Cider Press Hill

What's a few million between friends?

Well this is a sad, sad article. It’s called It’s Not So Easy Being Less Rich. Now, we’re not talking about upper middle class people or even the comfortably wealthy. No, this article is about the very, very wealthy who are finding their net worths or incomes shrinking by a few million here or there owing to a deteriorating economy. They still have plenty of millions left, but the stress of keeping up with the really, really, really rich Joneses is causing them all kinds of trouble—gaining weight, drowning their sorrows, bags under their eyes. Stuff like that. Their friends and spouses and acquaintances might dump them if they don’t maintain the facade of their former fabulous wealth.

It’s all about status, you see. If you can no longer afford to charter a Gulfstream jet and have to settle for a Learjet instead...well, your friends and associates are gonna know you’ve hit hard times. And they might snub you the next time they pass your table at the Four Seasons or Barney’s. Probably an instructive lesson in fair weather friends.

I guess I feel sorry for them. Not because they’re less rich than they were, but because they don’t appear to have any sense of self-worth that isn’t dependent on great gobs of money. Without their fabulous wealth, they don’t appear to feel as if they have any value in this world. That’s what this stress and fear is all about.

I don’t suppose most of us would object to having a few million rattling around in the investment accounts, but good golly. How much money does it take to buy happiness and security these days? I don’t believe that money actually does buy genuine happiness, but this crowd would apparently disagree. There is something seriously out of whack when still having “way more than enough” is a fate worse than death.

I’m guessing that the book I just started reading, Dmitry Orlov’s Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects won’t be on their top ten reading list this summer. But I do have to seriously wonder what would happen to these people if Orlov’s proposals come to pass. It seems entirely possible lately. Really good read, in any case. 

Posted on 06/03/08 at 07:26 PM
 




canyoncottage

I suppose wealth is different depending on who you are.  I think it would be very sad if I started worrying about what kind of car I drove.

United States   Posted by canyoncottage on 06/04/08  at  10:20 AM





Lorinda

I’m going to read it.  Instead of a panicked crash I’m working on a lifestyle change.

United States   Posted by Lorinda on 06/04/08  at  02:33 PM





Kate

I’m more inclined to believe that wealth is more a means to whatever ends rather than one’s entire identity. But then...I’m not fabulously wealthy, so what do I know?  On the other hand, I’m driving around in an 8 year old Toyota Echo and $15 gave me almost a half a tank of gas today. I know enough to realize that would have made the guy who bought gas before I did happier than when he left the pump. ;)

I bet you’ll like it a lot, Lorinda. Orlov has an appealing sense of humor, which is welcome with such a dire topic. I think lifestyle change is the sensible thing to do. It’s not a particularly fashionable thing to do, but learning to live with less before you have to seems like a good plan. It also carries the added benefit of being better for the planet. Good all the way around.

United States   Posted by Kate on 06/04/08  at  09:32 PM





Linkmeister

Grins.  I have you beat.  I’m driving a 1997 Geo Metro with 50K on it; $28 filled the tank the other day (@ $4.03/gallon).

Off to reserve the book at the library.

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 06/06/08  at  03:05 PM





Kate

Yep, I think you do. I have 57K on mine now. It should take me at least another year to reach 60K—though I’m making every effort to make it take longer.

My gas tank is about 10 gallons, I think. That’s the most I ever put in, anyway, and the needle hits F. Would cost me about $40.60 to put in ten gallons as of today. That would last me about 6-7 weeks. How big is the Geo’s gas tank?

The book has some annoying aspects. Much more so if the reader is a Republican, I’d expect. I don’t agree with all he says, but he says it well and he has a unique perspective and a great sense of humor. I burst out laughing with coffee literally snorting out my nose a couple of times. He has some good ideas. I read it in two evenings and enjoyed it very much.

United States   Posted by Kate on 06/06/08  at  03:32 PM





Linkmeister

The library doesn’t have it.  That’s annoying.

I don’t really know how big the tank is.  I never seem to get more than about 7.5 gallons into it, so I’m guessing 8, but who knows?  Bigger than the tank my 50cc Italian-made Harley-Davidson labeled motorbike that I owned in high school had. wink

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 06/06/08  at  08:01 PM





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