
Rich Man’s Burden - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/opinion/02conley.html
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keefe
I always thought once you have enough money for food and shelter for some time
out in advance, it's just a matter of finding a way to do what you have
passion for and keep the ball rolling. That's easier for a programmer than a
guitar player. I think part of this is a reflection of the sick culture we
live in - get rid of the useless trappings of wealth and stop caring about the
mercedes or the LV bag and save every penny you can out of that $200K and if
you are unhappy, pretty soon you will have a bankroll to change your life. You
only get one, it's not worth wasting it as a slave so you can have a fancier
cage.

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meat-eater
If we are to believe the article, then the solution is to avoid comparing
yourself to others. Try not to make it your goal to have what they have. Our
goals should be more self driven.

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DenisM

      In other words, when we get a raise, instead of using
      that hard-won money to buy the good life, we feel
      even more pressure to work since the shadow costs of
      not working are all the greater. 
    
    

Ha! The system work as designed! The most productive ($$$) members of society
should not stop working, they should keep on going. This maximizes the
economic value for everyone.

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time_management
It depends on what they're doing to earn that money.

It's good for the world that Paul Graham keeps working, even though he doesn't
have to. On the other hand, George Dubya would clearly serve the country
better on the golf course.

There is a level of richness at which one encounters a class of parasites who
are well-rewarded, but detrimental to society. Tech entrepreneurs are awesome,
but the country's social/political elite ought to be fired.

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time_management
The middling rich are probably the unhappiest people in the country right now,
but this isn't because of economic inequality. They don't, for the most part,
care about other peoples' private jets and designer mansions. (I've worked on
Wall Street, but I've never even _seen_ a private jet.) It's because of social
and power inequality. They're miserable because they expected to have a fair
amount of autonomy upon "getting there", but they're still owned by someone.

Although social inequality is a bad thing, I'd blame this unhappiness on the
dominance that large corporations hold over most peoples' lives, especially in
the small world of upper-tier management. The powerlessness and anomie are
what make the mid-level investment bankers and "white shoe" attorneys
miserable, not the fact of being merely rich instead of super-rich.

