Just a though about money...

[solidoxygen]

This just popped into my head when I was reading about the elite billionaires in the world losing billions while still retaining billions of dollars. I wondered if they even cared that they lost a few billion dollars. It's not like they won't be able to afford what they want anymore. In one day, these people can lose what would take me 3024 LIFETIMES to make. When you satisfy all of the material desires you could ever want (A mansion, a summer home, a few luxury cars, a private jet, good food every day, servants to help you out, etc.), that would cost about half to one billion dollars. So once you have more money than that, what does money mean to a person? Is there a point in earning a number that doesn't matter to you anymore? You will never be able to spend all that money anyways. What do they feel when they lose or earn money? It's meaningless at that point. If life were a game, they have most certainly won.

What does money mean to people who don't care about money anymore? What do they feel when they lose or earn a few billion dollars? Once you have everything that money can possibly buy, what becomes of one's life? With no goals left, living would become boring and meaningless. And one a final note, how would you spend that much money? Don't be uncreative and say something like "I'll eat well every day" because with that much money, you could eat giant panda every day and still have money left. Think big! And don't forget about the questions presented in the first paragraph.

Share your thoughts! I want to hear your opinions.:emhh25:

[Bindu1000]

I totally agree with you. Once I kinda of wondered what would I do if I won like a million dollars which in my country would work out to 100 million rupees and after around 60million, I couldnt figure out what to do with the rest!!

Right now I would be happy with like US $20,000 just to pay off my debts and sanything beyond that would be a bonus.

But yeah ... what do people who have billions do? I guess they spend millions to put in gold fittings in their toilets and gold threaded wall paper in their babies room. And yet, I wonder if they really enjoy the simple things in life that we get to do. Like walk along a beach alone or just watch anime all day without worrying about the state of your business and investments. Also do they sleep when they see the state of how 40% of the world's population who live below the poverty line and where $5 would save one child from blindness for the rest of its life?

I have often wondered how they close their hearts and minds

Good post by the way Solid :1:

[bootwhistle]

Haha, yeah when people do have a certain amount of money then I suppose they should be happy with it...
Personally I think once you reach that level people tend to want more for the sake of being able to do anything they want. For example the CEO of Tyco flew people to a tropical resort hired professional performers, and had an ice sculpture of David that pissed Vodka for his wife's birthday... a little excessive? (though I guess he used to company money so maybe it doesn't count)
Though even a million dollars would be enough for someone to live an average life, decent house, small car a vacation once a year... but studies have should that many who win the lottery end up losing their money fairly quickly since they drastically change their lifestyle and burn off money on what ends up being frivolous pursuits.

I don't want to use the old cliche "Money can't buy happiness" since that isn't entirely accurate. I think it is better 'Money can't buy fulfilment - or a satisfaction with how one has lived their life', in fact money will probably detract from that since if you had the money to do anything one will inevitably give in to their baser desires.

Oh, I this is kinda disgusting but I heard this story from Japan:Apparently the very wealthy in Japan aren't satisfied with regular restaurants, so there is this exclusive dining club that gives additional service. Customers come in and can select from a variety of animals (they can also special order), chicken, pig, dog, cow ... etc. Then the customer goes downstairs to what is basically a dungeon and stays in a room with the selected animal which they proceed to fornicate with.

After they are finished they go back up to the dining room and the chef butchers and cooks the animal for them. Yup, I wish to god I was making this up, but I have a feeling the ultra rich may do things even worse than this.


That said, if I had no cares about money...
Well, assuming I don't go insane with power.. I'd actually have a simplistic lifestyle. I love cooking so would have a large garden and green house that would have all the food I need to cook for myself. I would have a couple of different hangouts, a quiet chalet on the side of mountain overlooking a valley for my quiet time. A beach house for parties, which would have all the latest sound systems, game systems, sprinkler systems and whatever 'system' is available. The party house would have it's own bar and bartender, a dance floor, maybe a disco ball for the heck of it.
I think I'll probably use money to influence people, just walking down the street and say 'Hey buddy, here's $10 000 bucks, go kick that cop in the nuts' then sit back and watch the chaos.

[avich]

Yeah, I read that people who say money can't buy happiness are people who never had enough money. But happiness bought from money is short lived, like taking drugs to experience the artificial high.

[Kohi]

Well, it's like this really. You've got everything you want at the moment, and like a billion bucks in the bank. Then something new comes out and you're like... I want that, too.
For example, in almost all of the RPG's I play, I tend to have a large spending deficit because of the new things that come out. 450 cargo space and 11 point damage reduction? Compare that to my current 430 cargo and 10 point damage reduction, and I'll still pay the extra ~10,000 cr just to purchase the newer hull. After all, one cannot ever have the best.
Unless you're Dubai.

[solidoxygen]

Well, it's like this really. You've got everything you want at the moment, and like a billion bucks in the bank. Then something new comes out and you're like... I want that, too.
For example, in almost all of the RPG's I play, I tend to have a large spending deficit because of the new things that come out. 450 cargo space and 11 point damage reduction? Compare that to my current 430 cargo and 10 point damage reduction, and I'll still pay the extra ~10,000 cr just to purchase the newer hull. After all, one cannot ever have the best.
Unless you're Dubai.

are you talking about Motherload?

[Kohi]

No. SpaceRangers. Its a rather obscure game, due to advertising failure in NAmerica. It's more well-known in places such as Europe.

[SquishyNinja]

Squishy's thoughts:
In my opinion, money is very important. It always has been, since the beginning in civilization. A human's instinct is to survive. If survival costs money then we as humans will crave money. But then greed sets in. I think that those billionaires do care if they lose money. Because of the greediness, they want everything. They want to be better that everyone else.
As for what I'd do with money, I'd buy whatever I want. Then I'd buy stuff for family and friends. Then I'd give to the poor.

[Kohi]

Correction. Survival does not cost money.
It's people's own unwillingness to do hard work to support themselves that created money. (At least IMO)

[SquishyNinja]

Correction. Survival does not cost money.
It's people's own unwillingness to do hard work to support themselves that created money. (At least IMO)

Ah, yes. But to survive in any city/town you need...
MONEY. So it has become a basic need in this day and age

[solidoxygen]

Squishy's thoughts:
In my opinion, money is very important. It always has been, since the beginning in civilization. A human's instinct is to survive. If survival costs money then we as humans will crave money. But then greed sets in. I think that those billionaires do care if they lose money. Because of the greediness, they want everything. They want to be better that everyone else.
As for what I'd do with money, I'd buy whatever I want. Then I'd buy stuff for family and friends. Then I'd give to the poor.

Yeah, but think on a much bigger scale. These people can buy whatever they want. They don't even look at the pricetag. The thing is that money doesn't even matter to them anymore. And they Do give money to the poor. So what you're saying is that life is more like a game to these people and the only earn money for ambition and self satisfaction right?

[SquishyNinja]

Yeah, but think on a much bigger scale. These people can buy whatever they want. They don't even look at the pricetag. The thing is that money doesn't even matter to them anymore. And they Do give money to the poor. So what you're saying is that life is more like a game to these people and the only earn money for ambition and self satisfaction right?

Exactly! Finally, someone understands!

[Kohi]

Rich people are so fed-up on the fame of being rich that they can't see past their own blindness. They don't need a billion dollars in the bank, they only want a billion in the bank so they can say they've got a billion in the bank and the news will recognize them as people who have a billion dollars in the bank.
They can honestly survive on what we do and give the rest to people who can better use it. I'm pretty sure if you accumulated all the money in the world and divided it by the 6 billion or whatnot people in the world, you'd get a respectable amount. Money mongers are just asses. To them, life probably is just a game.

[solidoxygen]

Rich people are so fed-up on the fame of being rich that they can't see past their own blindness. They don't need a billion dollars in the bank, they only want a billion in the bank so they can say they've got a billion in the bank and the news will recognize them as people who have a billion dollars in the bank.
They can honestly survive on what we do and give the rest to people who can better use it. I'm pretty sure if you accumulated all the money in the world and divided it by the 6 billion or whatnot people in the world, you'd get a respectable amount. Money mongers are just asses. To them, life probably is just a game.

At that I say...
http://onlinespielen.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/realityworstgame.jpg

[scasia]

hm..
for some rich people that are parents, money would be important to them as to buy things their child need...but for some that aren't parents, they only search money for popularity or something like that..
but,for some people, money would be important to live on...

[Bindu1000]

Actually - in the world today, survival does cost money. I mean in my dreams I would love to go back to the good old days where people lived off the land, but in reality I would be dead in a week coz my body is not made to dig and plant and build. So what may have been a luxury in my grandparents day - flushing toilets, running water, refrgiderators, are actual necessities coz we no longer have the means to live off the land.

On the point that Archronycal Chaos brought out, pls no offense, but I disagree with parents leaving too much money for their kids. I think it does them a disservice. I think its their duty to educate and ensure we are well looked after until we are on our feet, but after that we need to build our own mini empires. If everything is handed on a silver platter, we lose not only the value of money but also the joy that comes from saving up our own money and taking that first trip overseas, or buying that first guitar .... there is a pride and satisfaction that comes with it that cannot be expressed in words. Thats why a lot of rich kids end up in rehab, coz their life has become blase ... with nothing to aim for. They have it all!

On a slightly different topic and yet related ... again apologise if I cause offense, in my country all dvds and music cd's are pirated and can be bought for between $2 - $4.00 and someone asked me once, doesn't it bother you that you are buying stuff where the money doesn't get back to the artist and I thought ... "Hmmmm actresses paid $75 million per movie and rockstars that bust up $8 million on one b'day party and throw into the mixture that in my country around 40% live below the poverty line?"

Which takes me back to the point - we, the general middle class populace are actually usually/mostly responsible for making all those millionaires so then can we complain when they bust it all up frivolously? We idolise the stars, we buy the latest gadgets, we put stock in name brands and we bust up all our hard earned money doing so... so then....?????

[russj]

im sorry to hear your thoughts. its because you dont have billions on your name

i happen to be a billionaire. nothing wrong with having billions on the bank. if your running a billion-worth business with hundreds of thousands ppl under your paycheck, you need lots of money. its not like my billions are sitting on the bank, it flows through stocks and other investments, winning some, losing some in the process. i dont see what so wrong about enjoying my hard-earned money. i did give alot of ppl jobs and i also donate to charity. that should justify my yearly Caribbean cruise in my yacht or my over-seas trips every other month.

if i lose a few billions??? of course it matters. that means i have to lay-off or close down some departments or god knows what. do you understand how hard that is??
even you ppl who dont have much to spare buy stuff you dont need. we rich ppl do the same, altho x10 or more.
no, life is not a game to us. we work to earn money and ambition too, just like you, so you and i are not that different
we share our lives to the poor ppl like you, who we employ, and without us, you'll be even more miserable.

***btw,, no im not a billionaire.. but if i was, that what i should have said

[solidoxygen]

Amazing point russj, you present a great arguement, but to the contrary, I think that the way you view things is from the perspective of us, non elite.

But unlike you (wow you're a billionaire, mind sharing some of that?), do other billionaires really think about their workers like that? When they lay off a few hundred workers, do you think they see those workers as individual people who will be struggling to find a new job or do you think they see it as merely a figure.

When a corporate head lays off 500 employees, which happens?
A) I'm so sad that all these people will lose their jobs, I wonder how their family will fare.
B) Because of financial issues, 500 employees must be dropped so that the company can keep running.
C) I like pie.

[Bindu1000]

Hahaha Solid. There are those who do and those who dont.

I was watching a documentary of the head of GM who closed down so many of his plants and laid off thousands of workers but still gave himself a bonus in the millions along with his jets and other luxuries. I also work with big name brand companies that are no longer make the 10% - 15% NP margins, so they move to countries where the governments look away and people operate sweat shops and my country who has the highest literate work force has lost jobs of close to 50,000. Now it wasnt that they werent making profits, - it was around 5-6% which wasnt enough to stay loyal to companies who helped them grow for the last 8-10 years!

On the other hand, the owner of my company has not enough business to keep all the factories open, so he is cutting the pay of the senior managers and CEOs, along with his and the board members and putting some of the factories on "moth balls" where he still pays all the workers their base salaries and asks them to stay home until the business picks up again. Since most of the workers are from rural areas, he is determined to hang on as far as possible before he lays of people

So I guess there are both types in this world.

[avich]

Exactly, we can't generalize them. It is false to assume that all billionaires are greedy selfish people. Most of them became incredibly rich because they have become so successful, their leverage income made them billionaires. By leverage, it means they earn and money that keeps on flowing to them whether they like it or not, its not that they are greedily storing it.

I believe if you swap a middle class person's and a high class person's(billionaire) life, eventually the middle class will go bankrupt and the billionaire will make his business successful enough to bring him back up there. Its not that middle class don't know how to manage, they just don't have what it takes to become really successful. I think it all has to do with philosophies in life and how they tackle problems and the decisions they make that separates an average person to an ultra successful person.

Its good to have a lot of money, because life is too short spend on making money to live. Having a lot of money takes away your financial worries and gives you the privilege to live life on what really matters like spending time with family rather than living life to make money for your family.

[russj]

yeah.. chiva gets my thoughts.. i wasnt saying it in a non-elite p.o.v. but thats what basically billionaires are, human. you see them as some other kind of beast. we, the super rich, are humans too

@solid - with the choices, same with normal person, always look out for no. 1(yourself lol). sure we wont be thinking about their family but its for the survival of the company. think of it as a general being sieged and have to make a choice.

@K - i have no idea where your standing right now lol

[Bindu1000]

Hahaha ... I am very neutral coz everyone has their opinions and I dont want to step on people's toes. However, personally? I could never marry or be with someone who has a lot of money. I work with people whose monthly salaries exceed millions and they are not thinking of their families.

They are constantly on their blackberries, replying mails even at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night, almost all of them have mistresses and never take vacations. I see first hand they are so busy earning money, they dont have time to enjoy it. They have weapons in their houses and high level security systems. They also miss their kids b'day parties and school occasions and work till late at night

I know we need such people in the world to create jobs for phlebs like me and I respect them for it, but this is not a choice I would make for my own life. This may not be the way every rich person behaves and it may be a Sri Lankan trait, and I apologise for the generalisation, but I personally couldnt live like that

[Skoibi]

I'd just be happy to have enough money to pay for college! >.>'

[avich]

then after college, you would be happy to have enough money to have our own house.
then after that, you would be happy to have enough money to have your own car.
etc....then before you know it, poof, a billionaire. ;P

[alrius2000]

Since this thread is about money.
Please watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKX9TWRyfs

this is serious stuff about money!
1hr 59min long

you might get bored on the 1st 15 min

but if you want to know:

how money is created?
why are countries now in recession?
and why did they kill president kennedy?

you should watch this........

[musikalles]

As far as he whole making and losing money goes, even though billions and even trillions are being lost or spent left and right n the current economy were all faced with right now, to the individuals... It's all on a scale of sorts, you start to think of your assets as percentages of all you own to keep it in perspective. I mean, the amounts governments are whizzing past us all Re unimaginable to us if we had to earn it through wages... It's all so crazy I don't even k ow what I'm saying.

[qwertyuiop10]

yes its the basic needs

usually of the otaku's!

[Kobowo]

its a very big obstacle...money...if your not careful it can consume you...having that much money is a waste...it would be better off giving at least a portion of your riches to the poor than to have money that serves no purpose

[awnaman123]

as for mE money is the root of all crimes ...

I think u hear that guys often ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so be sure u don't have money

"no money no crime made" ... LoL just kidding .....

[SPYHUNTER]

They say money doesnt buy happiness .... But i sure would like to find out for myself. As far as what I would spend it on..well the usual i suppose, a car, house etc. But more than that if you think about how many people there are that need help in one way or another.......no matter how much you have in reality you could run out. I would be an advocate for creating programs that help people help themselves. In so many countries there are needs. Take some time and think about your own state or town etc. I bet you could find someone with needs.

As far as how people who have billions of dollars feel. I think at some point (not sure how much exactly) money is just kinda like the air you breathe ... you just take it for granted. I would say that money in the end doesnt buy you happiness but not having to think about it sure would be nice. At the end of the day I think that "stuff" leaves a person empty...I mean what good is having the whole world if there is nobody to share it with?

[Viletomb2010]

They want to have more money so that they can boast it to their rich friends and some are competing to be the richest man living here on earth like bill gates. If I have that huge amount of money I will buy the things I want and I will also help my friends. I will give some properties to charities because if I give them money our government will put taxes on your donation.

[icsenen002]

I agree with you solid if only they (the billionaires) could share their wealth with those who have none (the poor) personally give them at least 3 squares meal... that would be great!

[Kobowo]

well said spy...unequal distribution of money in this world is the very reason there are "3rd world countries"....