Climbing the Wealth Ladder

The trick is to do good for the world long, long before then. You shouldn’t need to be wealthy to volunteer a few hours a month..

Before anyone judges me negatively, I say this as someone who has spent the vast majority of my lifetime trying to “climb a ladder” only to want to get to a point where I can give my resources away for free to help others. But I have never figured out how, and then one day it just struck me, why can’t I jump to level 6 now without the money, and maybe that might just be what’s wrong with the money driven world somehow, or at least my understanding of it.

I feel like if I could understand how to not care/worry about the money then I could free up the mind and energy to do something better for the world, and I want to.

And then I realize the counterpoint that we have to work within the rules of the system, too, and the system is much more cruel and demanding than I wish it was.

See yourself spending near all you get, even getting significant income increases and you get stuck into a loop of ever spending more. Its also very risky, as if that incomes downfalls, it can easily cost you all the small stupidly useless property you already have.

I think the idea is to control your spending and find ways to increase income. I bet jayz continuously did that or he would have ended up like many other stars who lost it all. Or maybe just luck/talent..

The is a paradox in 'climbing the ladder' and giving away financial resources. Simply because, in the competitive market, you aggregate resources by taking it from others. Either competitors or random individuals. Philanthropy should start giving away those resources to the actors most in need, and they may be very close to your activities, but then you can't aggregate and climb up. The market doesn't have sympathy, and lack of resources can be devastating during tough times.

Don't climb the ladder. Who cares.

Surely, most folks will never reach Level 3 on this chart. While this is an interesting way for someone who has made significant increases in their income over the years, I don't think the thesis holds that the best way to increase your ladder is to just save money.

We're all (or mostly all) wage earners here. Whether you are making $15/hour at a fast food gig, or $200+/hour as an engineer, you aren't going to save yourself into a new level. Saving might take some pressure off, and make you a little more comfortable within your level, sure, but for most people, it isn't reasonable for them to save 10 times the money they already have liquid without changing their income.

The idea that we're all just a few 'steps' away from being independently wealthy is one of the worst parts of American culture in my experience. The individualism that follows from "if I can just outcompete someone else" seems to me to be the root cause of things like a general anti-labor sentiment, minimum wages as low as $2.13/hour, etc.

Outside of real outlier status where you're paid really, really large amounts of money for your services (like notable entertainer or cardiac surgeon) the way to wealth is to own the means of production. Period.

Same as it ever was.