I feel the same way every time I see the advertisement for "The Film Foundation" before watching a movie on DVD.
Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
71–80 of 100 posts
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#72I think there are a couple of things here:
- a lot of these people ARE doing a lot of these things, but people with money who are in the public eye get deluged with requests for help. Can you imagine how after a while you might get "giving" fatigue? - for a lot of rich people, they are never rich enough. There was a great study recently about this (I'll try and dig it up and post here) about at every level they thought they needed a bit more to be truly secure. So my point is to them giving away money even to a worthy cause reduces their feeling of security.
In the last few years I have worked with a very wealthy hedge-fund manager (who is a philanthropist) and met a billionaire and I can assure you that these thoughts do go through their minds.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity, what would you think about a startup that aims to protect the 401k investments of Joe Trader? Is that something that would really improve peoples' lives?
Why not an investment company that invested in startups and small businesses by pooling the resources of Joe Traders? I would assume that, since much of the smart money right now seems to be in startups, the return can't be all that bad, and you'd have a shot at leveraging three different groups in such a way as to improve all their lives, which would be a neat trick all on its own.
No, this is not where the smart money goes, as I understand the term "smart money." Perhaps you meant something else, like "the money of smart people with whom I am familiar."
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are happy, who am I to argue with that. Maybe you just really like your landlord. "living in it now a world in which everyone else did things like this -- looked out for each-other, helped each-other up, cleaned up and improved the things around them, and invested in great little bistros and sandwich shops and bookstores and parks and such because they recognized the value of having such things in their commun…
I'm seriously amused by your last paragraph. It actually made me smile, because, despite explaining precisely why I'm doing this kind of stuff, you're still looking for the "angle", and that's the best example of why I find this attitude so difficult to communicate in an effective way to so many other people (and why I've all but given up at it). Yes, I am now living in a place with lower rent than I might be otherwi…
One problem I have with your model is that it leads to blaming people for being lazy and anti-social. That might sound not so bad, but in communism this blaming went so far as to put people against the wall and shoot them. They couldn't explain why their system wasn't working, so they only explanation seemed to be "sabotage" as in people not being social enough.
I just feel basing a system on selfishness (win-win) is more stable.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#75I can't afford to. If I could afford to, I would have quietly done it. But real estate in Palo Alto is very expensive, and most of YC's investments are still illiquid. (Not that I have 5-8% in any case. We assume we get diluted down to 2% by exit, and I am one of several partners in YC.)
Loved your honest response,Paul.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#76Well, most of the rich people I know donate to all kinds of actual charities, and they also, you know, create lots of JOBS - that's why they're rich. Creating lots of jobs is pretty awesome. They also often work quite hard at ensuring those jobs stay where they are. The interweb forums all make the same mistake of lumping in "Rich people" into a single category. Do Directors and C-level executives of large corporatio…
You seem to have a quite white/black view of the world. Managers in most locations, in small or big companies, often try to do their best to keep employment local. Partly this has to do with the fact to be able to show "their" team physically and so showing their power. But mostly it is because they are just human beings working hard and feeling some responsibility for their people. At least that's how I see it in Germany where the economy is doing quite good due to that attitude.
Owners of small company may need more engagement because they are more accountable and have much less of safety, but that's why they also get the jackpot when they succeed. Owning a company also takes a big toll on the family life. Being an executive is already a strain on the private life BTW. So everything has a price and a risk, some more and some less - telling that large corporations are evil brings nothing to the discussion I think.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#77Random off-topic response to one of your throwaway comments: "Buying a car or a house in cash is showoff-y" When did buying a car in cash become showoff-y? My parents and grandparents always paid cash for their cars, because it's a depreciating asset and taking out a loan for it is just throwing money away. I didn't buy a car until I could afford it in cash - and when I did, that's when I realized this wasn't terribl…
I think buying a car on credit may be an American thing - at least I don't know of anyone who has bought a car on credit. It seems like an absurd waste of money to do so - why not just buy a secondhand car you can afford outright?
Because often interests on car credits are lower than the inflation, and maintenance costs on second hand are very hard to foresee.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#78None of us are rich. Rich people are busy trying to control every square inch of earth. Schmucks who think they're rich are simply doing the work for the rich.
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#79What makes you think they don't? and that you should know when they do? There is a whole lot of well financed good going on under the radar.
Absolutely! All the people that say "X should give more", typically assuming "X" doesn't give anything should read the lesson of the Widow's Mite and apply it to themselves rather than to "X". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesson_of_the_widow%27s_mite
I usually get up before my wife. She asserts I don't have a quiet bone in my body. Well, from her point of view, I don't -- but she only hears me when I'm noisy, not when I'm quiet. Just because you don't hear something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
1) So, for "rich people" who give away money in a "noisy" fashion, walk through your local colleges, universities, and other public places and see how many buildings have a family name on the building. Those are rich people that have donated a lot of money to make that building a reality.
2a) For "quiet" rich people, note that pg said "If I could afford to, I would have quietly done it." For all the buildings (above) found with a name attached to it, realize there are hundreds of other people that gave substantial amounts and thousands that gave "widow's mites" to make that building a reality. My guess is that the "named" person gave 30-70% of the necessary amount and unnamed people made up the balance.
2b) In the USofA, 503(c) is the IRS section dealing with tax-exempt, nonprofit corporations or associations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29 Those are all created and funded by people giving amounts both large and small to "do good." Those are all vehicles for people to silently (for the most part) give money to good causes.
Assignment: count the number of 503(c) nonprofits that are registered with the IRS... http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/search.do?resultsPerPage=500&#... (hint: 835000 gets you into the "Z"s).
Re: Why don't rich people do more awesome things?
#80Rich people don't get rich by throwing money around. They do it with careful consideration and future planning.