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[kuncol02]

Hollywood and western culture in general has built this notion that rich dudes are lonely, evil scrooges that neglect everything else in life besides money.

While in the east, getting rich is probably the most desirable and noble life goal.

So why is wealth looked down so much? What is wrong with success?
Even without all the side benefits of being rich(duh), why is wealth accumulation any less fulfilling than other goals? Heck, as long as it gives meaning to your life, who cares?

Because being rich for being rich is just hoarding. It's no different that having life goal of having as much cats or even dried beans as possible.
Being rich to make sure that your family life is secure or as mean to fulfill yourself in other way (even just by having time and money to party all time) is fine but being rich for being rich is nothing more than hoarding.

 

[Nobody_Important]

For me it's two separate things when I hear someone saying that what they want out of life or their goal is to be "rich".

The Optics - Telling someone that your goal in life is to "get rich" makes you come off as a bit shallow and materialistic. You're saying that you're not content to just be happy or to make those around you happy your desire in life is to flex financially so that you can own things that you think will make you and others happy. Which for some that may actually be the case especially if you are someone who has desperate need of certain things like a nice car or to be able to pay off medical bills. But getting rich just because you want to have a lot of money in the bank account and because you're hoping that's going to solve all your problems just makes you come off as a certain kind of way. Though I do understand that there are some people who have just started with nothing and are tired of seeing themselves and their family in that position. But usually those kinds of people will clarify the context. The first part of what I said is mainly aimed at the kinds of people who think having a certain set of clothes or a certain brand of car can make up for whatever personality pitfalls they seem to have.


The Realities - Very rarely does someone go from not being rich to being very rich without stepping on others or profiting off of the work of others. Whether that be profiting off of cheap labor, taking advantage of the ignorant or the vulnerable, or just plain doing bad things either morally or legally. Very rarely do you have someone who comes from nothing and builds himself into a very big something without something along those lines going on. To be clear I'm not saying that every person trying to get rich is breaking the law and grifting people, but usually there is some morally grey things that happen along the way when you are accumulating great wealth. Whether that be tax dodging, tax havens, general abuse of the financial system,etc etc. And that's not to say it's a blanket case for everyone some people really do just get lucky and hit it big with an invention or an idea that is all their own or build up a business from the bottom and basically build It up themselves with very little help. That or you are already halfway to being rich and you were just crossing the finish line in which case you've already started out in a good position and therefore you didn't need to necessarily step on people or take advantage of people in order to get there.


Just my two cents tho.

 

[Elder Legend]

O no, someone wants to live their life free from the overwhelming burden of financial worries, what a bad person!


Get outta here with this shit.

Agreed. People who usually say that are just angry at themselves because they can't make anything happen for themselves in the first place. So they have to say the other person who was successful is a bad and evil person. It's quite hilarious.

 

[AJUMP23]

"The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."

The desire to acquire more wealth or that being your single motivating factor has a tendency to corrupt people. When you lust for more you will compromise a lot to obtain it.

 

[bigedole]

For me it's two separate things when I hear someone saying that what they want out of life or their goal is to be "rich".

The Optics - Telling someone that your goal in life is to "get rich" makes you come off as a bit shallow and materialistic. You're saying that you're not content to just be happy or to make those around you happy your desire in life is to flex financially so that you can own things that you think will make you and others happy. Which for some that may actually be the case especially if you are someone who has desperate need of certain things like a nice car or to be able to pay off medical bills. But getting rich just because you want to have a lot of money in the bank account and because you're hoping that's going to solve all your problems just makes you come off as a certain kind of way. Though I do understand that there are some people who have just started with nothing and are tired of seeing themselves and their family in that position. But usually those kinds of people will clarify the context. The first part of what I said is mainly aimed at the kinds of people who think having a certain set of clothes or a certain brand of car can make up for whatever personality pitfalls they seem to have.


The Realities - Very rarely does someone go from not being rich to being very rich without stepping on others or profiting off of the work of others. Whether that be profiting off of cheap labor, taking advantage of the ignorant or the vulnerable, or just plain doing bad things either morally or legally. Very rarely do you have someone who comes from nothing and builds himself into a very big something without something along those lines going on. To be clear I'm not saying that every person trying to get rich is breaking the law and grifting people, but usually there is some morally grey things that happen along the way when you are accumulating great wealth. Whether that be tax dodging, tax havens, general abuse of the financial system,etc etc. And that's not to say it's a blanket case for everyone some people really do just get lucky and hit it big with an invention or an idea that is all their own or build up a business from the bottom and basically build It up themselves with very little help. That or you are already halfway to being rich and you were just crossing the finish line in which case you've already started out in a good position and therefore you didn't need to necessarily step on people or take advantage of people in order to get there.


Just my two cents tho.

You are just simply wrong. A significant majority of the wealthiest people in the world are single generation rich people. This feeds back into the very purpose of this thread which is "Why is getting rich looked down on so much" and it's because somehow your beliefs have become accepted as common place wisdom when it's just not true. Most rich people, believe it or not, are hard workers who had an idea no one else did or grinded away over a long period of time. A very small percentage of wealthy people simply lucked into it or were born in the right house.

Nearly 68% of the world's richest people are 'self-made,' says new report

A new report from Wealth-X says only 8.5% of the world's ultra-high-net-worth population — individuals with $30 million or more in net worth — inherited their money.

www.cnbc.com

 

[EverydayBeast]

Rich people have problems we don't know about.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

You are just simply wrong. A significant majority of the wealthiest people in the world are single generation rich people. This feeds back into the very purpose of this thread which is "Why is getting rich looked down on so much" and it's because somehow your beliefs have become accepted as common place wisdom when it's just not true. Most rich people, believe it or not, are hard workers who had an idea no one else did or grinded away over a long period of time. A very small percentage of wealthy people simply lucked into it or were born in the right house.

Nearly 68% of the world's richest people are 'self-made,' says new report

A new report from Wealth-X says only 8.5% of the world's ultra-high-net-worth population — individuals with $30 million or more in net worth — inherited their money.

www.cnbc.com

Exactly.

Even if it was 100%, a portion of the population will think they are all slave masters born with silver spoon in their mouth. As if every rich boss, doctor or lawyer are all oppressive managers with a whip who got the high paying job by pure luck with zero qualifications.

"That factory owner making millions is a lazy fuck. He just got lucky building and running it"

Jealousy of rich people goes beyond Warren Buffets of the world who are in their own stratosphere of riches. Even just normal folks with good jobs who scored making money with a 6-digit salary, gains in stocks or real estate so they can buy a Mercedes and a slick house are frowned at. You could see it the past 5-10 years as homes appreciated a lot and poorer people trying to buy a home for the first time cry at why prices are suddenly so high.

A lot of family trees have also built up wealth over generations simply through decades worth of real estate appreciation. Its not Bill Gates kind of money, but making a million here or there is still solid gains. My parents bought their current house for I think about $350k over 30 years ago. It's now worth $2M. More like $2.5M when interest rates were lower. So they've made asset appreciation of about $1.7M as I type. Or $2.2M if home prices go back up to where they were at the peak levels a year ago.

How anyone can call people in similar shoes greedy assholes are just jealous they missed the boat. All my parents did was sit there and do nothing but live. They cant help it if eager beavers want to pay $2M for a house they've lived in for 30 years, and was built around 40 years ago.

People dont understand that a lot of normal folks and family trees make good upper middle class gains not even owning businesses or having executive level jobs.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Entitled people, rich or poor boils my piss more than anything in this world. Once you see it you can't unsee it.

 

[Azelover]

Because it has an over 90 percent chance of not happening. And it will inevitably drain you of all your time on this Earth. Which happens to be the most precious and important thing we have.

This "get rich" myth is out there mainly to enslave you. The choice is yours. The answer is balance, too much of anything is toxic.

 

[Redneckerz]

I don't consider being rich the end goal of my or anyones life.

Rather, i regard empathy, understanding and knowledge.

Sure, they won't buy me my home, my bread, or this post. But doing either of those 3 will land you a pretty good chance of getting where you feel you belong.

 

[WoJ]

Got some juicy links?

Not at the moment, but just head to the off topic forum there and try and find anything that touches on economics or some type of policy that involves wealth distribution. I admit I lurk there mainly because I want to try and understand how that side thinks.....I haven't yet figured out how they rationalize most of their conclusions.

 

[DKehoe]

Not at the moment, but just head to the off topic forum there and try and find anything that touches on economics or some type of policy that involves wealth distribution. I admit I lurk there mainly because I want to try and understand how that side thinks.....I haven't yet figured out how they rationalize most of their conclusions.

You shouldn't care what a few people on a small website say.

 

[Marvel14]

Hollywood and western culture in general has built this notion that rich dudes are lonely, evil scrooges that neglect everything else in life besides money.

While in the east, getting rich is probably the most desirable and noble life goal.

So why is wealth looked down so much? What is wrong with success?
Even without all the side benefits of being rich(duh), why is wealth accumulation any less fulfilling than other goals? Heck, as long as it gives meaning to your life, who cares?

It's a balancing act. Making money and being self sufficient is a most noble goal. But if you have too much money, you can stopping valuing it and people the way you should. Not saying it happens to all rich people but a fair few equate self worth with wealth and think that people can be bought which is just wrong and a recipe for losing meaningful connections.

Very wealthy people also seem to forget that struggle and scarcity provide really critical life lessons and stop their kids from experiencing them which robs them of character building experiences. They also tend to become more selfish and self centred when their wealth could do so much good for others that exceeds what they can spend solely on themselves.

So being fabulously wealthy isn't bad in itself. It just opens ups a whole bunch of bads that are very hard to avoid.

 

[pramod]

It's a balancing act. Making money and being self sufficient is a most noble goal. But if you have too much money, you can stopping valuing it and people the way you should. Not saying it happens to all rich people but a fair few equate self worth with wealth and think that people can be bought which is just wrong and a recipe for losing meaningful connections.

Very wealthy people also seem to forget that struggle and scarcity provide really critical life lessons and stop their kids from experiencing them which robs them of character building experiences. They also tend to become more selfish and self centred when their wealth could do so much good for others that exceeds what they can spend solely on themselves.

So being fabulously wealthy isn't bad in itself. It just opens ups a whole bunch of bads that are very hard to avoid.

Yeah like anything in life, excess is bad. But I don't think most people will end up being billionaires, anyway.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You shouldn't care what a few people on a small website say.

Today's reminder that's as true here as it is there.

 

[DKehoe]

Today's reminder that's as true here as it is there.

Sure. We can bullshit about whatever here and that's all well and good but I don't think anyone should take things people say on here as some serious indicator of society at large.

 

[WoJ]

You shouldn't care what a few people on a small website say.

I care about trying to understand the ideology they represent because I think it's important to understand what drives people who think differently than yourself. Trying to empathize and understand what drives a point of view rather than blindly demonizing it should, in theory, actually lead to meaningful discussion.

 

[Raonak]

It's like someone telling you you want to bang the hottest girls or want to eat all the best tasting food, or wanting to travel the entire world.

It's like cool. We all like to dream. Why are you talking to me about it instead of actually doing it?

 

[Raonak]

Truth is 99% of people aren't gonna be rich, and even when you get rich, your scale of success changes and you're gonna want to get even richer. You're never ever gonna have enough money to be happy. You think Jeff besos things he has enough money? Fuck no.

It's not really a good idea to make that your goal in life, because it's never gonna be enough.

Use money as a means to an end rather than the end. Money should enable you to do the things you love. Doing things you hate to chase money is the prime way to lead a unsatisfying life.