I had the opportunity to hang out with a billionaire couple on their private island in the Bahamas. They were the most miserable people I’ve ever met. Surrounded by beauty, pristine beaches, everything they could need, a private chef, and they were miserable. I am not used to those things, far from it, and could see only how amazing everything was. They complained about an amazing wine, about the quality of the fresh caught fish made by a talented chef, about the house, about the country, about the state of the world.
I think that a really important part of love and of friendship is accountability. We all need people in our lives to keep us grounded. To tell us when we are being an asshole. To question us when we need. These people lack that, surrounded by paid servants, by people who won’t say no, by people who want to exploit them.
If those miserable billionaires were my loved ones or friends, I would have told them to pull their head out and show some gratitude. But, because I was there through a business associate who depended on their professional relationship, I stayed silent and they stayed assholes.
Part of being that absurdly rich, even if you marry into it or inherit it, is generally being unhappy with what you have and needing more.
No one capable of simply being content with what they have could ever realistically end up a billionaire. That's a level of wealth that requires effort and drive - and I don't mean drive in the sigma grindset "they earnt it" cool way, I mean it in the junkie looking for more heroin way.
Anyone who wasn't, in some way, broken, would get to a point where they're so ludicrously wealthy that they just do whatever they want and just kinda stop accumulating money, either by just living off the interest or giving it away to charity or whatever. And for normal people that would happen far before they hit "billionaire"
I believe background and upbringing matters a ton too. If you grew up poor and had to count on others and find happiness in the smallest of things, it's hard to forget that when you become wealthy.
Twitch streamer asmongold is a decent example of that. The guy is a millionaire but still lives in his crusty decrepit parents home, doesn't spend any money on luxury but still loves playing videogames like when he was a kid.
I'm sure there are even better examples. However i doubt there are any people who grew up in poverty and became a billionaire. Most of those already had wealthy parents. Billionaires are on another level and don't deserve to exist.
Tbh being "rags to riches" millionaire does not cure one of being a jerk. I know plenty of middle- and low-income people who have terrible opinions , and if they happened to get a mountain of money, they would just get more ways of expressing said opinions without any consequence.
6.2k
u/[deleted] Aug 23 '24
[deleted]