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I've been dogsitting/house-sitting for some friends (a couple in their late 50s) this week. They're wonderful people and we get along well, though their combined net worth is easily like 100x mine (so, technically 50... cuz there's two of them!)
Relevant because their house is in-sane.
... and it's remarkably how little it affects me. This is just not what I value, not what makes a dent in my life or mental state.
It was pretty shocking to me how quickly life here in this comparative palace of a place became quotidian — eat, sleep, work out, listen to Bitcoin podcasts, bathroom breaks, play chess on my phone (#853488). The human universals, I'm guessing, are the same in the elite echelons of society as they are for me.
A similar question came up in JRE today too (well, I guess yesterday) with the TRIGGERnometry guys Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster. Konstantin asked Joe Rogan:

"You've made a lot of money. How have you dealt with that?"

Joe thought for a minute and then responded that it hadn't. First he said that it was because he works out so much... "therefore regular life doesn't freak me out so much."
But then he added something quite insightful:

"You might think that it's the numbers in the bank account that counts, but what really counts is how you feel, how you're handling life"

Whatcha think, Stackers?

In some sense, this is Svetski's great question in The Bushido of Bitcoin (#861088): what exactly do we do when bitcoin wins? Do we, like @DarthCoin (#926641), just become another generation of boomers who screw over the next ones, or do we build something more permanent/proper/"fair"?
This is why getting rich slowly is a blessing. It gives you time to acclimate and frankly, mature, before you get to the next stage. People that are given lots of money at once (lotto winners, casino winners, sports stars) generally don't handle windfalls well and you can tell because they end up with divorces and few friends just 3-5 years later.
The slow growing wealth has generally sorted people out in the Bitcoin community. The people that can't handle wealth do something dumb with it (like altcoins) and lose it. It's not a coincidence that a lot of people that have pumped Bitcoin in the past are now pumping altcoins, in jail or something in between.
I suspect a lot of the spiritual searching that I've seen in Bitcoiners is from this dilemma. If you don't have a good base of morals to operate from, you're not going to be able to handle being rich.
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If you don't have a good base of morals to operate from, you're not going to be able to handle being rich.
Indeed. And one implication of the post, too, is that living a small bit of a rich person's life for a short time doesn't set you up for such errors. Like I point to, it just feels off and unimportant. Whereas if I had been magically awarded enough money to buy this house, then getting it would be disastrous since I hadn't worked up the moral base to steward it well
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It works the other way, too. The people that work up that moral base find themselves earning more money. Married men, for example, are the richest in the economy, I think, for this reason. They've had to build up character and virtue due to their responsibilities. Bitcoiners are getting married and having babies, which I interpret as Bitcoiners maturing and becoming more responsible to handle the next level of wealth.
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maybe the cause and effect is the opposite
bitcoin attracts those that want to get married, want to mature and become more responsible etc
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Interesting. I didn't think about the speed of acquisition being a big factor. I think you're right.
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I have heard this many times before. Money just reveals who you are as a person, it doesnt change you. You may have repressed it since you didnt have money, but once you get it, it reveals who you really are.
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That's beautiful, man. Think it's true.
@remindme in 58 days
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winning the lottery vs great wealth thru good/lucky investments, is there a difference?
I think so but I can't prove it
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you have no idea what is "wealth". yiou think that some numbers in a wallet is wealth... you are wrong. wealth is time. time to be spend as you like. and is not luxury or other bullshit cars, palace, mansions or other crap. a simple life and a lot of time to spend in peace worth more than gazillions numbers.
I really wish btc price will dump to 1usd so all of you will get rekt because many of you are still fiat maxis that have no fucking idea what is bitcoin.
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Yahz yahz yahz. Darth doing Darth things, ten points
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he is so not repetitive... NOT
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You're not wrong, but it takes time to ditch the fiat mindset.
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If BTC price dumps to $1 those who are all in on it won't be able to spend their time as they like. Those with one foot in the fiat world will be much better positioned.
Anyway, I'll be filling out $5 online surveys to buy as much BTC as I can.
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It's a blessing to have reached that point of not caring or being impressed by wealth.
Too many people are still "working jobs they hate, to buy stuff they don't need, to impress people they don't like", to quote a famous philosopher.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Marc26z 29 Mar
It's from Chuck Palanuick's book, Fight Club.
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Like I said, a famous philosopher
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Great answer👌
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That’s a powerful realization. It’s crazy how quickly we adapt to different environments, no matter how extravagant or simple. At the end of the day, routine, mindset, and personal fulfillment seem to matter way more than material wealth. Rogan’s take is spot on—what truly counts is how you handle life, not just the numbers in your account.
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We've already hit the point where we'd like to scale down a little. Vastly more wealth at this point would just translate into more discretion over how I spend my time and less stress about finances.
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Yes. I became lazy and cynical.
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Okay, what have you done about that?
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Nothing. Sleep more and talk less.
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14 sats \ 10 replies \ @Roll 31 Mar
It depends of so many factors: family, education, your relation with money, your age, your nationality, you social background (if you come from a poor family... )
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your nationality?!
I mean, maybe I agree with you but please elaborate.
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if you are coming from Madagascar for example where you struggle to eat everyday, where you can not find any jobs, where may be your parents ask you to rob to eat....
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what's that got to do with nationality?
And what do you think would be different with a person like that suddenly coming into wealth?
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have you been to africa ?
Reminds me of an old Chinese phrase from the Ming dynasty that I learned back in my early 20s and kept it to heart.
廣廈千間,夜眠僅需六尺;家財萬貫,日食不過三餐。
Roughly translates to:
Owning a thousand grand mansions, you only need 6 feet to sleep; having millions in wealth, you only eat three meals a day.
At the same time, I wouldn't deny the advantages of being wealthy. Wealth gives you optionality and saves you time. If money is human time and energy in an abstracted form, then having more money allows you to command and utilize more human time and energy. As a result, saving yourself from having to spend your own time and energy on things you do not wish to do. I guess at the end of the day, it's not a bad thing to become wealthy; just don't turn into an asshole when it happens.
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Wealth gives you optionality and saves you time. If money is human time and energy in an abstracted form, then having more money allows you to command and utilize more human time and energy.
Yeah, this I totally buy. Notice, though, how none of that is material things: it's doing/services with payback in experience/achievements/less worry. Those things I value greatly and, I suspect, will/would value as wealthy
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I don't hold a grudge against the so called "material things". Value is subjective anyways, so these "material things" that don't mean much to you might mean the world to someone else.
I'm on the same boat as you though. I value experiences and acts of service much more over material things.
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32 sats \ 5 replies \ @Lumor 29 Mar
A family member recommended Gary's Economics. He happens to talk on the subject of how the rich are changed by becoming super-rich. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wPoXOwiEfrQ&t=58s
(While he makes reasonable-sounding ...sounds, I think his conclusions and solutions are wrong).
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isn't that guy a communist or something?
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Pretty sure he is one of them rich communists, yes. Can't have a government too big or admit issues with population replacement.
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What is the difference between rich and super rich?
Is a millionaire rich or super rich?
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Lumor 30 Mar
Less and less so. Haven't listened enough to reproduce his threshold.
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I don't consider 1 million rich
10 million is def rich
50 million is super rich
but my numbers are arbitrary
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26 sats \ 1 reply \ @kruw 30 Mar
Wealth doesn't change a person, it just reveals who they really are.
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yeah, someone else in this thread said that too. Very insightful
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Echoing @jimmysong, I think a lot depends on the existing moral foundation, plus the age at which you get the wealth.
like if you gave me a million+ dollars (or ten million, whatever), no strings attached now, my life would basically not change, I would still do the exact same things, play the same games etc. I would maybe get a nicer car and finish off the various garden construction projects.
But if was 15 or 20 at my peak retadrd phase, I probably would have made generally bad decisions, maybe not all bad, but possibly majority bad. I may have become a douche also, I like to think I wouldn't have, but who knows
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I read and really enjoyed Michael Mechanic's Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live last year, and one thing about lottery winners and the sudden tech millionaire crowd is that sudden wealth was effectively a system shock for them. There's a lawyer who specializes entirely in helping new lottery millionaires navigate the issues ranging from lost cousins coming out the woodwork to where to put their money. Worth a read for that section alone.
While I would love to have more wealth (or maybe less worries about lack thereof), I think I'm pretty okay with the idea of not being suddenly thrust into oodles of it, much as I might have delighted in that when I was younger.
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12 sats \ 0 replies \ @Tuda 30 Mar
In this article, I realize that the most valuable asset we have is our time and experiences. Quality time—time that is exchangeable and highly liquid—is a prerequisite for us to have meaningful experiences. Of course, this must be sustained by a life foundation that is sufficient—not too deprived.
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To be precise our wealth definitely changes other people's perception about us, but ours to them is a choice.
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Rogan is rich and famous
Fame is another beast probably a curse for most
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It's going to change me!
You can't be running around worried about every goddamn bridge you've burned. You'll never get across the river.. -Kenny Powers
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When you work for your wealth it is quite different to when you gain it via inheritance or other derivative means. Look at all wealthy nations- the people generally become increasingly demanding of more and more rights and privilege and less and less inclined to see it as their duty to contribute toward the welfare/well being of others. This is why one of the reasons, imo, that it is justified to TAX THE RICH...in fact essential in terms of sustaining a successful society and economy.
With regard to Bitcoin I believe (and have observed) that the wealth and liquid capital it has delivered some of us is in many cases used for innovative and worthwhile projects- Bitcoiner tend to be outsiders - we tend to question the status quo and are open to change and challenging the status quo - Bitcoin capital liquidity is changing the world and the way the economy functions.
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