"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver." Ayn Rand
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| On Money & Meanness: A Perspective - Does money make you mean? |
Money and Meanness: What do you think of rich people?
What about people in poverty? When it comes to the subject of money, everyone has an opinion. Some of us see it as financial freedom, others see it as a burden, and there are those who see it as a way to dominate others. Yet, money is energy and gives us the opportunity do with it as our heart or head dictates. If we don't have it, we worry about paying our bills and our meanness might be the result of our frustration. If we have it, we worry that others might steal it or we might decide to use it as a control mechanism: a weapon against our enemies. Regardless of how we view it, one thing is clear, our upbringing and experiences have an impact on our attitude towards money. There are mean and stingy rich and poor people. The mean behavior has more to do with the relationship they have with money, a sense of entitlement/loss/not having enough, than their social standing.
Is there
anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you
all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons
like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income,
and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move
into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden ( ? )
, $250k annual income is not enough.
I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:
1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names
and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few
girls who doesn't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able
to marry rich guys
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your
girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)
Ms. Pretty
Amazing
Does money make rich people mean? Not entirely. I believe it can exacerbate an existing tendency that already exists in us. If you've always been a considerate person, winning the lottery won't turn you into an ogre unless that monster was always part of your shadow self. Bill Gates, Oprah, Bono, and other very wealthy people we know put their money to work for good. They use it to help educate, heal and uplift the downtrodden. Some wealthy folk see their money through the lens of power and privilege and become abusive but this is not a given for every rich person. Some rich people become very paranoid because they fear the Ms-Pretty-Amazings (see above) of the world want them strictly for their money. The young lady, a 25 year old pretty girl, posted this in Craigslist some years ago. It brought attention to her when,
allegedly, a high ranking office or the CEO at JP Morgan sent her a reply.
What motivates you to work for your own upkeep? What would you have advised her to do? The Investment Banker's reply is in the 2nd half below.
If you want to rear financial blessings, you have to sow financially.
Joel Osteen
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| Money For Nothing - Meanness, not a gold coin, is free. |
Paul Piff: Does money make you mean?
What has had more influence on your life perspective: your upbringing or
your experiences?
I would say both have influenced my perspective about money. My dad was a generous, yet conservative philanthropist. He saw money as seeds to be planted and nurtured. Later in life, I met people who saw money as bullets used to destroy anyone who opposed their myopic thinking. I prefer my late dad's thinking. Another subject that triggered this post was the December presentation (see above) by Paul Piff at a TED event. In the video, Paul speaks about an experiment he conducted to help him determine the relationship between money and meanness. He offered two groups of volunteers a chance at playing a win-money-game of monopoly. Unbeknownst to the poor group, the rich players had the advantage because the game was rigged.
As the game unfolded, the behavior of the rich players shifted; they became abrasive and pompous. This was, as Piff suggested in the video, a way the mind makes sense of advantage. As the advantaged power players won each game, they started bragging, got bolder, started cheating, and had a sense of entitlement and self-interest. Their lack of compassion grew as the
Poor players, feeling down and intimidated, gave in to their opponents. if you've been exposed to that sort of oppressive environment, it could shape your attitude about poverty and wealth. To learn more on the Rigged game of monopol
y - watch the video above.
Money is a lubricant. It lets you “slide” through life instead of having
to “scrape” by. Money brings freedom—freedom to buy what you want , and
freedom to do what you want with your time. Money allows you to enjoy
the finer things in life as well as giving you the opportunity to help
others have the necessities in life. Most of all, having money allows
you not to have to spend your energy worrying about not having money. T.
Harv Eker
As much as I understand the saying that loving money is the root of all evil, I believe we can love making money without pernicious outcomes. My personal belief is that money is energy and by itself is not evil. People have different motivations for making money and, as we earn more, certain character traits are enhanced. Money alone is not evil but what people choose to do with it can become evil. T.Harv Eker says it well in the quote above: having money helps us spend energy elsewhere instead of worrying. What's your take?
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