I really don’t like rich people, because they are invariably even dumber than squaddies…

My natural state of being for as long as I can remember has been to assume the worst about rich people. (Unless they play baseball or make music or entertain me in some other way--I guess I mean business-oriented rich people.) But I've been watching Buffett, Turner, and Gates on This Week, talking about their philanthropic initiatives, and...am I missing something?...they really do seem sincere and forward-thinking. Buffet comes across as especially likeable (I'm sure it's a pat line of his, but I love his dismissal of supply-side economics: "A rising tide lifts all yachts"). Is this possible? Can somebody be incredibly wealthy and human-like at the same time?

wealth is a ~mental cycle~ in that u get so rich ur mind goes back to feeling poor and u gain *perspective*

h8 rich people, wish i was rich

there are MIDDLE-CLASS posters here now?? ew

if you can afford to be philanthropic, you've cut some throats on the way up

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/50178000/jpg/_50178885_010451130-1.jpg

India's Ambani hosts party for 'world's priciest home'. £630m well-spent by the looks.

hey thats my house!

looks like a repectable enough chillwave jenga hut

Bill Gates cut some throats on the way up? It can't be true...

I figured the "you missed something, rich people are certifiably swine" posts would run about 99-1 on here. Unless it's 100-0.

that shit is mad ugly, poors should fire rpgs at @ it

i have known 1 'rich' person, he was a throatcutter. just ime.

can somebody be poor and human at the same time?

i have known 1 'rich' person, he was a throatcutter. it was me.

i have known 1 'rich' person, he was a throatcutter. just ime.

a totally adequate sample size

red ladder leads to golden hoard xp

'just ime', xp. not difficult stuff.

in all seriousness ive known some rich people, generally they resemble non rich people in that they each have their own personalities worldviews and style of dress - there are def some particular pitfalls in being rich tho - if youre self made you often end up w/an inflated sense of yr own opinions and ability to work really hard - if you are born into it you can be somewhat sheltered and entitled, lack of self confidence is a prob w/these bros too

what to they eat? do they dream like we do?

they dream is special rich only 3d-vision, sry forgot to mention that

its really expensive

aw man wd cut so man throats for that

if i had to be a type of rich dude id prob choose tech entrepreneur, thats the most down to earth; worst is wasp family wealth, give it back flee to asia man do whatever it takes

I know no millionaires -- I do have relatives who earn salaries in the high six-figure range. They go skiing in the winter -- that's about all that distinguishes them from me.

high 6 figures every year, they gotta be millionaires!

maths^

I'm constantly disappointed by the lame shit rich people spend fat stacks of cash on... Poor people spend their money on lame shit too.. But, rich bros, buy better ideas, dang!

alfred makes a good point. how you define millionare makes a big difference. a lot of people who make comfortably more than 100K a year (even 200K a year) certainly don't feel like millionaires (and don't have savings you'd expect with a millionaire).

millionaire- got that cash money in the bank

or multimillions in realisable assets

a million dollars just isnt what it used to be (inflation)

yeah. that's a big difference from alfred's contextual definition above, i suspect. (xp)

I can squeeze a lot of shit out of my meager income, and I have peers making six figs that.. barely seem to manage much more than me? Like, we vacation together just their swim trunks have finer stiching.

exactly.

yes, same as that

In the original post I meant obscenely rich, like Buffett, Gates, and Turner. Even as a grade-school teacher, I work with some people who I'd call quite well off: couples where, say, both have been teaching since their mid-20s, and they've got a near-million-dollar home and an annual combined salary of 200K. And they're just perfectly normal people. What struck me this morning, though, was how Buffett also seemed like a perfectly normal person, and that he really does seem to be doing honorable stuff.

"But I own a house!"

nah, sucka, you OWE a house.

yeah i mean theres
affluent - middle class w/a second home and nice cars
wealthy - mansion, dope sailboat
super rich - kickin on the g5 w/bill clinton

guys, seriously, there are some very nice rich people. You don't have to raise taxes on the rich, just let them get super rich and they'll give it all to charities (named after themselves).

also, some poor people are despicable!

~~lifelessons~~

that definition of "affluent" sets too high a bar, i think. but "wealthy" to "super rick" sound right.

The people I work with who are in their 40s or older, I'm guessing their houses are either paid off in full or pretty close. I don't know--it's not like you talk about these things.

its really the affluent who are the worst of all, cause they already ate but they still hungry

What you *don't want* are rich cheapskates... ugh, they are the worst.

Also, "super rick" is a total bro.

buffett has an admirable social conscience by billionaire standards -- especially compared to supervillains like the kochs -- but he also employs this asshole.

i used to think master p's lifestyle was gross and on some level sad, but buffet's austerity relative to his crazy wealth now makes me think buffet is the fool.

i also used to think gates' philanthropic legacy would karmically make up for visiting millions of hours of frustration on anyone who has ever used a PC, but there was an article recently that is pointing to disturbing patterns in how the gates foundation operates that mirror the same process.

but basically it's a totally freakish state of being, and i can't see how they or society would be adversely affected if, say, their wealth were halved and used to buy pizzas for everyone. or probably better spent on vaccines, but either way.

buffet is some sort of weird business robot, apparently his diet is that of a five year old

spending a huge bulk of your wealth buying pizzas for everyone is a time-tested way for starting a cult. "come to our meeting tonight, after a short film about our organization and our guest speaker's talk on the subject of 'Spirituality in a Busy World' there will be refreshments served, including pepperoni pizza and diet coke"

btw i know this guy whos a philanthropy consultant, super wired bro, hes been to bill gates house etc; anyway he said the thing that surprised him most in dealing w/the superrich was that they maybe even more than people of ordinary means expressed anxiety abt being at the mercy of forces beyond their control

yeah, esp. when there are shortages of lunchables and chocolate milk

sounds like people wishing to be relieved of their burden...

it speaks to the inherent chaos of the world and the unfulfilled promise of respite wealth is rumored to bring

there are a lot more meg whitmans than warren buffetts in the world

meg whitman was the first person who came to mind when I had to think 'asshole rich person wasting their money'

according to studies ive seen the superrich tend to be more magnanimous than average, the rich less so, but its the affluent who are the real fuckers

revive made me think of zizek's take on these guys: "the (lol)liberal communists are the enemy of every true progressive struggle today" http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n07/slavoj-zizek/nobody-has-to-be-vile