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Wealth and compassion

russel

russel

./_dazed_and_confused
Yes, the rich really are bast@rds.


“But his observations were consistent with a large body of social science finding that people of higher socioeconomic status, compared with those lower down the ladder, are more prone to entitlement and narcissistic behavior. Wealthier subjects also tend to be more self-oriented and more willing to behave unethically in their own self-interest (to lie during negotiations, say, or to steal from an employer). In one study, Piff and his colleagues stationed a pedestrian at the edge of a busy crosswalk and watched to see which cars would let the person cross. Suffice it to say that Fords and Subarus were far more likely to stop than Mercedeses and BMWs.”



https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/does-wealth-rob-brain-compassion/618496/
 
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Or for another view, there's this wonderful part of Brideshead Revisited, where Charles, the narrator, says of Lady Marchmaine

Scraps of conversation come back to me with the memory of her room. I remember her saying: "When I was a girl we were comparatively poor, but still much richer than most of the world, and when I married I became very rich. It used to worry me, and I thought it wrong to have so many beautiful things when others had nothing. Now I realize that it is possible for the rich to sin by coveting the privileges of the poor. The poor have always been the favourites of God and His saints, but I believe that it is one of the special achievements of Grace to sanctify the whole of life, riches included. Wealth in pagan Rome was necessarily something cruel; it's not any more."

I said something about a camel and the eye of a needle and she rose happily to the point.

"But of course" she said, "it's very unexpected for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but the gospel is simply a catalogue of unexpected things. It's not to be expected that an ox and an ass should worship at the crib. Animals are always doing the oddest things in the lives of the saints. It's all part of the poetry, the Alice-in-Wonderland side, of religion."
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mandryka said:
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Or for another view, there's this wonderful part of Brideshead Revisited, where Charles, the narrator, says of Lady Marchmaine
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Well that’s all cleared up then.
 
I have a friend who has wealth beyond imaginings, and is kind and generous, a benefactor to the arts in a particularly deprived area of East London. He drives a 5 year old Toyota Yaris, his wife a Hyundai. Sure, he has his faults, most of them stemming from being spoiled as a child, but I think on balance Peter will look kindly upon him.
 
I can always remember an old mate who lived in a little flat on his own, had no money, car, very little in the way of possessions, and his cupboards were bare, but he still offered me his last piece of cheese on toast. To me, giving away the last of your food is the ultimate in generosity.
It makes me very sad to think about what happened to him.
 
F Scott Fitzgerald: 'Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me'

Hemingway: 'Yes, Scott; they have more money'.
 
eternumviti said:
I have a friend who has wealth beyond imaginings, and is kind and generous, a benefactor to the arts in a particularly deprived area of East London. He drives a 5 year old Toyota Yaris, his wife a Hyundai. Sure, he has his faults, most of them stemming from being spoiled as a child, but I think on balance Peter will look kindly upon him.
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Did he not rob him to pay Paul?
 
Didn't one of the Kardassian billionaires come in for some stick recently for encouraging fans to contribute to a go fund me page set up to pay the medical bills of her former make up artist injured in a car accident? Utter tw@t.
 
cooky1257 said:
Didn't one of the Kardassian billionaires come in for some stick recently for encouraging fans to contribute to a go fund me page set up to pay the medical bills of her former make up artist injured in a car accident? Utter tw@t.
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Then probably took 10% as a fee.
 
russel said:
Yes, the rich really are bast@rds.


“But his observations were consistent with a large body of social science finding that people of higher socioeconomic status, compared with those lower down the ladder, are more prone to entitlement and narcissistic behavior. Wealthier subjects also tend to be more self-oriented and more willing to behave unethically in their own self-interest (to lie during negotiations, say, or to steal from an employer). In one study, Piff and his colleagues stationed a pedestrian at the edge of a busy crosswalk and watched to see which cars would let the person cross. Suffice it to say that Fords and Subarus were far more likely to stop than Mercedeses and BMWs.”



https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/does-wealth-rob-brain-compassion/618496/
Click to expand...

I wonder if this is true: wealthy people tend to be older people, because it takes time to acquire the money or to inherit it. And older people are narcissistic, self oriented and unethical. In my limited experience, I generally find that the older a person is the nastier they are, but this may be purely anecdotal.

I used to think that to acquire wealth you had to be narcissistic etc but I now think that’s wrong. To acquire wealth you need to have contacts who will help you, friends. You need to shmooze. So quite the opposite of narcissistic, at least outwardly.
 
Fatmarley said:
I can always remember an old mate who lived in a little flat on his own, had no money, car, very little in the way of possessions, and his cupboards were bare, but he still offered me his last piece of cheese on toast. To me, giving away the last of your food is the ultimate in generosity.
It makes me very sad to think about what happened to him.
Click to expand...
What happened, did he starve to death after you'd robbed his last bit of cheese on toast? You heartless sod.
 
mandryka said:
I wonder if this is true: wealthy people tend to be older people, because it takes time to acquire the money or to inherit it. And older people are narcissistic, self oriented and unethical. In my limited experience, I generally find that the older a person is the nastier they are, but this may be purely anecdotal.

I used to think that to acquire wealth you had to be narcissistic etc but I now think that’s wrong. To acquire wealth you need to have contacts who will help you, friends. You need to shmooze. So quite the opposite of narcissistic, at least outwardly.
Click to expand...
You really do have limited experience to write such generalised drivel.
 
I, Iike most people I suppose have met rich & poor, young & old, generous & greedy.
I really can’t see how old & rich is more likely to be selfish & unethical than any other section of society.
Wealthy, selfish unethical etc is surely all objective & relative anyway?
 
mandryka said:
I wonder if this is true: wealthy people tend to be older people, because it takes time to acquire the money or to inherit it. And older people are narcissistic, self oriented and unethical. In my limited experience, I generally find that the older a person is the nastier they are, but this may be purely anecdotal.

I used to think that to acquire wealth you had to be narcissistic etc but I now think that’s wrong. To acquire wealth you need to have contacts who will help you, friends. You need to shmooze. So quite the opposite of narcissistic, at least outwardly.
Click to expand...

Psychopaths are very good at shmoozing, at least the bright ones are.
 
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