Is money and wealth evil?

[LuckyR]

On 12/20/2024 at 1:21 PM, swansont said:

Saw this posted on social media

James 5 NIV

1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.[a] 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

 

Sounds like an endorsement to me!  </s>

I get it. Of course when that was written, wealth inequity was much greater than today. That is, it was more obvious who the "rich" were.

[npts2020]

20 minutes ago, LuckyR said:

I get it. Of course when that was written, wealth inequity was much greater than today. That is, it was more obvious who the "rich" were.

It may have been more obvious but these guys seem to think wealth inequality was never greater than in modern America. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/aracheology-wealth-inequality-180968072/

Maybe because there is much more "wealth" to distribute today?

[dimreepr]

4 hours ago, LuckyR said:

I get it. Of course when that was written, wealth inequity was much greater than today. That is, it was more obvious who the "rich" were.

It's always obvious who the rich are, it's also obvious that their action's will not bring them peace of mind and will end in a cul-de-sac for the many that worship them.

When I was a builder, I'd always prefer to work at a poor person's home, I knew I'd get a cuppa and a biscuit; never at a rich person's home, they'd make themselves a cuppa and come and check on my progress; have a guess, who I worked harder for?

The rich often learn their mistaken perspective of wealth, on a lonely death bed.

 

Surrounded by people, eagerly anticipating the value of their last breath.

[swansont]

5 hours ago, LuckyR said:

I get it. Of course when that was written, wealth inequity was much greater than today.

That’s not at all obvious to me. 

In the US, the combined net worth of the twelve wealthiest people exceeds $2 trillion. Meanwhile we have homeless people. And people in other countries are worse off. 

What seems to be true is that being poor in the US still affords more comfort than being poor did in times before technology. You can be poor and still have e.g. access to indoor plumbing. It’s not necessarily synonymous with destitute. 

5 hours ago, LuckyR said:

That is, it was more obvious who the "rich" were.

That’s not the same thing.

[iNow]

2 hours ago, dimreepr said:

It's always obvious who the rich are, it's also obvious that their action's will not bring them peace

False 

[zapatos]

4 hours ago, dimreepr said:

The rich often learn their mistaken perspective of wealth, on a lonely death bed.

 

Very poetic but I doubt you can provide evidence.

[dimreepr]

20 hours ago, zapatos said:

Very poetic but I doubt you can provide evidence.

It's not about evidence, it's about belief; if I choose to believe, I feel better about what seems unfair.

But if it's evidence you want, just google something like 'winning the lottery didn't bring me happiness', I'm not saying it's ubiquitous; I'm sure there's many a rich person that defies the trend, but as a builder who's worked for Lord's and Ladies and through all the levels of supposed wealth; I've yet to meet someone who thinks they're rich and are happy to breack bread with me.

 

I look like a tramp... 😉

[iNow]

16 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

I'm not saying it's ubiquitous

Thank you for the update. This wasn’t how it came across when you introduced it:

On 1/4/2025 at 6:16 AM, dimreepr said:

It's always obvious who the rich are, it's also obvious that their action's will not bring them peace

 

[dimreepr]

1 minute ago, iNow said:

Thank you for the update. This wasn’t how it came across when you introduced it:

 

Sorry, but the first bit is still true, across the millenia...

[zapatos]

21 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

It's not about evidence, it's about belief; if I choose to believe, I feel better about what seems unfair.

 

"Belief", the lifeblood of a science site.

[dimreepr]

Just now, zapatos said:

"Belief", the lifeblood of a science site.

Indeed, but we are talking about 'evil'...😇

[iNow]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

the first bit is still true, across the millenia...

So now you’re saying it IS ubiquitous?

[Phi for All]

4 hours ago, dimreepr said:

But if it's evidence you want, just google something like 'winning the lottery didn't bring me happiness',

I'm not sure any more that this is necessarily a "money" problem. If you substitute anything else that's an abrupt change of lifestyle that leaves you on unfamiliar ground for "winning the lottery", you can end up with the same unhappy person.

Inheriting a manor house after a lifetime of renting small apartments. Being promoted to upper management when you've always been the hard worker with poor people skills. Enjoying a single lifestyle until your sibling dies and you agree to move in and help take care of their large family. Lots of things that many people believe are always good can cause unhappiness just because we're not prepared or experienced enough. It's hard to be happy if you constantly feel out of your depth.

[iNow]

Winning the lottery paradoxically also brings lots of negatives like people trying to take advantage of you, scam you, pretending to be family, never knowing whether the people in your life are there bc of who you are and not just seeking a quick payout, etc. 

Either way, painting all people with the same brush based on single traits like this is a false generalization and logical fallacy. 

[swansont]

6 hours ago, dimreepr said:

I've yet to meet someone who thinks they're rich and are happy to breack bread with me.

This does not rule out that the problem is you

[Phi for All]

7 hours ago, dimreepr said:

I'm sure there's many a rich person that defies the trend, but as a builder who's worked for Lord's and Ladies and through all the levels of supposed wealth; I've yet to meet someone who thinks they're rich and are happy to breack bread with me.

 

I look like a tramp... 😉

I'm not sure it matters how you look, or even that there's a "class" difference. If you're paying for labor in modern times, you're trying to pay the least amount you can to get the job done right. If you're wealthy, you know exactly how much that labor is worth to you, how much you'd like to pay, and how much more you would have paid if the laborer had insisted. 

The Lords and Ladies may simply be embarrassed to eat with someone they've royally screwed over. Deep down they know how much more your labor is worth, perhaps? If I had shortchanged a laborer, the last think I'd want is to eat food off their table in front of their spouse and kids.

[dimreepr]

20 hours ago, iNow said:

So now you’re saying it IS ubiquitous?

I don't think recognising who has more money than me, needs a time stamp or much intelligence, but I suppose it depends on one's definition of ubiquitous in this context. 

15 hours ago, swansont said:

This does not rule out that the problem is you

LOL, indeed...

14 hours ago, Phi for All said:

I'm not sure it matters how you look, or even that there's a "class" difference. If you're paying for labor in modern times, you're trying to pay the least amount you can to get the job done right. If you're wealthy, you know exactly how much that labor is worth to you, how much you'd like to pay, and how much more you would have paid if the laborer had insisted. 

The Lords and Ladies may simply be embarrassed to eat with someone they've royally screwed over. Deep down they know how much more your labor is worth, perhaps? If I had shortchanged a laborer, the last think I'd want is to eat food off their table in front of their spouse and kids.

I'm judging everyone on how they look and how they behave, but I smile at everyone and say hello; if they don't respond to my liking, I just shrug and think karma will take care of that prick and, "as if by magic", they vanish from my mind and I feel wealthier for it...

18 hours ago, iNow said:

Winning the lottery paradoxically also brings lots of negatives like people trying to take advantage of you, scam you, pretending to be family, never knowing whether the people in your life are there bc of who you are and not just seeking a quick payout, etc. 

Either way, painting all people with the same brush based on single traits like this is a false generalization and logical fallacy. 

My argument is, all people can be wealthy, not, all rich people can't...

[Phi for All]

3 hours ago, dimreepr said:

I'm judging everyone on how they look and how they behave, but I smile at everyone and say hello; if they don't respond to my liking, I just shrug and think karma will take care of that prick and, "as if by magic", they vanish from my mind and I feel wealthier for it...

And you don't feel it might be a mistake to assume the wealthy don't like your looks as opposed to anything else? Why are you part of the problem if you're nice to everyone? We're not talking about the wealthy, the elite, the upper tier.  We're talking about the Parasitic Class, who are sucking the life out of the rest of us. Their type of wealth IS evil, and they want you to believe you don't look good enough to be around them.