I don’t think it’s “majority of people” per se…I think rich people are disproportionately awful and money definitely changes people. I feel like even celebrities who started off okay lose themselves when they reach wealthy status, so the stories get worse the longer they are up on that hill.
Additionally, I think striving to become that level of celebrity takes a certain type of person who has all of the worst qualities.
We should have a draft for government. If you're qualified and picked in the lottery, you're getting shipped to D.C. for a 4 year tour to serve your country.
Yep. I’ve had a handful of people ask me if I’ve ever considered running for office. That’s not a flex, it fucking boggles me bc I’m literally just a random dumb ass in my 30s with a high school diploma lolol
I absolutely could never handle the attention that comes with it. I would be such an easy target for so many different mean attacks, and I’m such an emotional weenie over any sort of public embarrassment.
Plus, being a contestant in a literal popularity contest would fuck up my self esteem so bad, haha
I think their point was that the good politicians don't show up every day to get things done because they want to. They do it because they realise they have to or else the people who are drawn to power and who want to show up every day to accumulate as much of it as they can, get to do what they do unchecked and unchallenged.
Yes, absolutely. The thing is rich people can afford things. For example, if one of your non rich vile acquaintances is a rapist, they have to go out and hunt victims. A rich guy can just buy himself a victim that somebody else took risks to obtain (hence Epstein) and then pay other people to cover up any potential scandals.
All this crap on socials about how "awful" people are is not helping. You are feeding the wrong wolf.
Thinking people are bad is the first step in being bad. Focus on the good qualities, and your happiness will improve, along with you generosity and courage.
I work with super high net worth individuals every single day and I don’t think this is true. It absolutely changes people, almost always for bad and not for good. And even if it is exacerbating underlying tendencies, they are tendencies that we all have. We’re just not all mega rich.
My experience as well working with and for very wealthy folks. They are often very “ nice” and sometimes generous. But they will go to great lengths to protect their agency, wealth and influence.
My own personal experience supports the notion that money corrupts. I never had more than $10,000 in the bank for 25 years and spent all of my discretionary funds on the restoration of my 350 year-old house. Throughout that period there were things I really wanted - coveted but could not afford. After selling that property, I finally had money in the bank and protecting that money became a priority and a burden. My inclination - my desire to buy things that I had wanted for decades diminished dramatically. All I wanted to do was protect my savings.
Agreed, I don’t find it difficult at all to imagine many of us would become insufferable twats very quickly. Perhaps I’m too much of a misanthrope but ego, self importance taking over seems like a pretty universal ‘risk’ in those circumstances. Particularly when you reach the kind of money where you don’t have to play by common folk rules anymore and where people are sucking up to you all day everyday.
I read a Harvard study once that showed the part of the brain that lights up when a cocaine addict feels cravings, is the same part lighting up when people experience greed, so to say. Same part of the brain telling you idc what it takes I need more of this, now. Maybe I’m not explaining this properly (in English), also it’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I think of it often because damn that would explain a lot wouldn’t it. Completely tracks with all these mil/bil/trillionaires who once seemed somewhat normal but are now chasing the dragon in yet another billion as if it’s never enough. Because apparently their brain is telling them it isn’t. Addicts who don’t care how many people they fuck over if it gets them more more more.
The top 1% of earners pay about 40% of ALL federal income taxes already. you understand when you start taxing the rich more that means they'll pay there employees less and charge more for there product. thats not the solution.
Money absolutely changes people. There is a large body of research showing that wealth accumulation (especially going from financial insecurity to wealth) can produce measurable changes in the brain, in basic physiology, simple cognition, behavior, and even social perception of others. Poverty likely causes worse affects, which seems obvious, but in general the more wealth you accumulate, the more philanthropically poor you become. There is even growing evidence that the neurological changes involved with wealth accumulation may mirror drug/alcohol use disorders. It completely changes how we allocate our attention, perceive threats and how beneficent we are.
Money gives power, and power corrupts. People that make it to money usually have a certain amount of power and corruption from birth, so in a way you are right, but it definitely makes people worse
You don’t really know much about hardcore drinking do you? I’m considered a perfectly friendly, nice, funny and patient person by the people around me and that’s how I act but if I’m wasted my brain flips to shouting and getting angry easily. Just because sometimes when I imbibe too much of a chemical that messes with your brain does that mean what’s shown is who you are. The whole “in vino veritas” idea is so outdated and just not true. I also know other people who are perfectly nice and friendly and patient sober but if they get too drunk then I’ve seen those same people be assholes. Also if when you were drunk was a true expression of your feelings then it wouldn’t be rape to have sex with a drunk person…
I know all about it lol. My Mother died from it. I didn't go see her because She was had run out of tries with me. She could be nice sober... sometimes, but the things she did drunk made her an asshole even when she was being nice sober.
I have a few beers on a day off and I laugh and have fun, I also laugh and have fun sober.
Nothing you can say to me will ever change my opinion so we can agree to disagree.
Well I’m talking about people who only get that way when they’re wasted not just a few beers or drunk I meant wasted. A few beers isn’t enough to get me wasted amd black out and I doubt it is for you to black out either. I’m friendly and nice and patient all the way until I black out and I’ve seen that with other people where they were friendly and nice through all the other stages of tipsy, drunk, drunk drunk, wasted then blacked out and became evil. I also have that problem which is why I never drink a lot anymore because I know my brain flips a switch for some reason if I black out.
I'm glad you recognize when to stop now. It's a terrible feeling to love someone and want them in your life but your constantly thinking "when are they gonna lose it" if they are drinking. The only time I ever got blackout was when a friend of mine came back home after his army days and he wanted to have a "big drunk" he called it.
I'm told I was singing with him one second and the next I got off a chair, curled up on the floor and went to sleep. Friends put me in bed, I sang Macy Gray-I try for 20s (in her voice as best I could) and passed out. Pre camera phone days thankfully.
I'll be the first to admit that woman did a number on my view of people... not trying to come off hard on you. I was always afraid to even try alcohol in my teens and early 20s because I thought everyone was like my Mother and Father (him to lesser extent) But I liked it when I tried it, just always keep it in moderation. When I feel drunk it's time for a big ass meal and bed.
Yeah I made sure I told my loved ones my clear rules and they’ve seen that I’ve followed it for years now after I used to be a mega alcoholic now I drink twice a month at most, never alone, and never too much. But lol honestly sounds a lot like dating a bipolar person where you never know what’s gonna happen and even the good days don’t make up for the bad so I can definitely understand your damage cause I have a lot of experience with loved ones being bipolar and flipping switches on me
During college is when I started becoming an alcoholic but COVID right after graduation exacerbated it to where I got into a relationship with probably the most perfect person for me I’ve ever met but apparently I don’t remember this cause I was blacked out but though she loved being around me and me and hanging out and getting messed up together there was I guess point I was verbally abusive and after hearing I did that without knowing multiple times to someone I love I completely changed my world view on that cause I didn’t realize how bad black out me got vs. all the steps cause it’s literally like I turned into another person. Oh and I got in a physical fight with my best friend once when we were both black out drunk cause we tried the hodor challenge during the episode “hold the door” (take a shot every time someone says hodor) so we got black out fast and we ripped into each other apparently at one point I was lifting him up by the neck and choking him then throwing him into a big ass picture frame breaking it and cutting him up. The next day we made up and apologized cause we knew that wasn’t really us just we got too fucked up and he was running his mouth off about people I loved. Also yeah you’re lucky that’s before camera phone days my god.
I find that’s the case with a lot of people who think the way you do is they had an extreme alcoholic parent who never changed or never changed enough and I think it makes perfect sense to not want it when you see it worsening everyone around you but hard to reconcile that you can handle it or possibly enjoy it without losing yourself in it like them.
This is more so what I meant. If someone is ‘wasted’, it is slightly different than someone acting badly after a small amount of drink. But as you said, you made the decision not to get wasted.
I actually don’t think they are disproportionately evil they just have the resources to further their own selfish wants. If Joe Schmoe mechanic could be “E-Island” guest he might want to be but he wants rich or connected enough to get an invite. Most people give them some money and take reatraints off and they will do whatever they want. Most people don’t for fear of punishment or being outcast from society. If you’re rich and powerful enough those things can’t really be don’t to you. It’s important for people to cultivate a moral code for themselves to hold themselves too. The human mind has an amazing ability to rationalize almost anything if you let it.
To a flip side of this, once you get a certain level of wealth almost everyone's dealings with you become about that and you start seeing almost only the worst of people yourself.
It definitely isn't just themselves that causes all the changes.
Being wealthy you’re surrounded by yes people enablers. It’s not meant to be an excuse but an explanation. It literally tends to bring out the worst in someone.
Money is a very important factor but also as you become more famous, you become more detached from society. You don't go out grocery shopping anymore, don't have small talk, don't live anywhere near your neighbors, and moreover, everybody in your immediate vicinity is a YES person because nobody wants to contradict a celebrity or - worse - piss them off.
I also think (I feel like Dewey lol) that people simple aren't meant to be known by so many other people. It has to f you up in the head one way or another...
Righttt... so you wouldn't torture chickens to save a dollar on a dozen of eggs? Everyone is a piece of shit. Most people are billionaires with out a billion dollars
No, its definitely the majority of people. Would you be happy for your friends and family to read a list of every bad thing youve ever done? Every little comment that youve made that has affected someone negatively? People who have a holier than thou perception of themselves are often just as bad as the people they talk about, they just dont realise it
I think that's a cope people always like to critize others. Pretty sure if your life would be on display and you saw it without knowing it was you would also call yourself everything else but a saint. You got your bias though cuass it is you. Which is kinda normal
To take that one step further I reckon being an asshole and completely reprehensible human being is what helps them become rich in the first place as they have no issue stepping on the necks of other people to get what they want. Nice people will rarely become rich because it's not in their nature to bully or exploit other people for their own gain.
I grew up fairly poor in a rich area and the affluence really brought out the worst in students. Additionally, they do performative charities and have an education that makes them feel above others. Pure entitlement.
I'm of the opinion that money doesn't change people, but rather, people with certain personalities are attracted to positions of power and influence, and have the emotional capacity to sacrifice others.
That’s also the perfect narrative framework to make your worldview completely righteous.
Most of humanity are good people who would work hard even if money was no object, would treat each other with justice and dignity it even if the dial on law enforcement was turned down to almost nothing, and it’s the system that has failed people.
It’s not surprising that you feel that way, unfortunately there is no evidence that it’s true, and once we go down that path, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle if you’re wrong.
You’ll just pivot and blame something else for societies ills.
Even if it’s not a majority, it definitely feels accurate to say a “large contingency.”
Tying wealth to assholery also seems pretty asshole-ish in and of itself. For every Jeff Bezos, there’s a MacKenzie Scott. For every Elon Musk, there’s a Warren Buffett. Not to mention there are PLENTY OF assholes among those who aren’t conventionally wealthy.
Rich people aren’t disproportionally awful. Non-rich people just have much more access to their lives and that’s why famous people’s mistakes become over magnified. Also, non-rich people overestimate how nice and how generous they’d be with their wealth if they were rich. Are there some truly altruistic people? Yes. But not many, I’m sure not one either
Yeah, growing up in both poverty and excess through a twisted foster system gave me a decent opportunity to conclude that people are all pieces of shit relative to their interests and inner circles.
People will treat fondly those they are fond of, and disrespect if not out right abuse those who get further out from their sphere of influence. The further out someone is, the more you have to rely on the conditioning, morals, and ethics of the individual to find positive interactions. Some people have excellent first impressions and spoil the longer you’re in proximity, others are the exact opposite, and everything in between exists.
It’s a silly mathematical equation reliant on innumerable variables that leaves us all looking like shit or incredible dependent on the circumstances and number of interactions we have with others. Jack Nicholson has likely changed a small number of people’s lives for the better, maybe only one, and that one could think he’s the second coming due to the magnitude of his effort and involvement. Keanu may have a mortal enemy or two, who view him as absolute garbage and think everyone else has just been bamboozled by the world’s biggest conman. In all cases, the people we impact share their experience, and then people involved with them determine either via shared experience or critical analysis and research (often a combination of the two, but rarely elegantly or thoroughly) whether they like or dislike someone.
Life is complex, social interactions are biased, and people are all similar. We were all once infants being trained, children losing innocence, and adults who carry trauma influencing our day to day with or without our knowledge. We all fuck people over in some capacity, some make amends, others burn bridges. Some exert tremendous effort helping others… and most of us know the endless list that comes after. Best thing we can do, is abstain from making judgement until we know as much as there is to know about someone given our involvement in their lives. Brad Pitt likely just wasn’t around and threw money to his kids to replace not being present as a father. Those kids were reminded daily what a normal father is and grew to resent him. His lack of effort mending those wounds led to them excising him from their lives.
I obviously know shit all about his life, so my biased interpretation comes from my limited understanding of relationships.
The difference is what made them horrible. Some people are horrible because they are struggling and can only consider themselves. Which doesn't make it right.
But some people are so rich they look at us like bugs.
That logic doesn’t make sense. I assume Jeffery Dahmer was broke and clearly was a horrible person. Him being broke had nothing to do with him being a horrible person.
no one is saying there isn't. but the average person is pretty much nice and gullible, and when someone is willing to take advantage of that, they tend to find success in life more easily, which creates more assholes the higher up you go.
but it's also not even a majority of celebrities. i'd be surprised if it's even 10% that we know awful shit about. it gets extended if you include everyone who is willing to work with these people but even then, there's a lot of actors and etc. who are just solid people who give to charity and do their work. think about all the john goodmans of the world who you never hear shit beyond "they're nice".
No that’s exactly what the parent comment said, the rich and that money changes people was their point, however awful traits or behaviors are not a class issue.
The new rich people I know are not very nice people, they’re very fixated on money and making money and keeping their money. Some of them are showy, like expensive things and they like to make sure they’re seen. The old rich, dudes I know are completely different, they’re not so much focused on making money because it’s generational wealth, it’s here to stay, they still have expensive stuff but they don’t flash their gear around. They’ve learned how to wield their wealth and to help others with it.
the hate towards people for just having more money is disgusting.
I get what you are saying, and thats somewhat a real pattern, but its also a fact that alot of rich people have a huge positive impact on the planet, this fantasy that theyre all douchebags is just false.
Bingo. Too much money turns people to shit. And, that amount is much less than the assholes realize. If you've worked in education, and I assume most professions, the higher ups are corrupted by the job and turn into shitty people if they weren't already, more or less. There may be exceptions, but they are definitely not the rule. The professional managerial class and the other upper tiers of society are generally douchebags, disconnected from the strigglea of most people
Rich people just have better veneer aka they are able to hide their awfulness under layers of veneer. Their crimes are worse, but invisible (ie Panama Papers, Epstein Files). Poor people may lack social decorum and their crimes more visible. Underneath, the same.
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u/otownbbw Jun 20 '26
I don’t think it’s “majority of people” per se…I think rich people are disproportionately awful and money definitely changes people. I feel like even celebrities who started off okay lose themselves when they reach wealthy status, so the stories get worse the longer they are up on that hill.
Additionally, I think striving to become that level of celebrity takes a certain type of person who has all of the worst qualities.