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comment by katakowsj
katakowsj  ·  1562 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski, what is your ideal for personal wealth?

    You know what? I don't have an answer
You don’t have an answer? Whoa. As you are the most prolific Hubski contributor, (am I right?) just seeing that statement, by it’s rarity, makes it pretty damn valuable. You provide quite a wealth of information and thoughtful responses to all Hubskiers, don’t forget. Thanks.




kleinbl00  ·  1560 days ago  ·  link  ·  

"People see money three ways: as blood, to nourish; as semen, to create; and as shit, to be thrown away."

- Julia Philips, You'll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again

Ms. Philips claimed that was an old Yiddish saying. I'm neither old nor Yiddish so what do I know. She pissed off a lot of people with that book, which was the point.

Thing is though? Take it at face value. Suppose money is something that's supposed to enrich your life. Will you reach a point where your life can be enriched no further? Certainly. I've done work for billionaires. I've seen what kind of music studio you can build when money is no object. Front yards full of Chihuly. Waterfalls under glass. In the words of Bill Gates, no matter how much money you have, a burger is still a burger. So sure, there's a limit there.

Suppose money is something that's supposed to challenge you. How big a party can you throw? Goldman Sachs is currently settling with the DOJ for their involvement in a scam that basically used the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund to find the answer to that question. Could Jho Low have spent more money? Probably. I mean, they spent it all. What do you do when you've determined how much it costs to get Paris Hilton to go on a date with you? You determine how much it costs to get Paris Hilton and all her friends on your boat. Then you shoot Wolf of Wall Street. that there is a function that asymptotically approaches infinity.

Ahh - but what if money is the lever you move the universe with? I got in a big fight with a buddy once over art vs. commerce. He loves goofy little indie movies. I pointed out that goofy little indie movies kill the careers of their creators unless they have bottomless phat stax to burn. He turned to me outraged and said "If you could make ONE MOVIE - just ONE - what movie would you make?" "The movie that gets me another movie," I said. He stormed away. Sure 'nuff, those movies are gone - what you have are "passion pieces" paid for by someone's parents and the Marvel Comic Universe.

Someone walks up to you. Says "here's a hundred trillion dollars. We think it's enough to eliminate war, hunger or inequality but not all three. What do you want to do?"

I wanna turn it into three hundred trillion dollars and we still haven't eradicated malaria.