Money

I recently read an article in ST and found it extremely amusing. It was entitled " Why the rich act like idiots". Apparently, the overly rich in the world has done a few less than intelligent actions that have been made public.

The one such incident was someone driving a nice and glossy Ferrari Enzo into the wall and happily walked away unhurt as if nothing happened. I suppose that they have yet to understand that the car is about 1000 times the monthly salary of say, an office worker. So that would make out to about 80 or so years worth of salary, totally impossible for him to acquire in his lifetime. But then again, i have asked many a wealthy friend why they actually spend like that. Same answer : They can. Really, it is not about the reason they spend, usually it is because they can.

Aside from the obvious reason of being a status symbol, i dont see a point to getting a mansion so big where it is impossible to make full use of it. Besides, there is a certain point where enough is enough and more money practically wont make a difference, unless you enjoy ramming Enzos into the wall. However, their strongest defence would be that it is their money and they can do anything about it. So calling them idiots is a very big insult. This is the same as you having lots of water and pouring it in a hole and calling it a pool. I suppose this results from having too much of something.

It is also said that too much money can go to your head. In some sense it can be true. But i dont see Bill Gates acting silly. Probably the word to use is eccentric. Money may make someone act so but only in amounts that we probably cannot imagine. Having mad money in life is a do or dont thing. No in between. Either you have endless cascades of it or you dont. So eccentricity can therefore be a rare attribute acquired by an elite few, and not exactly a bad thing. Variety once in a while is good.

Money is a wonderful thing to have, but let us not let that get to our head. Wealth is great, but it isnt the only great thing in life.