People that say money doesn’t buy happiness need to spread this message to homeless camps. …yes when all your needs are met you get bored and feel empty. We all know this. It isn’t wisdom. See every single leader. You need other things in life outside of money but money pays for housing, food and resources. It doesn’t pay for meaningful friendships.
yes! one gets to step 2 (the problems of affluence: emptiness, pursuit of meaning, etc.) only once you've moved up that hierarchy of needs...but poorer folks still want more money, understandably so.
Let’s patronize the commoners with financial advice classes - never mind how much is paid for housing or what they’re being paid. We can link it back to individual responsibility. Did you choose the right job? Do you have the right skills? Did you start your day with an orange?
Commoners are frivolous, loading up credit cards on in-game Xbox currency and mega mocha shakes. They need to be taught. They need to learn.
If you save $20 everyday for 20 years you can retire whenever you want. It’s in the Bible I think.
the best part of Walter Rodney's How Europe Underdeveloped Africa comes in the intro when he says something like "I'm not a fan of how academics say 'so and so is responsible for the good stuff, but the blame is mine alone' so I'm going to say, nah, we're all at fault for the errors in here."
All spot on. I somehow saw it coming in the mid-1980s and made it out by way of an old apartment with a heavy bolted door, a big Norwegian forest cat, an unnatural ability to work full time while going to school full time, an aptitude for entrance exams, and more luck than I deserved. I was the last one on the bus out of my neighborhood -- one that sounds a lot like the one you are describing. And no, I'll not go back (got a case of dynamite -- I could hold out here all night).
the big secret is nobody wants to go back (I just want to see more people get out!), even if that damages the rich culture of whatever poorer area they're departing.
I think about Alberoni's "Movement and Institution" -- those of us who get out but don't go back are commonly not satisfied with the "out here." I think we are building a new out here-- a "nascent state" -- even if it is often unconscious. I will never be "the haves" you describe. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/243047. But it is such a long road.
Thanks for this version. I have something in print that is disintegrating. Alberoni is an extremely "eccentric" neo-Marxist and his diagrammatic approach to explaining emerging culture has never fully left me.
MAD Magazine observed how Americans used different language about rich people (flattering words) and poor people (denigrating words) in the 1970s. Things either haven't changed, or they have gotten worse.
Oliver, this is a a great read, not only for its brilliant analysis, but also for its subtle understanding and deeply felt empathy. You see it and tell it like it is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I'm glad it resonated, Portia. I had to walk a very fine line with this one, because it's easy to get schmaltzy or start offering solutions of one sort or another, but that wasn't my intention here.
People that say money doesn’t buy happiness need to spread this message to homeless camps. …yes when all your needs are met you get bored and feel empty. We all know this. It isn’t wisdom. See every single leader. You need other things in life outside of money but money pays for housing, food and resources. It doesn’t pay for meaningful friendships.
Another handsome piece, mister fella!
yes! one gets to step 2 (the problems of affluence: emptiness, pursuit of meaning, etc.) only once you've moved up that hierarchy of needs...but poorer folks still want more money, understandably so.
Let’s patronize the commoners with financial advice classes - never mind how much is paid for housing or what they’re being paid. We can link it back to individual responsibility. Did you choose the right job? Do you have the right skills? Did you start your day with an orange?
Commoners are frivolous, loading up credit cards on in-game Xbox currency and mega mocha shakes. They need to be taught. They need to learn.
If you save $20 everyday for 20 years you can retire whenever you want. It’s in the Bible I think.
Just a little self-discipline and personal responsibility…that’ll do the trick
And winners get up early. My cat gets going at 2am and he’s a success.
Clean clothes and twice daily cold showers too…might only have one decent shirt and pair of pants, but it’s clean!
If I had a cent for every time I've had to hear those questions/financial tips, I'd be a billionaire now!
for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pd1g-mRv9c&ab_channel=TheRamseyShowHighlights
Blaming oneself is our national ideology. Never look outward, only blame thy self.
the best part of Walter Rodney's How Europe Underdeveloped Africa comes in the intro when he says something like "I'm not a fan of how academics say 'so and so is responsible for the good stuff, but the blame is mine alone' so I'm going to say, nah, we're all at fault for the errors in here."
All spot on. I somehow saw it coming in the mid-1980s and made it out by way of an old apartment with a heavy bolted door, a big Norwegian forest cat, an unnatural ability to work full time while going to school full time, an aptitude for entrance exams, and more luck than I deserved. I was the last one on the bus out of my neighborhood -- one that sounds a lot like the one you are describing. And no, I'll not go back (got a case of dynamite -- I could hold out here all night).
the big secret is nobody wants to go back (I just want to see more people get out!), even if that damages the rich culture of whatever poorer area they're departing.
I think about Alberoni's "Movement and Institution" -- those of us who get out but don't go back are commonly not satisfied with the "out here." I think we are building a new out here-- a "nascent state" -- even if it is often unconscious. I will never be "the haves" you describe. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/243047. But it is such a long road.
you are the second person who told me to look at this book (nearly impossible to find so I hosted an Internet Archive copy here, for any interested: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14x2RxHlhEezAIUocrPzG0zeL1CHioIps/view?usp=sharing) ... maybe now I need to take a look
Thanks for this version. I have something in print that is disintegrating. Alberoni is an extremely "eccentric" neo-Marxist and his diagrammatic approach to explaining emerging culture has never fully left me.
MAD Magazine observed how Americans used different language about rich people (flattering words) and poor people (denigrating words) in the 1970s. Things either haven't changed, or they have gotten worse.
Oliver, this is a a great read, not only for its brilliant analysis, but also for its subtle understanding and deeply felt empathy. You see it and tell it like it is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I'm glad it resonated, Portia. I had to walk a very fine line with this one, because it's easy to get schmaltzy or start offering solutions of one sort or another, but that wasn't my intention here.
You're a damn fine writer, Oliver, there's nothing schmaltzy or patronizing in your article.
I hate that stuff!