Envy and Wealth

[cronus]

At what point does envy for another ones wealth become blatant prejudice? If I would own a few hundred million dollars would you greet me as a friend or a enemy? based on your envy and that fact alone?

[pErvinalia]

I find the "envy" and "class war (upon elites)" arguments are just a method for distracting from what's really going on in neoliberalism - that is, class warfare by a tiny number of elites against the majority of the population.

[rachelbean]

Yes, I'm sure the very rich are just so sad not to have lots of working class friends, and it's all because they are so darn envious.

[Hermit]

I cannot imagine ever being friends with someone who has been wheeling-dealing his/her way to owning a few hundred million dollars worth of assets. They have a mindset that will always be totally alien to me. The matter would be different if that person had a hugely popular book published, gets extraordinarily high fees for performances or earns astronomical royalties on a brilliant invention, but even then any friendship would depend on that person's personality, not wealth. I don't envy people who are wealthier than I am.

[piscator]

Ressentiment and schadenfreude only go so far.

If you begin to anxiously ruminate at the thought of Warren Buffet or Yvonne Chouiniard, you got no one to blame but yourself.

This goes for jagovz who get twisted and bitter about the amount of $$ pro athletes knock down. Or the prettiest girl in school. Or the slow-witted ham-fisted lad who inherited a successful feed & seed by dumb luck of the draw.

Or Marie A. Or Wellesley, who soothed his conscience about expending so many men through the breach with the understanding that the Gaelish peasantry were mostly ungentle beasts, given to drink and lasciviousness in the best of times, and murderous pillage and rape whenever their blood was up.

"Othering" and "Tribalism" often tap into ressentiment. "Populism" wallows in it. It's hard to avoid the Seven Deadlies.

The question has always be how much of them does one recognize and tolerate in himself?

[Brian Peacock]

Don't care about the money - you can be shit or a saint regardless of your income bracket. I'm not envious of the superrich but I do find their tendencies toward asset hoarding, tax avoidance and political manipulation to secure personal interests at the expense of others somewhat troubling. To some extent it appears that an excess of money brings out the worst in people, not the best, while those with pots money think it automatically marks them as among the best of people, not the worse. People are strange eh?

[Animavore]

I only begrydge people wealth when (I percieve) they don't deserve it. Take some people who win the Lottery. Nothing wrong with winning money in and of itself, but it's when you get some dullard who when asked what they plan to do with it it amounts to sitting on the fortune. It's like their only dream is to not work any more. They would be as well off with one million as one hundred million. It's a waste of resources.

[cronus]

I only begrydge people wealth when (I percieve) they don't deserve it. Take some people who win the Lottery. Nothing wrong with winning money in and of itself, but it's when you get some dullard who when asked what they plan to do with it it amounts to sitting on the fortune. It's like their only dream is to not work any more. They would be as well off with one million as one hundred million. It's a waste of resources.

The temptation is to spend new found wealth all in one generation rather than plan for a future lineage, hence the difference between new money and old money....only a fool would work with a stash of substance willing to do the work for them....a wise new monies man sits and thinks, owns the bar he sits in so he doesn't get thrown out. Not magic. Poor and wealthy can sit at a bar....that's when you get equality back. Drinking alone is killing wealth equality.

[Brian Peacock]

I only begrydge people wealth when (I percieve) they don't deserve it. Take some people who win the Lottery. Nothing wrong with winning money in and of itself, but it's when you get some dullard who when asked what they plan to do with it it amounts to sitting on the fortune. It's like their only dream is to not work any more. They would be as well off with one million as one hundred million. It's a waste of resources.

As Crump says, some are born wealthy, some achieve wealth, and some have wealth thrust upon them. The Duke of Westminster won the lottery just by being born; top bankers win the lottery every year with their legendary bonuses. The actual Lottery winner is no more or less deserving unless, that is, the possession of wealth obliges one to a certain sort of action (?)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune will invariably tell you that he deserves it on merit.

[Animavore]

I only begrydge people wealth when (I percieve) they don't deserve it. Take some people who win the Lottery. Nothing wrong with winning money in and of itself, but it's when you get some dullard who when asked what they plan to do with it it amounts to sitting on the fortune. It's like their only dream is to not work any more. They would be as well off with one million as one hundred million. It's a waste of resources.

As Crump says, some are born wealthy, some achieve wealth, and some have wealth thrust upon them. The Duke of Westminster won the lottery just by being born; top bankers win the lottery every year with their legendary bonuses. The actual Lottery winner is no more or less deserving unless, that is, the possession of wealth obliges one to a certain sort of action (?)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune will invariably tell you that he deserves it on merit.

I gave the Lottery as an example. There are examples of people born rich I find equally despicable. Trump is a great example of someone who inherited a fortune and has done nothing good with it, but instead has squandered it, feeding his ego. And now is using it to abuse power.

I think the possession of wealth does oblige a certain sort of action. Not many fulfill that obligation. I'd say Elon Musk is closest right now.

[Brian Peacock]

Aye, Gates is another one who has put his stupendous assets to good use. When you have more money than your can reasonably spend in a lifetime shoring up a system of institionised greed that sucks evermore money out of the worlds economies, purely (it seems to me) to secure someone's notion of status and personal potency, seems perverse. It something that always used to stick in my craw about the Holy See, sitting on an eye-watering bank balance while sending nuns out to beg etc. Of course, the trickle-downers will tell you that securing and enhancing the wealth of the wealthy secures and enhances the wealth of everybody - but only the doltish and the devious place any faith in that assertion these days.

[Cunt]

I think the possession of wealth does oblige a certain sort of action. Not many fulfill that obligation. I'd say Elon Musk is closest right now.

I think the possession of life obliges a certain sort of action.

I still don't meet that standard, but I am beginning to recognize that.

[Rum]

When I was a kid I was friends with a few very (very!) rich kids in Hong Kong. The type who have their own chauffeur and the type who hardly ever saw their parents because they were 'away on business'. I can still remember being struck by the casual way they would spend money or get stuff. It didn't seem to mean anything to them. And they were not happy kids on the whole. I'm talking about three or four maybe here.

I have been lucky most of my life and except for one disastrous attempt at business which resulted in having to sell our house to get out from under the debts (long story) I have never had to worry about money. I enjoyed stuff I saved and planned for. I would the to have been one of those kids who probably were given a Ferrari for their 18th without even thinking about it.

Incidentally I think one of the reasons for those friendships was that my dad was a senior police officer in HK and 'contacts' made the wheels go round there - not that I ever saw anything untoward happening. I suspect the parents encouraged it a bit.

[rainbow]

We in Africa live in mud huts and eat roots.
What is envy, what is wealth?

[Tyrannical]

At what point does envy for another ones wealth become blatant prejudice? If I would own a few hundred million dollars would you greet me as a friend or a enemy? based on your envy and that fact alone?

As a friend of course!