Their decisions matter to millions of people. The fact that they got away with war crimes doesn’t enhance their character or absolve them of their stupidity.
I think we are talking past each other. I’m not denying the potential power rich people have. I’m denying the idea that money automatically makes you cool, awesome, and better than the regular Joe. It doesn’t.
Well it depends what you mean by better off. Cheney has had 5 heart attacks and a bunch of blood problems. He broke his back just by picking up a box. I bet his life has been full of stress. When he was in office he had a permanent scowl and red face. No matter how much money he gets he’ll never have my health, strength, peace of mind and integrity
Are they financially secure? Obviously. But that’s about it.
That’s not trading places with him, that’s trading his finances for yours, it’s not the same, and you should know that.
And you know, I obviously don’t make as much as him. But I have my investments, I’m not worried about my next paycheck, and I’m sitting happy knowing that if it came down to it, I could leave work tomorrow, and start another job in a week at over double my pay check.
You probably remember, but I’m a sys/network admin. It more than pays the bills. I’ve got two amazing 401k’s from prior jobs, and now two 403b’s, one from the current one. They are sitting pretty, plus I have my own shit on the side, and a decent broker. I really don’t even notice the fact that I earn half as much in the non profit global health field as I did as a private DoD contractor, I wasn’t spending that anyways. And the whole “saving the poor people in Africa” angle lands you an amazing amount of ass from PHD/MD/JD ivy league save the world trust fund hot chicks.
I can just not show up for work, and remote what I need to for the office, and our international ones. And if the shit hits the fan, I can get there in 10 mins in two subway stops. I’m completely left alone to do what I want, with the catch of having to fix things or do upgrades when needed, that’s fine with me most of the time, but it get’s crazy at points. I eat out on the company dine where I want every lunch, and go out to dinner almost every night.
And when I have to bust my ass, well I’m good at what I do and I feel good about the field I work in, so I actually enjoy it the majority of the time.
I wouldn’t trade that for his millions, with the cost of having to deal with the women he does, a fried brain, the fast aging, and all the other issues that would entail trading my life for his. Nor would I want a mansion or any of that fancy stuff. It’s just bullshit. And I’m beyond the “must make more to buy more” mentality of the naive.
Life doesn’t have to be that hard, it’s actually really easy and simple, if you just look past the rampant materialism and other items out there, and realize you can be happy just being you and doing what you want.
In DC, even if you make only 60k you can rapidly flip that into two rentals in the hood, and turn that into enough to cover your rent. Any quality place you work is going to cover your healthcare and give you a 401k or 403b. Granted it’s a risk, but it’s not hard to get the loans to do it, provided you slum it for a year or two (I won’t get into my personal details but I saved my cash from deployments while in the military to invest in some items)
Yeah, wrong. Not the truly rich and powerful. They are only concerned with power and brains, that’s their fetish and they are damn good at it. I deal with them when they make donations to HIV/AIDS and other issues that we help solve. They just aren’t like that.
The image of pussy and cars is sold to the weak minded and the stupid, and helps keeps them down and owned by the rich, only fools follow those goals. Those who have it, only care about more cash and power and getting a name for themselves. They’ll fuck a troll provided she can help invest, and they won’t get blasted because they want to be sober for their next transaction.
At the top of the top, it’s never about women, cars, or bling, it’s all about power and titles, and women/cars/bling ruin all that for you.
Would you rather be an old dude who had 5 heart attacks and couldn’t pay the bills and saddled your family with the debt, or the one who can afford it? Exaaaaaaaactly. Financial indepdence = good
I agree that materialism is stupid, but financial independence is something else entirely, and it is quite good. It lets you live the way you want to. Work starts sucking? You can quit. Want to help save the world? You can do so without worrying about how to feed your family. Want to fuck tons of hookers? You can do so. And that’s why rich people are better off. They have freedom that a commoner does not. Its a sliding scale of freedom, the more cash flow you have, the more freedom. As a senior software developer with my own condo which I actually have equity in, zero credit card debt, a lot of savings and a lot of 401k, I’m doing far better than the vast majority of the nation when it comes to my finances, but even then, a guy like Charlie Sheen completely dwarfs me. Oh, I also have 21 days of vacation a year. I have freedom, and could quit my job tomorrow and be unemployed for about a year or so, but after that, its back to work.
Anyway, obviously pure materialism is dumb. But all of the world’s billionaires buy fancy toys some of the time, and some of the world’s billionaires have mistresses all of the time. And I’d be highly skeptical if none of them did some kind of drugs at some point in their life. They’re just smart enough to be discrete about it, whereas Hollywood thrives on attention. Yes their main goal and drive in life is the challenge of making their mark on the world, but they do occasionally partake in lesser pleasures.
So if you were Charlie Sheen, you would… work? Screw that. The money he makes from ONE episode of two and a half men would set me up real nicely ANYWHERE in the fucking world w/out me having to life another finger. Charlie Sheen is WIN not Work…
Wrong, the drive for food and resources is actually greater among the smarter mammals, only the most base are only about sex. This also shows up among intelligence within any mamilian species.
Not everybody hates their job. Some people find jobs they love. The lazy and the stupid do avoid work though. Which is why selling those people hopes and dreams of easy money and power makes those who want to work so much money and puts them in control.
naw, it’s been shown that men are more ambitious and driven because it helps improve reproductive success. worries about food are pretty low on the hierarchy of human needs. this is why women are far less driven, they don’t need to be driven to impress potential mates.
it’s the selfish genes.
edit: by low of course i dont mean that food isn’t the most important thing to a human (after air) - it is - but it isnt usually something a human is obsessed with finding anymore.
The best thing about this is that he’s being honest about enjoying drugs, fucking loads of women, and getting shitfaced. I mean, we ALL know most people enjoy these things to some degree but for some reason, everyone in this country feels a need to pretend like they don’t. And god knows how dishonest most celebrities feel they have to be for fear of offending some theoretical consumer. More power to Charlie for having the balls to be honest about this stuff. The show wasn’t the best thing on tv but it was good because there was no doubt that his character on the show was 100% modeled after Charlie Sheen himself, and that’s why he was so great in the role. He didn’t have to act at all.
I’m pretty sure there was definitely more than a bit of Charlie in mind when they created that show.
i think its less likely that its the blow and more likely all that poon that’s “confusing” him.
we all know how poonawge will affect your ability to think coherently.
also, somebody at SRK gotta offer Charlie his own bi-monthly article.
