.html
6 comments
I always thought once you have enough money for food and shelter for some time out in advance, it's just a matter of finding a way to do what you have passion for and keep the ball rolling. That's easier for a programmer than a guitar player. I think part of this is a reflection of the sick culture we live in - get rid of the useless trappings of wealth and stop caring about the mercedes or the LV bag and save every penny you can out of that $200K and if you are unhappy, pretty soon you will have a bankroll to change your life. You only get one, it's not worth wasting it as a slave so you can have a fancier cage.
If we are to believe the article, then the solution is to avoid comparing yourself to others. Try not to make it your goal to have what they have. Our goals should be more self driven.
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In other words, when we get a raise, instead of using
that hard-won money to buy the good life, we feel
even more pressure to work since the shadow costs of
not working are all the greater.
It depends on what they're doing to earn that money.
It's good for the world that Paul Graham keeps working, even though he doesn't have to. On the other hand, George Dubya would clearly serve the country better on the golf course.
There is a level of richness at which one encounters a class of parasites who are well-rewarded, but detrimental to society. Tech entrepreneurs are awesome, but the country's social/political elite ought to be fired.
It's good for the world that Paul Graham keeps working, even though he doesn't have to. On the other hand, George Dubya would clearly serve the country better on the golf course.
There is a level of richness at which one encounters a class of parasites who are well-rewarded, but detrimental to society. Tech entrepreneurs are awesome, but the country's social/political elite ought to be fired.
[deleted]
The middling rich are probably the unhappiest people in the country right now, but this isn't because of economic inequality. They don't, for the most part, care about other peoples' private jets and designer mansions. (I've worked on Wall Street, but I've never even seen a private jet.) It's because of social and power inequality. They're miserable because they expected to have a fair amount of autonomy upon "getting there", but they're still owned by someone.
Although social inequality is a bad thing, I'd blame this unhappiness on the dominance that large corporations hold over most peoples' lives, especially in the small world of upper-tier management. The powerlessness and anomie are what make the mid-level investment bankers and "white shoe" attorneys miserable, not the fact of being merely rich instead of super-rich.
Although social inequality is a bad thing, I'd blame this unhappiness on the dominance that large corporations hold over most peoples' lives, especially in the small world of upper-tier management. The powerlessness and anomie are what make the mid-level investment bankers and "white shoe" attorneys miserable, not the fact of being merely rich instead of super-rich.