Honestly, I expect the rich to just buy a damn therapist rather than complain to the rest of us. They have enough money to pay someone to care, but they yap to us and expect it for free.
From my perspective, this comment broadly captures what is so tragic for me about his situation and the potential pitfalls of isolation-by-riches: the apparent fact that the majority of people discount a wealthy man's cry for help (read "willingness to be vulnerable"), dehumanising him and robbing him of an opportunity to heal - whether through therapy, community, or some other significant life change.
A wealthy person is still a person, but when another looks at their burden and finds it lighter than their own, they often don't pity them because they perceive they can much more easily mobilize their own help (see: an article about a billionaire's emotional state vs European immigration crisis.)
Basically, the "pitfall" of isolation by riches is a problem a large portion of humans would like to have.
If you're having trouble carrying a light weight, sure, get help. It just seems pretty childish to complain to an open microphone about a something so petty. I have no doubt these emotions are very tough for Notch, and I see that I would probably have the same problems in his situation.
But seriously, this isn't the kind of thing you say to a wide audience without being completely out of touch. He should know better.
Yeah, and as someone who makes enough money to not worry about not being on the streets, but also not enough to be able to just do anything I want, my burden is light relative to people in 3rd world countries.
No matter what you say, someone's burden is light compared to another, and completely denying someone like Notch the right to be able to get their burden off their chest, just because their's is less than yours, is asinine.
Same principle applies here...
A few that come to mind, that I've noticed with wealthy friends:
1. Time. You'll probably have plenty. You're free. What do you do all day when your old friends are working? That probably means making new friends. But it can also lead to disconnects with old friends. Most people don't understand.
2. Ulterior motives of people. Imagine you meet a person - any person. Most relatively wealthy people will assume this person wants something from them. Guess what, people DO usually want something from them. This can lead to problems bonding and/or having relationships.
3. Investing and taxes: what if I invest badly and lose all my capital? Ok, so you invest in a property in Spain and a few years later sell it. You pay $x tax. For some silly reason the authorities don't agree, and want to levy additional tax x2. On top of that, your tax lawyer isn't great, and you need to go find a new one. It'll drag on for years, going through the courts.
etc etc
Many people would say, cry me a river. Obviously it's better to be wealthy than to be poor, but it's not all it's made out to be. No therapist is going to fix that.
Problems are problems, and I personally respect that everyone has their own set of issues in life. Wealth can be a burden.
Nope. It does mean that you lose the right to complain though.
Yeah, let's isolate rich persons even more instead of helping them to find their way together with us.
That's for sure will lead to a better world where rich can connect with others and share their fortunes for a common good.
/s
Or buy a nightclub like Jamie Zawinski, or travel the world taking photos like Tom Anderson.
In this iteration, the rich complain that their former problems have been solved, but have been replaced by other problems as a result of solving those initial problems. It is a fallacy to assume that these new problems are of the same magnitude of the other problems, and they really should not be treated with the same set of thoughts. The problems of emotional awkwardness with newfound vast wealth are not the same magnitude as the problems of building a company, and those are not the same magnitude as overcoming past emotional abuse, or struggling to feed your family, or trying to avert emergently approaching death. See how I've captured several logs of magnitude here?
The conflation of magnitude is what causes the negative reactions when rich people complain. They are complaining about things at the very top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These are philosophical (academic/only relevant under very narrow circumstances) problems that are in all likelihood completely unsolvable by complaining to others. These are the kinds of problems that are solvable with critical introspection, discussion with close others, and discussion with professionals. You get no points for throwing yourself onto the pyre and wailing to the world-- there is tumblr for that, and it isn't a realistic shot at solving the problems.
Anyways, a more direct response to your points:
1. I've been in this situation, and just ended it recently. There were no disconnects with old friends... I think you'd have to have shitty friends for this to be a problem.
2. Everyone already has ulterior motives and purposes for each other. Sometimes all you want from the other person is friendship, and if it's a mutual feeling, it's great. This is human nature-- everyone does want something from everyone else. The more you have, the more they want.
3. I'm not sure if this is a serious statement. This isn't a problem on most people's radars, and is really irrelevant because you mention that these people can pay others to deal with these problems for them. If the money is stressing you out, just ditch it... oh wait, you like it too much. Clam up and make do, or talk to a therapist-- one of the few people who will take this line of thought seriously.
4. Of course wealthy people can be miserable and wealth can be a burden, but the beauty of wealth is that you have far more resources to help you carry burdens. This means that when the wealth complain about their burden, the rest of us snort derisively-- it's as though they have forgotten that the weight on everyone else is heavier and more unwieldy.
These challenges may even be aggravated by the isolation of wealth if you don't already have the basic structure of a happy life - things like loving relationships, stable/happy emotional makeup, work you find meaningful, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to reduce someone's isolation of wealth by taking a good chunk of it off their hands. But I'd be foolish to trade my family, faith, or health for it - much less all of the above.
It's a good reminder to keep our priorities straight.
Problem 1: Use your new-found time to work on projects. These could be new companies that grow your wealth, endeavours that seek to create a change that you care about, or doing things to help people that you care about. There are other alternatives, too. Joining investment groups. Taking holidays. Consulting.
Problem 2: For chance meetings, I can see how this is a problem, but if you primarily meet new people through existing social circles, that might mitigate this effect a bit. I don't have this problem, but I have noticed that I've made lots of great friends through existing friends.
Problem 3: Could you not hire someone (or a company) to manage this sort of thing? I realize plenty of oversight would still be prudent, but it should alleviate the stress of it somewhat. Diversity in investments should mitigate the risk of losing everything. Limiting investments to areas that are well understood might also be a good idea for avoiding tax surprises.
I agree that wealthy people will definitely still have life problems, but I'm still not convinced it has to be these ones. Forms of social isolation (eg. imbalance that notch mentioned) seem much more plausible and nowhere near as easily remedied.
Naive might be a strong word for it, but it's always easy to say someone else's problems are good problems to have, or they have it easier, but as long as we're putting them on a spectrum and assigning value to their experience, we're not accounting for the struggle itself. It's not the value of the struggle that matters, it's that we all have struggles, and being able to find support for when we are struggling makes a HUGE quality of life difference.
So many people in today's world want to deny others this experience, "you don't/didn't have it that hard, what are you complaining about. Man Up. Stop being a pussy... You're rich, what's the problem..." etc
He doesn't have it hard, he's just not creative enough to enjoy his new life. I guess it's unfortunate he feels so awful, but if he can't find something fun and fulfilling to do while sitting on a pile of money, he has absolutely no right to complain-- an entire world is sitting out there, waiting for him to engage with.
Molehills become mountains, and, once conquered, the next steppe of the molehill becomes another mountain.
And when you climb an actual mountain, and look down from the top? You're bored, because now you can't spend your time climbing.
I don't really have any sympathy.
Plus, his former staff who he sold out needs to reach out to him to apologize? "So fuck all of you. Fuck you so hard."
I lost a lot of respect for that man.
As it stands, he just comes across as somebody wiping tears with a 100 dollar bill.
Please don't post spiteful swipes here.