Okay, strike that. I agree with the idea that money isn't everything but ... money is a huge enabler. I rented a 2 bedroom apartment even though I can only sleep in one room. That other room? Friends from around the world visited and stayed there all the time and I got to spend far more time with them than if they had had to stay at a hotel. Heck, they probably wouldn't have even visited the area if they had to pay for a hotel.
If you're rich and doing nothing yea maybe you're bored and unhappy but there's all kinds of things I would do with money that instead I can't because someone else with money is "the decider".
It really depends on the amount of money. Most of the games I'd like to make (I'm a game dev) would probably cost in the $7-$14 million price range.
I'd love to open a gamedev co-working space. No idea how much money that would cost to run long enough to make it profitable but it's probably more than I have. And heck, if I had the money I'd consider doing it even if it didn't make a profit. If we're talking money to burn then I'd be happy to burn it. I'd also love to pay someone to run it. To make sure it had lots of events and activities.
Similarly I'd love to do giant digital art exhibitions. The kind that require several hundred thousands in equipment (projection mapping projectors good enough for large buildings are not cheap) on top of having to hire all the people to organize those types of events. Yea, I could beg others to let me but if I had the money I wouldn't have to ask I'd just do it.
And yes there would still be struggles. Even with money lots of things are still real work. Still it would be nice not to have my options limited because I know I still need to save for retirement.
Keep in mind that while the post is poetic, he mentions getting rich in an IPO, and references Peter Thiel. So when he says wealth doesn't make you happy, he's saying something like "the difference between 10 million and 50 million isn't that great". My understanding is that there's some evidence of diminishing returns beyond $60k/yr in the US. (And a related psychological concept: hedonic treadmill.)
For regular working people like me, while I do have to wrestle with work/life balance--even if one is comfortable not having a lot of personal time to chill or pursue non-work stuff, there are social expectations (and I'm single, with a spouse and kids it's even tougher)--but still, I feel like anyone who wants to lecture me about money not being that important should maybe commit to paying my utility bills first. (In fact I feel money even helps with the aforementioned social expectations, i.e. if I have some resources of my own and feel somewhat secure then I can better support other people and participate in other activities.)
Took the words out of my mouth. Let's nevertheless assume that a lot of folks are coming from situations where they need to experience first hand what the article is saying before they believe it
The assumption that the answer to everything lies in achieving your dreams and ambitions through your possession and redirection of money.
Studies have shown that the ratio of overall happiness per dollar in salary decreases after you hit a certain level, and it can be proven that the level required for happiness decreases as the average income decreases as long as the expectation/experience is not there to expect that income.
While I'm a capitalist in a first-world country, I'm not in denial about this. We are overprivileged. We are the economic equivalent of obese people whose gut flora has become unbalanced and they feel that they need to eat carbs all of the time. We are lazy fuckers that expect investors to show up and fund our big idea, and that if they do, we deserve it; because we don't give a shit about the many others who are much more intelligent, creative, and able than we are, but don't have the resources or support structure that we have are not our problem. Well- fuck that. Wake up and realize that you don't deserve a trophy for showing up. We're all lucky as shit to be here reading this. It's not a blessing to be overprivileged- it's a challenge; you are torn between trying to make your family/self happier and your duty, really, to take care of others. If you fail that challenge, which many do, at the least you are significantly lowering the potential of the planet. Do you not realize how many lives you could be positively impacting by helping others who are less fortunate? And at worst, you are further dividing the haves and the have nots- which is a cause of war.
Okay, strike that. I agree with the idea that money isn't everything but ... money is a huge enabler. I rented a 2 bedroom apartment even though I can only sleep in one room. That other room? Friends from around the world visited and stayed there all the time and I got to spend far more time with them than if they had had to stay at a hotel. Heck, they probably wouldn't have even visited the area if they had to pay for a hotel.
If you're rich and doing nothing yea maybe you're bored and unhappy but there's all kinds of things I would do with money that instead I can't because someone else with money is "the decider".
It really depends on the amount of money. Most of the games I'd like to make (I'm a game dev) would probably cost in the $7-$14 million price range.
I'd love to open a gamedev co-working space. No idea how much money that would cost to run long enough to make it profitable but it's probably more than I have. And heck, if I had the money I'd consider doing it even if it didn't make a profit. If we're talking money to burn then I'd be happy to burn it. I'd also love to pay someone to run it. To make sure it had lots of events and activities.
Similarly I'd love to do giant digital art exhibitions. The kind that require several hundred thousands in equipment (projection mapping projectors good enough for large buildings are not cheap) on top of having to hire all the people to organize those types of events. Yea, I could beg others to let me but if I had the money I wouldn't have to ask I'd just do it.
And yes there would still be struggles. Even with money lots of things are still real work. Still it would be nice not to have my options limited because I know I still need to save for retirement.