quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

well 'people with too much money have a new thing to worry about' is just more evidence that being a billionaire doesn't mean your day to day life is gonna be nonstop joy.

anyway dum article but hey dude convinced the nyt to pay him to pretend to be rich, wtg

got in an argument w/ my roommate about related issues. I said that I had a hard time giving a shit about Lena Dunham/Tiny Furniture/possibly Girls, because the ennui of being young and privileged was lost on me.

I get that happiness crests at a certain point after comfort is achieved, but I don't understand how - and I kind of just chalk it up to the rich not living life right. If I've banked enough to live on for the rest of my life, I'm going to travel forever and basically just have a shitload of fun. (the fact that I'd stop trying to get richer in order to ride trains across the Australian Outback is probably reason one I will never be rich)
I guess, particularly with the young, you've still got the basic "will I ever fall in love" shit, but that's not a real problem. Worrying about paying rent or what happens if you get sick are real problems.

when I wrote "what they do worry about" I meant "what they do think about" because I imagine thinking about how to use your money takes some effort, but it is on the whole a very pleasurable thing. I mean c.f. the lottery thread here just the other day. In a society that's pretty much run by money, I find it perverse to argue that having and spending tons of money (and thinking about spending tons of money) would be anything less then modestly awesome, at least in terms of individual happiness and fulfillment.

you still have to be around yrself all the time is basically the problem

you kind of reach a point where your "problems" and "needs" expand to take up your time and resources. if you have no money, your problems are a little more sympathetic than "I need a personal shopper" though

“Somebody’s got to live this life,” he says, gesturing to the can of coke on the table. “God decided it should be me.”

I find it perverse to argue that having and spending tons of money (and thinking about spending tons of money) would be anything less then modestly awesome, at least in terms of individual happiness and fulfillment.

that's exactly what it is...modestly awesome. but my iphone is modestly awesome too, I walk around w/ a little gadget that has access to all knowledge in human history, plus angry birds, if a billionaire in the 70s saw this he would offer me a billion dollars for it.

I am pretty sure that jerry seinfeld got less pleasure out of buying his 324th car than I got from the burrito I bought last night. once you hit that level there's nothing you can do but be a stamp collector w/ really big stamps. not having to worry about money is a cool level-up, I hope to achieve that level-up one day (via time machine to 70s) but after you're playing the game w/ cheat codes a lot of things that would have been rewarding are not rewarding anymore.

I actually think I would not enjoy the kind of isolation and need for security that apparently comes with being a billionaire. But it's not like anyone forced these guys to become billionaire.

God did, I think

are you not reading, GOD did

Well, that's 'things' vs 'experiences' - buying your 324th Porsche might not be awesome, but having the money to learn to race Porsches would be. If you're not using your millions/billions to have a series of amazing life experiences that the rest of us could never have then you deserve to be unhappy.

well you could already be traveling the world and living it up even w/o lots of money, people do it

I would definitely cultivate esoteric skills and interests. For example, I just saw this in the bio of RFK, Jr. (not a billioniaire but w/e):

"He is a licensed master falconer, and as often as possible he pursues a life-long enthusiasm for white-water paddling. He has organized and led several expeditions in Canada and Latin America, including first descents on three little known rivers in Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela."

i would be this guy:

http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsH/8434-23772.jpg

got in an argument w/ my roommate about related issues. I said that I had a hard time giving a shit about Lena Dunham/Tiny Furniture/possibly Girls, because the ennui of being young and privileged was lost on me.

Failing to find meaning in materialism shocker.

Also there probably is more in the mindset of billionaires than can be grasped through a single day where you ride in an expensive car, have a meeting, and see a personal trainer.

^^ plot of upcoming Delillo adaptation by Cronenberg, iirc

I would posit that many of the extremely rich have/make very little time for the sort of pursuits that we aspirant lottery winners associate with fabulous wealth. Which isn't to say they should be pitied or w/e, just that maybe these ppl have in addition to their wealth erected giant edifices that structure their "free" time.

vs oh say their children.

_“Somebody’s got to live this life,” he says, gesturing to the can of coke on the table. “God decided it should be me.”_

haha missed this

misspelled "key"

man i thought when i was a billionaire i could spend all my time just sipping champagne and learning how to heli-fence but instead i just post to some belle & sebastian msg board a lot... mo money mo problems

tbh i think the main anxiety of being fabulously wealthy is how to stay fabulously wealthy forever

heavy is the crown, poor bastards

Maybe don't buy watches that costs $45k?

wrong answer

the answer is to buy the watch company and ruthlessly all competing watch companies

if I was a billionaire, I would have three "baller" outfits that cost like $100K and spend the rest of my time in sweatpants and concert t-shirts

ruthlessly destroy*

45k is pocket watch change

I would also never under any circumstance buy a jet

that is the easiest way for rich ppl to lose all their money AFAICT

buying a newspaper

heli-fencing has been degraded by boorish johnny come latelys from the colonies imo, always want to change the rules to reflect some local custom or w/e

at least elephant polo amplified the majesty of the game; the crude introduction of hand-to-hand combat to the aerial piste was unsolicited. the rhythms of capoeira are disruptive, difficult to score, and, frankly, unsafe at that altitude

buy a racehorse

no: buy ALL the racehorses

if I was a billionaire, I would have three "baller" outfits that cost like $100K and spend the rest of my time in sweatpants and concert t-shirts

― God, Music and Romeo and Juliet (DJP), Thursday, April 5, 2012 12:20 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

People are always patting the rich on the back when they wear normal clothes, like "he's a billionaire, yet you wouldn't know it from his modest dress." Well yeah, you know it from his appearance in the Forbes billionaire list, and what do you expect anyway, that he's going to wear a platinum vest? No one ever congratulates me for my sensible shoes.

also swearing sweatpants and jogging shoes is comfortable so if you do not have to impress anybody it actually makes a lot of sense

i would go to baja, eat a fish taco, revel in the simplicity of casting for bonefish with a fly rod, surf a lil bit, camp on the beach, buy the whole peninsula, put a lime in my beer, get back in my moonship, fly home, and watch movies projected on a blimp floating over my courtyard

rich people should only buy the best of everything... and then give it to me

how do you even spend $100k on an outfit, that's a pretty big feat even considering

it's not that hard as long as you make every single article of clothing out of $1000 bills

http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/nadal-wears-525k-watch-at-french-open

wear comfortable workout gear and a watch

then id have it all buried with me in my giant mausoleum and be emperor of the afterlife

as long as that outfit include some kind of jewelry its not that hard

man that dude must really know what time it is...I mean REALLY know what time it is

I also said this on the lottery thread but I would quit my job and audition for grad school voice programs

then, once my singing career failed because lol old, I would bankroll a small opera company

watches are dumb jewelry imho, give me a bejewelled coronet & scepter

your singing career doesn't have to fail if you pay people to come to your concerts

i would have a bunch of geneticists make a camel that fits through the eye of a needle, problem solved

lolling @ 'heli-fencing'