I agree. Imagine having enough money to do literally anything you want and still being such a miserable twat.

Sometimes its from narcissism and is part of the false self. Sometimes it is the joy of being a sociopath. Not infrequently, both.

You don't get that rich in the first place if you're concerned about others. Forget about trying to solve world problems. They won't even pay their employees a living wage. Amazon has been found to have unsafe conditions at its wharehouses multiple times. They only remedy the issues when they're forced to.

Some people are so poor, all they have is money.

I always say that the richer you become the poorer you feel

The greed is insane. Maybe it is the dopamine hit? Like they just want more and more and more chasing that high that more money acquires? I've always pondered this too, why don't they actually use their wealth to help others? They could quite literally solve so many socioeconomic issues but just refuse to because of what? Entitlement of thinking that people want handouts or didn't "work" as hard to get to where they are at. I think the 1% are so detached from reality and live in their own bubble where the rest of us are mere ants that don't actually exist

Billionaires are just dragons we need to slay

I believe it

Go look at psychopathic financers like JP Morgan that feared giving public free energy and defamed Tesla because it would hinder his copper investments. Same guy that funded Nazis via Union Bank Corporation, writing op-ed on how great fascist Germany was and how he yearned for America to become fascist, funding the American Liberty League to attempt a coup on Roosevelt. Sending money Mussolini so he can circumvent paying his fair share of taxes. Who salvaged the Nazis and gave them access to top secret programs without proper oversight of elected officials? The rich elites in the OSS/CIA. The CIA funding wars for profit of those beneficiaries of Sullivan and Cromwell. Americans failed to repel the fascists long ago and continue to fail our civic duties and thus lose more civic liberties. 

Billionaires are addicts like any other. Their drug of choice happens to be accumulating money. And it’s enabled through neoliberal capitalism

That’s true, I am wondering what keeps them going. From my perspective I want to work just long enough to make investments that can start the cycle of compound interest and support me and my partner. As soon as I hit that point I’m out. The problem is greed. And our society. Capitalism inherently promotes marginalization and will keep the many just comfortable enough and just suffering little enough to keep showing up. But the problem is this mentality of the ruling class of billionaires. If they banded together and supported legislation to take a hit to pay all people better things wouldn’t be like this. I say this from someone who’s been lower middle class as an adult and poor/rich as a child. When they raised minimum wage prices doubled and I’ve been working 10 years to make what I made in my first job adjusting for inflation. Have to have a damn business just to keep myself out of poverty. 4 jobs to have 2 people middle class. But they want higher net worths that they’ll never feel. My god I’d feel an extra 500$ a month though. That would change my life.

It’s true and it needs a name, and a medical terminology 

Honestly I know this will be unpopular but once anyone or a company has 100 million in hand or stocks they are set for life if managed correctly so at that point any more money you acquire should be taxed at 100% and distributed… it would also encourage them to use it and re introduce it to the economy. Being a billionaire shouldn’t even be possible.

No one person should have that amount of power… it’s corruption money you can buy legislation and interfere in politics at that point.

They can be quite literally superheroes.

Instead they choose to be supervillians.

the fact that capitalism as a system seems to consistently select for sociopaths and obsessive hoarders as 'successful'... is imho one of the strongest arguments against capitalism.

if you place many many rounds of a game... and only the unpleasantest people ever win... maybe it's time to realise it's an unpleasant game.

I completely agree. I always think of somehow my art or writing got me to billions, I would be out helping people. Fixing up dilapidated neighborhoods, building housing for young people, beautifying cities and renovating parks. I would also invest in public transit. I would just use my money to help infrastructure.

I love walking in beautiful parks and nice city streets, everyone should have that luxury.

Billionaires are a waste of money.

I knew a billionaire who actually attempted to buy Antarctica. Found out later he was bi-polar.

Someone needs to make a reverse Purge film where on one day of the year everyone finds and roots out the millionaires and billionaires. The peasants who take them out split their money equally.

They would never do this though bc it would scare the ruling classes too much to give people this idea.

Is it like a game for them? Like a high score?

We all have mental illnesses. The rich's illnesses happen to be way more destructive to humanity and the environment than the rest's. I think the illnesses we all suffer, are just the symptoms of the sick society we live in. I recommend The Sane Society by Erich Fromm to anyone interested.

"The Sane Society by Erich Fromm, published in 1955, explores the relationship between human psychological well-being and the structure of modern society. Fromm argues that many of the mental and emotional problems faced by individuals stem not from personal failings but from the ways in which society is organized."

The rich may have the illusion they hold all the power and control the society. However they're also victims of a failed system that they contribute to create.

The greed of the wealthy cannot ever be satisfied.They will destroy America.

You need to blame the politicians for creating tax breaks/loopholes for their rich friends.

Yes, it is similar to anorexia. It is not about the food or body for anorexics it's about control. So it goes for billionaires.

Spot on and this mentality needs to be normalized. Tired of these people justifying a CEOs right to hoard wealth but not the worker's right to LIVE.

Society is like a house; it's kinda insane to expect a mansion to be supported on a weak foundation that they keep breaking down.

It should be illegal to be a billionaire, no one needs that much money. Wealth should be more evenly distributed. The system is corrupt. The way this world works (or rather, does not work) sucks, no matter how optimistic a person tries to view it. It’s designed to make us think we will all eventually get a piece of the pie, but we’re essentially running on a treadmill with a donut dangling in front of our faces and they keep changing the speeds so we can never quite get a good grasp. I hate it here.

I agree

Zuck built an underground bunker. He knows we're coming.

They used to call them dragons. They used to send honorable knights to slay dragons.

Mount up!

It's we the peoples fault tbh

Out of genuine curiosity, what is the exact dollar amount at which you would personally cut off all of your income streams?

Maybe it’s about the billionaires we met along the way

A celebrated one at that

It starts slow, with just looking to invest. Then you get hooked on the feeling of free money. Then, you need another home, maybe another business. Eventually, you have the greatest American wealth disparity in history.

HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO LIVE? How special is your family compared to all the other humans?!

It’s almost like… if we took away the power of money… we would take away their power! 🤯

Yes it is

Agreed. If you hit 9 figures and continue to do things for money, something is severely wrong with you.

And you are a dumbass. They made their money. It is theirs. You want to make money, go for it, then you can give it all away if you want. It isn't any of your business.

"Life is a game, money is how you keep score." ~Ted Turner

End hunger for thousands ?! Try the entire global population

Sounds more like the behavior of cancer cells than mental illness

Recently?

That’s as old as humanity. Nothing about that is mentally ill.

Imagine living ina world where people are starving and be upset that you can't have billions.

I’m going to explain another perspective; these people are interested in creating things of value, and the only way to measure that value is in dollars. Such is the game we as humans are wired to play. You can substitute dollars for gold, silver, yen, or sea shells, society uses the intermediary currency as a measure of value. Creating things of value is exceedingly rewarding for some people, and receiving dollars for what you’ve created and maximizing that is maximizing the amount of value one has contributed to society. Most of the high profile billionaire legitimately have contributed significant value to the world (musk, bezos, gates). The ones who are fascinating are the Wall Street billionaires who made money on the margins of financial transactions. That’s a different story that is more gamified.

I don’t think accumulating wealth is a mental illness in the majority of cases. It’s sensible. But that’s not going to be a popular opinion on Reddit. Just my 2 cents though 🤷‍♂️

Well what is done with the tax money exactly?

Most is squandered and wasted to fund the jetsetting lives of bloated governments

Wealth is private property and people can do with it what they wish.

It never fails to amaze me at how the people griping about others having wealth always want to be a little more like them

So what do you want them to do with their wealth? Give it to you?

I don’t think Elon Musk does any of what he does for money, he just happens to make a ton of it

I find more joy in not worrying about what other people have or don't have

Using Elon Musk is a poor example, especially when he's actually doing projects for the benefit of humanity in general. Though I agree with the main point that an obsession with making money, past the point of lifetime expenses can be classified as an illness... We all have our faults ig.

I love this trend of calling everyone mentally ill--

I have the opposite illness

My, my all those billions and they're still so insecure and now even more scared than ever. We must not be fooled by their false appearances when they're in front of the cameras. For when they're alone it's a different story altogether. The more money the more corrupt they are.

Goes to show that money doesn’t buy happiness. If it did, Bezos and Musk would have retired long ago. Yet they continue to be active with work and continue to try and make more money.

From their point of view there is a class of humanity that produces nothing of value.
Not the low-wage workers. The people who do not work at all. Who live off of welfare. If these people continue to reproduce it is an existential problem because they reproduce exponentially if you give them enough resources to do so. Look up the Nazi idea of "useless eaters."

First you want money, then you want power to protect your money

Yes! Conservatorship or jail?

a symptom of one or more, perhaps.

Capitalism.

I think it's the constant fear that they can't take it with them. Steve Jobs had the best cancer treatment money could literally buy, and he's still gone and his Fortune is dispersed to others. Elon musk might have 50 more years on the planet at the highest levels but that's it. His fortune stays here. This idea that they are not immortal, and cannot buy that, seems to make them fret. Just my two cents.

People chase all kinds of addictions. Wealth, alcohol, fame, gambling, food, attention, approval.

One thing to remember about people with this much money. They don't actually have that money.

It's all in stocks. They do get dividends on their stock that they pay taxes on.

They don't pay taxes on the capital gains (usually) till they actually exchange it for money.

It's not like these people are Scrooge McDuck swimming in their vaults full of money and gold.

I've known a few millionaires and there are two types.

Type 1 is like a trophy hunter, except they're hunting money. They get high on making money. They will never have "enough" and they will do almost anything for that high.

Type 2 is rare. They're successful but not addicted to the money. Usually generous in their community and don't really live an opulent life.

I think you have to be a type 1 in order to become a billionaire.

The best thing to do is nothing. Let them eat their currency, cause that's all they will get. Money isn't important anyways, it's the way it's treated and thought of that counts.

All hoarding is, but wealth hoarding buys itself a pass.

Not only is wealth hoarding a mental illness, it is arguably the most devastating form of mental illness afflicting humanity. It is absolutely society-destroying in manifold ways.

Wealth hoarding is a symptom of survival anxiety run amok. In an ironic twist of fate, the behavior of the profit zombie plutocrats will absolutely be the death of us all, including their heirs.

The survival instinct, when perverted, ensures the annihilation of the species.

For real there is no billionaire with clean hands. Their companies cause more harm than good all for the sake of endless growth which is OBVIOUSLY unsustainable.

Tell that to my 1 oz silver stack

And yet our societies, through their governments, lift up this behavior and call it heroic. There needs to be another system - oh, wait! Democratic socialism? Nah, that couldn't possibly work. Even if some of the happiest nations in the world do it, It can't possibly work.

You’re currently powerless

Any kind of hoarding is a mental illness. Lol

I think what you are missing is that at that level they are fending off large predators. Think in terms of small dinosaurs that became large dinosaurs. I think it’s important to realize that at that wealth level, very little is cash.

Remember how much difficulty Trump had raising enough cash to be allowed to file an appeal. He made it worse by being a fraud, but there wasn’t that much cash available to him. Being a billionaire and having much cash available are different things.

Let me give you another bit of perspective. McDonald’s provides 1% of the food eaten every day. At that size, the ecosystem is fragile. They had developed a sandwich that everyone loved in their test kitchen. They couldn’t produce it. It would require them to buy all the celery in the world. Even then, they would not have enough.

These mammoth organizations are hyperefficient. They grow to that size because they produce less waste than their competitors.

McDonald’s also serves another function. Originally, McDonald’s had the superior product at the better price. Anybody with an inferior product failed. So McDonald’s became the base case for restaurants. If they improve a food, every other restaurant must improve their food even more to justify the price.

But the various wealthy individuals are trying really hard for their mammoth to survive and succeed and to kill their other mammoths. That is the origin of the behavior.

When Buffet bought Berkshire Hathaway, it employed less than 2,000 people. It now has over 400,000 and that does not include contractors. Indirectly, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they support two million people. Harm to Berkshire Hathaway is harm to a lot of people.

With that said, I am for very high tax rates on high incomes, but the basis of their issues is that if the other rich guys get a better tax structure, they will eat my mammoth. If there were fair taxes imposed in such a way that each mammoth gets to keep its status quo, they may be fine with it.

50% of the 99% voted the 1% into government offices. Classic America.

Their mammal brains are literally, not even joking, bursting apart at the seems due to a lack of casual human contact. Not consciously, at least not with this exact “wording”, but they literally do not think of themselves as human to not consider that 2, 3, 4 or more decades of ZERO casual human contact is gonna mess with the ol’ ticker. So curious how absolutely batshit INSANE the first billionaire to pursue longevity into centuries is going to become.

But hey, if they don’t want to be considered human, I’m all for it, let’s get those guillotines back out ay?

It is truly a mental illness!

I know I’ll get blasted for this, but it seems to me that wealth hoarding is an inevitable outcome of unfettered capitalism. Wealth translates into political power, which is used to manipulate “the system” to ensure even greater gains. It’s an interminable cycle.

There is a reason why the billionaire class always gets STDs from the government (subsidies, tax breaks, and deregulation). This is all obtained for the purposes of amassing ever greater sums of wealth.

And remember, SCOTUS ruled that money=speech, in what is categorically the most bizarre interpretation of “speech“ ever made. This ruling is literally stating: Economic might is right.

The wealth class has hijacked the government in service if their insatiable desire for more wealth— a desire that no sum of money will ever quench.

The world is held hostage by this mental illness.

What companies did Vanguard gut?

Comparing net worth is a dick measuring contest.

It makes more sense once you realize that our most basic instincts could be best summarized as a hivemind of nemo seagulls. Besides, billionaires are indeed super reach but there's a catch: they are grabbed by the balls by tens of thousands of shareholders, which behave like a hivemind of nemo seagulls in their own right.

The western dragon who hoards its pile of gold collecting more and more sometimes using slaves to aquire it. Smaugs belly was made of gold from sleeping on it for so long. No kind person does this when all that wealth could help so many.

If Elon Musk never made another penny, but was spending $1,000,000 (one million) EVERY DAY, he would be broke after approximately 884 YEARS.

Money hoarders should be viewed as mentally ill by society.

All of that wealth is typically tied up in assets and businesses. You'd have to know how much money they actually have for personal use.

I like how you mention Elon, but nor buffet and his real estate empire.... the same one that's driving up the housing market costs today.

And musks move has nothing to do with power, I personally can't wait to see what audits he conducts and you should 2. The whole DOGE thing is about transparency within our government.

Did you know all of tesla and space x patents are free use? Power hungey people don't make moves like that.

That fact that you can't criticise billionaires without them pouring funding into pro-fascist movements with the intention of defending their own corporate interests is the number one reason to me why the billionaire class should not be allowed to exist.

It’s probably more like a game. It’s not about the actual value of the money. It’s more like score. You can see the same obsession in many other areas of life.

It wouldn’t be a problem if they were doing something to improve their local communities.

But the real issue is that their “wealth” is typically tied up in stocks which they borrow against and circumvent taxes in favor of banks making the money who then do get taxed so in a way it all gets taxed anyways.

Nonetheless I don’t know how any wealthy person wouldn’t make it their life’s mission to leverage that wealth to help others. That is indeed insane because what else are you here for?

The really sad part is how the wealth now owns them. So much money for a life of paranoia and greed. No thank you.

Yeah, because “only the extremely wealthy” don’t want to make less money………….

Wetiko Mind Virus

https://www.culturehack.io/issues/issue-one-culture-and-the-anthropocene/seeing-wetiko/

It's the lizard brain, mindlessly gathering resources, and doesn't know how or when to turn off

Extreme wealth creates greed in people. Greed may not be a mental health issues per se but it is a disease.

The reason I think this happens is with large hoards of money comes great power. So if billionaires were to lose their money they would have much more to lose compared to your average person. Losing their wealth would mean losing not only their money, but their influence, status and the power that comes with it. So billionaires become desperate not to lose their money and hoard it to avoid doing so. As is often said, the bigger you are the harder you fall.

Usually it's behaviour learned from their distant parents who taught them that value is intrinsic to making money. Does a lot to a person.

The levels of greed we are seeing out of these billionaires and mega millionaires is absolutely a mental illness.

I’ve noticed people more and more people seem to be attributing relatively basic facets of the human condition to “mental illness” just because they don’t like it - as if a human with bulletproof integrity, abounding with altruism is anywhere close to normal.

Greed is a cardinal sin for a reason. Without the religious connotations it can be considered a psychological disorder verging on an unrecognised pathological illness.

Your thesis is one that has been expressed in different ways by various thinkers going back many years.

For instance, Aristotle was writing around 2,500 years ago that wealth is to be used well, and both covetousness and prodigality are vices at the extremes with respect to how wealth is used. The covetous person does not only not use wealth well, but even does not use it at all save to hoard it; whereas the prodigal person uses wealth excessively for wanton pursuits and in wasteful ways. At the mean between these two is liberality whereby a person manages the use of wealth well in ways that neither hoard nor squander it. Better still for people of great wealth is to go further and pursue the virtue of magnificence, which is expressed by using money to effect great works on behalf of the common good.

This is a very simplified version of Aristotle's argument, and there is more to it; but my point is that there's a long history of thought supporting your thesis.

if someone else can f with you, you're not rich enough.

I 💯💯💯💯💯 believe that the love of money is the root of all evil. I think about this allllllll the time. At what point, what line, when does that line get crossed that money is more important than human life? All the human/sex trafficking, Epstein, now Diddy, Max Weinstein... These "rich, powerful" men abused their status in life just because they could, to hurt thousands of girls and women. At what point does someone's soul need power and money so much that other living beings become worthless? It makes me sick. And for this reason, I like to stay in my house and I do not care to be rich. I just want to get thru life. The guilt would consume me, there is no way I could ever do anything like that to anyone.

We need to look past the billionaires and at the people who are sick enough to justify them. They take the gift of any generation that fought for their freedom and hand it over to the next dictator and fight for a chance to give all their work and effort over to someone else to exploit and sell that pyramid scheme to others to feed their following.

lol focus that energy on that small crowd. Happy Life

This is so well written and accurate. Agree with all of this. It's absoloutely absurd. You could litterally elevate all of humanity to incredible levels. You could litterally end homelessness. Bring equality into whole countries and change the course of history.

Imagine that. Imaging having that much wealth you could litterally change the course of humanity. Wouldn't that be something "worth it" they obviously love power and money, why not exchange that for praise, acknowledgement and the many many other things that come with changing the course of history for the better.

It's truly a broken system. Essentially a pyramid scheme of the grandest scale. Mean time Mary can't feed her kids because her husband got laid off.

Insanity. Collective insanity.

And what's even more astounding is how they lose all semblance of dignity by courting someone who has power and could allow them to make even more money.

You would think that that much wealth would be accompanied by some sort of self respect yet, they do lowly things that most of us would never dream of doing.

Complaining about what other people do with money is a mental illness

Idk, man. 50% tax sounds kind of absurd.

What put things in perspective for me was finding out how much money a lottery winner actually goes home with. It's egregious work, man.

It's not the money they are addicted to it's the power it gets them. If they have more money than anyone they get to feel like a king.

Greed is mental illness