2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Do you know a really rich person? [View all]Tab
(11,093 posts)To my knowledge, they all worked their way up. I don't think I know any that just inherited money and didn't know the other side of life.
My only problem as certain friends get into the high 1% is that sometimes it's a lot harder to contact them and get a response. I mainly attribute that to that there's probably a zillion people trying to reach them too. But when I do get in touch, they're invariably nice, and fully appreciative of their luck in life and not forgetful at all of how they got there.
Yeah, Hillary is rich now. She had a President for a husband. As Senators (as well as presidents) they get lifetime pensions that will blow away the average mortal makes. There's also speaking fees, and books. Also, depending on how the campaign ran, they get access to the leftover campaign funds.
Hell, I'd max it out too. But I'd hate to think it would disqualify me, particularly all the experience I picked up in the process of getting there.
Even when I made a lot more money (pushing me to the 1% too, though that's not the case any more) I still went to the store every day, knew how to use the self-checkout, knew the prices of most of the stuff I bought. I couldn't have answered the gotcha question of how much is a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs because I'm lactose interolant and don't drink milk and simply don't like eggs. But I buy them now for my family and I know what the costs are ($2.50 to $4 for milk, depending on what brand you get, and anywhere from $2 to $6 for eggs, depending if they're generic or fancy "organic" eggs from chickens raised in what sounds like spas on a tropical island).
There is an advantage to being rich, having come up from basically nothing. You get to see both sides of the coin. You know what it's like to have to struggle, and you also know what can be done when you have power and money, and you'd be surprised how that viewpoint works. I'm still lucky enough to have a house, fireplace, dogs, and multiple cars, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten what it was like to earn $4.50 minimum wage (or less! I think $2.50 or $3.25 when I started), ride my bike to work and live in a hostel for $45/month. Just because you worked past that doesn't mean you no longer remember or care about that. If anything, it's given me an expanded view of life. I'm not currently valued in the millions, but even if I was, I wouldn't be out of touch.
I have some people I know that have more money than I can imagine ever getting at this point. But they all started from scratch, and are perfectly friendly. Suspicious of new friendships, perhaps, but I assume that comes with the territory. But for people they know and trust, they're great.
If you're looking at a trust-fund baby, like that asshole "affluenza" Ethan Couch, then yeah, you'll find jerks.
I'm voting for Bernie myself (already have, since I live in NH), but if I was going to vote against Hillary, it wouldn't be because she had money or access to it. I'm going to vote for the Dem nominee whichever one it is, but I'm not going to write her off because she succeeded and think she doesn't remember anything.
Trump, however, has succeded most expectations but I won't vote for him because of that, simply because I think he's a dangerous asshole with no mental filter. I do give him credit, though, I think he's a great negotiator and a compelling self-marketer (he's gone the farthest while spending the least), but his values don't match mine, or even America's I think. I might hire him to run a company, but not the country.
I lived in Burlington when Bernie was mayor. I had a front-row seat at a recent "town hall" meeting that he ran. In all this time, he is just consistent, and I'll vote for him in a second. Hillary is not my first choice, but I'm not going to dismiss her just because she and Bill (both lawyers, and politicians, and compelling speakers (specifically, Bill)). If she's in the GE, then I'll vote for her. Not my first choice, but I'm not going to throw her out just because she was smart enough to earn money.
Do you remember Ross Perot? He had a shitload of money and a lot of, seemingly, radical but on-topic ideas. I suspect he would have done better now than 20 years ago. He didn't have it all quite together, and made a dent but didn't win. If Bernie had made $20 million on some investment, would you discount him too? I'd hope not.