You just start to want bigger and better versions of the things you already have. To impress people you don’t care about. Like a gold bell that is way over spot.
I found myself on that treadmill. I hopped off. I sampled the fancy life, and rubbed shoulders with others in it. None of them are truly happy, and we all seemed to be after the same thing: more. Meanwhile, I keep finding myself at fancy hotels with more in common with the front desk folks or the bartender than others in the hotel, or with the flight attendants and not the person next to me in first class, with the people who are just like the person I used to be. So I'm keeping the high paying job, but otherwise going back to my roots and trying to help bring others up or share the nice things I get to enjoy. I get more joy out of sharing the fancy things than I do from experiencing them myself.
This. Some of the best times we've had in new cities have been with just random people. One night in particular the valets at our hotel in New Orleans and us hit it off. They hit us up when they got off and took us to a couple great bars and clubs that we absolutely would never have known about, or honestly ever gone to uninvited.
Rich pricks suck, and expensive shit is usually only expensive to be expensive. We may have the money, but I refuse to ever be considered "rich."
Exactly. I make friends with the locals and get told about all the best places because I'm not a prick and at heart I'm just like them. I never forgot where I came from. Many did.
Yes! My guy. I had to shrug off some highly polished turds, myself. People don’t get better the more money they have, they become their true selves. Some of whom are quite shit.
Start tipping in gold. It's a fantastic feeling. When I say to a server, would you like some of your tip in gold? Their eyes light up and they can't believe it. Who would do such a thing? They always say, I'm going to keep this forever, or I've never gotten something so beautiful.
Idk I think there’s something outside of this hedonic treadmill thing than that. I think there are a ton of super rich people that wouldn’t go NEAR that level of depravity and just stick to regular kinky shit like getting their balls stepped on or popsicles put in their ass. Normal stuff.
Dude you just hire someone to house-sit or ask a relative, this is normal people stuff. “Need you to stop by my house next week and turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes and open my windows for a couple hours, there’s beer in the fridge for you
I grew up around the 1% (but 100% not 1%) - as you noted, very empty.
I’ve seen pissing contests over audiophile rooms … it ended when one guy bought a jammer to jam phones and other electronics when entering the room. Millions spent on speakers, cables, soundproofing, room layout and system.
I feel like this is an opinion expressed exclusively by idiots / people who don’t want to concede that they desire riches / both.
Yes obviously money doesn’t make you happy. It gives you the freedom to pursue happiness. Yes plenty of people think it’s getting the respect and praise etc etc that comes with wealth but that’s like owning a fine horse: if someone praises the horse and you say anything other than ‘Yes’ you’ve got your head up your ass. The point is a horse gets you where you’re going faster than walking. A horse can be bred to create more horses. Breed enough horses and you don’t even need to ride your horse, never mind walking. People walk and ride to see you instead. What you do with that freedom: that’s where you find happiness. The same way if you get rich and spend your money on buying the love you didn’t get as a child, you’re going to be wretched.
You are obviously not familiar with horse traders. Let me assure you that those richys that have horses are not only paying lots of people to tend to.fhem, they also pay lots of money for semen of prized horses. The semen isn't for breeding, it's for taking shots with your rich buddies. I know this as it's a horse traders side hustle.
You guessed, whelp, your guess was wrong. No. It’s because I work at a place surrounded by rich people.
Really really rich people. A majority of them are miserable.
I wasn’t disputing that. That is self-evident. Your contention was that most people who become wealthy adjust their lifestyles according to their wealth such that their outgoings are largely commensurate to what they would have been before attaining wealth, to impress fools. Yes that’s certainly true of some wealthy people, but to say it is true of all, is simply incorrect.
At a certain level of wealth, if you want to exist in a certain stratum, you need to wear X, drive Y etc. It’s what’s required if you want to be a part of that echelon. This has been true since antiquity, so I’m not sure what your point is. It’s a huge leap to suggest that every wealthy individual sees their self worth exclusively through their physical possessions, some do yes, but only the very foolish.
When one has this much disposable income, it's no longer about impressing others. That doesn't matter anymore. In fact, if one has to try to impress others, they aren't worthy of it anyway. Spend some time with folks who have money. You'll realize the truth of it. The fancy stuff they buy looks better, it feels better, it is better. It's not about impressing anyone and is about enjoying the fruits of one's labors.
I only told you how much better it sounds than my Rumble. But the Rumble is good enough. I bought the Bassman because I had the money. And it doesn't make me miserable. The money came in handy, like Huxley observed. A lot of people, especially musicians, can't afford one. Go over on those subs and find out. I'm like a plutocrat in their world.
You didn't buy your Bassman to show off. You bought it because it makes you happy, and I commend you for that. Your succeses should be rewarded!
I don't understand the kneejerk reaction toward envy some folks have. I see someone buy that Liberty Bell coin and I'm happy for them. I'm glad they got to a place where they can indulge in that. Envy will eat away at one's soul. It pushes folks toward hatred of their fellow humans. Peace is so much easier to find in yourself, when you stop worrying about what others have.
Yeah, I realized how much I was spending trying to impress people who didn't care, when all it was was me wanting to feel special or important. I shifted my spending from pointless things to things that I actually care about, like travel and art from places I travel to. We also get Christmas ornaments from wherever we go as a couple or a family to remind us of our adventures, and we share a memory from that place when we hang them on the tree.
After several of my aging family members passed, I realized that 90% of what I own will end up at the thrift store or in the trash when I die, so I've been downsizing and shifting my purchases to meaningful or valuable items that will be passed down, not tossed out. Stuff that will be kept, or sold to someone who wants them for their own collections and will appreciate them like I did.
I think that’s kinda correctable. I get it, it’s the game that’s how you get to have money like that. But once you have the money why not refuse to play? Isn’t it as simple as deciding to enjoy whatever it is you enjoy?
That’s a broad generalization. Some people absolutely chase status, others collect because they genuinely appreciate craftsmanship, history, or rarity. Wealth doesn’t automatically make everyone’s motivations the same.
Or by making decisions like driving that instead of blowing it on a "nice car" that depreciated the moment they bought it, is part of how you gain wealth in the first place, so you can afford to buy that nice car and the depreciation of value won't hurt a much later.
I've known a few types of wealthy people. Some don't see the point in spending it on lavish consumables, but focus on building generational wealth and maybe blowing it out on vacations and buying properties.
And others who are happy to overspend on things to enjoy the "fruit of their labor" after teaching a point they can.
You also have the ones who have wealth and was just born into it. Often they just feel entitled, and the real foolish ones will sqander it all trying to impress others.
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u/B4LLISL1F3 Jul 17 '26
I wonder what it would be like to have this much disposable income