News Flash
Yahoo News reports today that the ranks of the ultra-wealthy continue to grow; in other words, the rich are getting richer.
In other news, the Pope is Catholic, dog bites man, and the Mariners lose.
No surprise here, of course; what would really be newsworthy would be a report that the ultra-wealthy had suddenly all decided to send me some of their loot, so I could join their ranks—at least upping the number of people whose net worth is over $20 million to 47,001.
Naturally, I realize that being a multi-millionaire wouldn’t make me happy. No less an authority than Aristotle reminds us that a life of wealth does not constitute the good life. Nevertheless, I’d be perfectly willing to lie around on my yacht being depressed, especially if I could occasionally take the helicopter to shore and ride around on my fleet of custom Rivendells, crying into my champagne.
I do wonder what it would be like to be one of those people in the upper echelons of wealth, the kind of person who goes on shopping sprees at Prada, or buys matching his and hers Patek Phillipe watches, or who doesn’t even know how many houses he owns.
I’m always taken aback when people observe a super-rich person and say with some element of surprise something like, “Boy, even with all that money, he’s a really nice guy.”
Duh.
If I had $20 million dollars in the bank, I’d be the nicest, friendliest, most charming guy you ever met. Really. Just try me.
One statistic in the news story that jumped out at me is that the 47,000 people in the $20 million or more category control more wealth than the 846,000 in the $2 million to $3.5 million category. Not all that surprising, I guess, when you think about all the billionaires in that group, but still, even I have no desire to be that wealthy. $20 million would be good news enough.
In other news, the Pope is Catholic, dog bites man, and the Mariners lose.
No surprise here, of course; what would really be newsworthy would be a report that the ultra-wealthy had suddenly all decided to send me some of their loot, so I could join their ranks—at least upping the number of people whose net worth is over $20 million to 47,001.
Naturally, I realize that being a multi-millionaire wouldn’t make me happy. No less an authority than Aristotle reminds us that a life of wealth does not constitute the good life. Nevertheless, I’d be perfectly willing to lie around on my yacht being depressed, especially if I could occasionally take the helicopter to shore and ride around on my fleet of custom Rivendells, crying into my champagne.
I do wonder what it would be like to be one of those people in the upper echelons of wealth, the kind of person who goes on shopping sprees at Prada, or buys matching his and hers Patek Phillipe watches, or who doesn’t even know how many houses he owns.
I’m always taken aback when people observe a super-rich person and say with some element of surprise something like, “Boy, even with all that money, he’s a really nice guy.”
Duh.
If I had $20 million dollars in the bank, I’d be the nicest, friendliest, most charming guy you ever met. Really. Just try me.
One statistic in the news story that jumped out at me is that the 47,000 people in the $20 million or more category control more wealth than the 846,000 in the $2 million to $3.5 million category. Not all that surprising, I guess, when you think about all the billionaires in that group, but still, even I have no desire to be that wealthy. $20 million would be good news enough.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:05 AM
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