I understand the nihilism. When you start earning vast sums of money very quickly, and see other people do the same, you start getting a sense that money isn’t really worth working all that hard for. I’ve been making about 5k or 6k a week regularly this past year in the stock market with little effort, through stock appreciation and selling options. It definitely makes me feel less motivated to do my job, but the one…
This is certainly part of it too and something I wish I expanded on more. When you can make so much money without really doing much hard work can seem like a suckers game.
Society looks up to people who make a lot of money through hard work, but a person who makes a lot of money with little effort is kind of seen as a lazy douche, only looked up to by people who also want to make fast effortless money (r/wallstreetbets).
But what really crushes me is people who work a lot harder than me and make a lot less money. I dated a younger girl recently who worked hard every week while also finishing her university courses. She prided herself on being a hard worker and assumes I work hard too since I make a lot of money. But the truth is I can make what she makes in a week by selling a couple option contracts while on my phone taking a dump. To me it pretty much feels like she’s a slave. All that youth being wasted chasing small amounts of money.
Of course, I would never want to give up my income stream just to feel better.