What we all want deep down
cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/5129769
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/thedeprogram by /u/mihirjain2029 on 2025-02-09 15:08:39+00:00.
I want to be rich enough that I can walk down the street and just uplift people who need a helping hand. I also do not want to live in a world where the wealth disparity is so egregious someone getting a chance to succeed or not depends on my whim.
A handful of people want to be Masters Of The Universe and neurotically own every single penny and paper piece of money that ever existed and will exist in the future even if it means they will never fully enjoy much of that wealth during their lifetime.
As someone else on here put it: it’s like alcoholism for money
This society deifies the crazy cat lady syndrome as long as it's with money rather than cats and, worse, the actual crazy cat ladies are driven by good intentions whilst those obcessed with hoarding money are driven by almost the opposite kind of feeling.
These people are literally sick people and the shitty system we have actually celebrates them and has laws designed to support the symptoms of their disease.
I think it's far worse than that, sadly. Some people chase after something - daddy / peer approval? - that they will never have, and certainly cannot buy with money, yet they've inappropriately decided to triple down on attaining more money as their means to solve their other personal issues. And then control all of society trying to get people to look down on anyone who does otherwise.
Really they don't even desire the money, like a zombie munching, yet unlike a living being's hunger response from which it was originally born, it will never become sated, it's just an endless intake with no purpose (anymore).
And we'd be better off if they never did, but the current state in the US is they do own all that.
In the excellent book, Your Money or Your Life the authors define wealthy as, "having what you need plus a little more."
That's all most people want. Since inheriting enough from my parents a few years ago to retire, the relief I constantly feel from not worrying about money is a treasure beyond value. Through my whole career I always looked forward to retirement simply for the free time it would give me. But the major effect has been freedom from thinking about money. It's like going from treading water to sitting in a lawn chair. I've always been a fan of things like universal healthcare and UBI, but this experience has solidified that. Everyone should have this level of peace and security, not just those of us who are lucky enough.
But who will work if there is no extential threat to people?
/s
... and the amount of "set for life" money just keeps growing because we have to pay ever increasing amounts to rich people on things like housing.
... and the safety of one's savings keeps going down, so you can be "set for life" only for your savings to be wiped out because they exceed the bank deposite protection threshold or you had to invest it in some supposedly safe thing to generate enough interest to live of and it ends up pretty much stolen from you with no recourse (as many will find out when they finally try to draw on their private pensions).
The system is rigged so that even being an entry-level millionaire is not enough.
Financial freedom refers to the ability of an individual to live a life free from financial worries, constraints, or limitations. It is a state of being where an individual has enough money to cover all their needs and wants without being enslaved by debt or having to work just for survival.
I achieved this about 8 years again and I have actually happy times now. A walk feels great because I don't stress when getting back to life. Everyone should have this and taxes should match this purpose for EVERYONE. But people will support only billionaires having this life.
I mean it still means rich, rich and poor are vague terms that can have whole spectrum of meanings. But meme is still right.
Not having to worry about money is being rich.
Owning a nation's GDP's worth of money is being a fucking cunt.
Agree. There are these nice terms like house-poor or car-poor for people who buy things more expensive then they can afford, forcing them to make uncomfortable savings in other aspects of life.
If you know that your current lifestyle is sustainable until you die, and makes you happy, you are rich already in terms of money.
I feel like this is obvious.
Honestly, I don't give a shit if I have to work for that security, but the job markets have gone to absolute garbage. Nobody has a lifetime career at a single employer anymore. Employers don't do raises, and just rinse through the entire employable workforce with no care in the world because there's always some bright eyed college grad willing to take the job for less than the person who has it now, so raises don't serve companies. Long term experience and knowledge is both highly desirable, and completely worthless.
If you're trying to get a job for anything beyond every level, you must have years and years is experience with the specific products and software that company uses to manage their company. Experience you could only have if you've worked there before.
Entry level positions have wages so low it's barely better than working at McDonald's.
The world is fucked.
There is only two options: UBI or civil war.
There are some people who want to be wealthy to the tune of flaunting it, making other people figuratively or literally bow down to them. Those people should not be allowed to have power.
If I was somehow a billionaire, I like to think I'd be spending my money on socially useful stuff. More libraries. More infrastructure. Housing. Can an ultra rich person essentially run public housing and transit, at least on a city-wide scale? Probably. but the kind of person who gets to be ultra rich is probably an asshole.
And there's the problem. The things good-people would do with thier money to better society don't have a good return. You don't grow or even maintain your wealth so it runs out.
These diamond spoon assholes that hoard thier wealth like dragons are a product of their environment. Gotta be an asshole to make the line go up and never down.
Our society (and by that I mean every society, no matter where you're living) highly rewards the dark triad of personality disorders. And it literally punishes you (financially mostly) for being kind, humble, empathetic or just decent. So, to be a billionaire, you will simply have to be a mean piece of human garbage. By definition.
We, as a species, are fucked. There is no way out of capitalism anymore and it only will get way worse. One reason I became anti-natalist long ago. Now boo me.
If I suddenly had Elon's money, I wouldn't be a billionaire for long after I start funding a bunch of shit to help other people.
Most of his money is imaginary anyways.
So is mine 🤷🏻♂️
But that exactly is the problem. You would never happen to "suddenly have it". As you lack the requirements to hoard and exploit enough. And if you were a nice dude that would just inherit it...you wouldn't be nice to begin with, as your empathy would've been indoctrinated into oblivion by your environment. You'd rarely even have met people not "suffering" from the worst of humanity's personality disorders.
And even if you'd be the one billionaire out of a thousand that still is decent and helpful..."your" people will find things to make you look like an are. And in the end you're poor again and your offspring inherit nothing and have learned nothing of value. Capitalism wouldn't budge under your empathy.
I would like to be able to afford my own house. My residence has a hoarder and a messy person, and I am not allowed to clean up. I would like to be able to walk in the laundry room without tripping on clothes, and the front room is filled with trippables. Also, I never went on vacation. The distant shores of Hawaii, Japan, and Egypt will never be known to me. My life has been defined by a lack of fiscal agency.
Here's hoping that the turmoil of today will allow future generations to have enough wealth to live a satisfied life. At this point, that is all that I can hope for.
Can confirm, I have enough that I don't really have to worry anymore. The only concern is over if I was to lose my job. So paying off debts faster would be nice as it then reduces how much I need to pay month to month. Vast majority of my expenses is paying back debts.
Due to the wonders of medical bankruptcy, that number you need to not worry gets higher every year
We are not all American. Some of us can die in the corridor of an NHS hospital of an easily treatable illness instead. At no personal expense.
Meh, triage. They'll probably cart you into surgery when you start dying.
wanting to be a billionaire should be classified as a mental disease, some sort of power addiction
Megalomania Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Honestly, I don't even want to have all that money at once. If just the job market is good enough that I will always be employed and earn a livable wage, that's what makes it already. It's a lot about trust in the economy, and knowing that there is a social system that prevents me from starving in case my education becomes worthless at some point.
I feel kinda bad reading this reply because you're trying so hard to be a good worker in a system that has literally indoctrinated you into being a good worker when the point of the meme is to not worry.
I think it is more about the nature of work in today's world. I think if we each felt that our day to day labor contributed to a better world where we were taking care of eachother, we would be proud of our labor and have a desire to continue bringing about good things. But, a lot of us don't see how our work helps the world, or if we do, we don't share in the reward for doing so.
aaaaaand almost the entire capitalist system is built around the effort to reduce any individuals worth so that they are in a constant state of worry and need to continue to produce through their physical labor for the benefit of others. feudalism was worse. communism put capitalisms sins to shame with the absolute corruption, human rights abuse, and genocide (stalin slaughtered 20 million all on his own under the mantle of the ussr)
Yes, thank you. This is what I have been saying for a long time. But I came across so many temporarily embarassed millionaires and workbros who rub it in how they are going to be more successful than I am. I just cringe because I just want a simple life and don't have to worry much about money. Some people can't understand what humble means.
Fun fact. There a lots of discussion in financial spaces that the money doesn't stop the worry.
It does remove many actual issues though.
Yes, but someone worrying about property tax increasing so they might have to take economy instead of business class on their annual Bahamas holiday, is not the same kind of worrying as:
“Oh fuck if Trump cuts this program then I’ll have no choice but to crash at a friend’s place or live in my car”.
doesn't stop the worry.
As someone who makes a lot more money than I did previously, I'd say it largely does, at least for me.
I don't spend anywhere near as much time:
In short, I spend less time thinking about money, which means I spend less time worrying about money.
It's not like I don't worry at all about money, but I do worry a lot less of the time, and less intensely.
At this point, honestly, I think having more income might make me more stressed than I am now. Though I would like to be able to quit my day job for a business I own myself, maybe. As long as the income was reliable.
Id argue the real sense of worry is by living a life style below your means. As someone who has had to live pay check to paycheck, but has been fortunate enough to have a substantial increase in salary, dont spend all your money. If you dont change your habits with new money, the worry will fade away.
You can stop keeping strict budgets on things and make them more vague. As long as savings account keeps going up, the worry fades
What actually stops the worry is social security, such as state welfare or having a partner that earns a salary as well. This way, there is backup.
I have enough money that I don't worry, but not necessarily enough that I shouldn't worry.
Where's the neme?
I don't need enough money to not worry. Just need a job that's secure. The job I have is nice but there's always something that could happen
Pretty much my situation. My employer pays everyone a living wage, but the job security isn't exactly perfect
It's still handy to have enough money that losing your job wouldn't be an emergency.
Ye but that's what I'm saying. It'd be nice to just have a job that you never have to worry about losing
I mean, I'll take either to be honest.
I want to be rich
Me too, stupidly so! Like intergalactic fleet of space yachts kind of stupid rich!
Looking back at my life having seen my salary slowly increase over my career, you always end up taking for granted what you once worked hard to get and comparing yourself with people who make more, making you want more. But nobody should make so little that they have to worry.
If people really didn't want to be rich, no one would play the lottery.
People play the lottery as a fantasy of escaping their financial circumstances. People have debt and demanding jobs.
Not worrying about money anymore is called being rich. If you live a comfortable life but it still depends on you having a job then you still worry about money and thus aren’t rich.
not worry about money [to meet basic needs].
Everyone worries about money. But for an upper middle class person they’ll be worrying if they can afford to send their daughter to a private university or to afford an expensive trip — that’s not worrying about basic needs.
What counts as worrying about money? It certainly isn't something that gives me any problems or stress and I am far from rich by any measurement of wealth.
I wan't to be rich enough that i can buy a company that other big companies rely on and just shut it down and switch to making something useful. Like some automotive supplier for Tesla and then they can't make cars for a month or two.
Will the government provide me a wife?
(Just trolling 😂)
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