Michael Lewis: Advice From the 1%: Lever Up, Drop Out

And what better way to start that discussion than sharing with us your feelings about how benighted it will be?

On the topic of the article itself, what I was most curious about was how rich people act in Greece (i.e. where are these mountain fastnesses in which they supposedly live)? In practical matters, what would it mean for the rich to "drop out" of American society? It's hard to think of one that is more friendly to them than this. Is the author mostly proposing that they cease to "live" rich until the anti-wealthy sentiment dies down? I know the piece is a jest, but I'm wondering about the specifics of the joke.

Another thing I wonder about is how one would stand out as a 1%er in ordinary life. I know that there are at least a few 1%ers in my circle of friends, although no one that you would think of as fabulously wealthy -- no one buying yachts or owning three or four houses. But I also know that there are a good many people who make less than me and live more richly than I do. It's almost impossible to identify a wealthy person in modern society. The best you can do is identify people who _expend_ large amounts of wealth. This makes me pretty confident that we'll not soon see any victims of French Revolution style violence in this country. All you have to do to maintain your wealth while appearing normal is move out of your mansion and sell your fancy car. Unless you are famous. This was not as easy a few centuries ago when wealth was almost the same as land and you needed to keep working it to keep producing more.

I personally think Occupy Wall Street is a great movement and am very excited to see Americans speak up but I have to admit I'm not as impassioned with it as some others are. I know its selfish but I think this probably has to do with the fact that I feel satisfied with my socio-economic situation/place which mostly is tied to being a software engineer ... I feel like I'm rewarded pretty decently and have many future opportunities (note: I am not rich). I think we're all very fortunate to be in the field we are in. Now saying that, I have 1) a lot of empathy for those who are struggling with cost of college, healthcare, etc in that it is very unfair and 2) a lot of concern as to how the current political, cultural and economic paths of the US will impact everyone in the future (including tech).

For a bit of fun, take a look at the comments posted after the article. Many of them don't realize it is satire.