This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
Is being Rich Good?
I'm wondering how the Ted community feels about being rich and how they feel about rich people.
talk about ethics, morality, pro's and cons or whatever you'd like concerning Riches.
Vivek Trivedi 10+
Joe Delsen 20+
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Being rich can be good if you really know how to control yourself with the riches you have.Always be humble,don't ever be too proud.With a lot of money, you'll be able to help the ones who don't have them easily.Have a nice day!
Salim Solaiman 50+
Someone RICH with money
Someone RICH with time
Someone RICH with empathy & compassion
Someone RICH with morality / ethics
Someone is RICH with having ability to be happy with silly reason
so on list can go on
Nothing wrong to be RICH if it doesn't hurt others.
Laurens Rademakers 50+
It's like asking what the relationship is between the speed of an Apache helicopter and the boiling point of vanilla pudding.
Jordan Miller 20+
good could mean comfortable or anything else you feel is "good."
Bob Shingles 10+
Monetary wealth or riches are like tools... neither good nor evil. Look up Andrew Carnegie.
Salim Solaiman 50+
Balzac
If that's not the case , why being RICH should be bad, rather it can enable one to help others who are less fortunate, which is good.
Chris Aldon 20+
I'm money-blind, I don't judge a person on the amount they make. But instead on the type of person they are.
Nate Buwalda 20+
Wealth is relative, some may place no value on a strong community, a sense of purpose or even the ability to freely express ourselves, for me however I feel a person with al of this is very rich indeed.
Chris Aldon 20+
Bob Shingles 10+
After that short list, count all the things that can be bought with money. That list will never end.
Jordan Miller 20+
I like your attitude. the question then becomes, How are those things achieved?
Nate Buwalda 20+
For me, It's highly based on experiences, learning about cultures far from my own, seeing the world in my own backyard (so often, it's right there yet I am so unfamiliar with it).
Two things come to mind:
When I was 16 I wanted to cycle around Europe solo. I had the money and amazingly parents that were ok with the idea (which, still boggles my mind). One day I was speaking to the only homeless man from my small town, outside the grocery store I worked at. He was an elderly man that I knew had lived a hard life but he had been all over the world as a sailor in WW2 and laborer there after, he absolutely fascinated me.
In years that we had been friends he had never given me any advice so when I told him about my planned tripped that was still in it's infancy (more an idea that I whispered than open talked about) he looked me square in the eyes, in way that was filled with a life's worth of wisdom and said "Before you go out and see the world, find out what is in your backyard first. You'll never appreciate what you see until you know where you come from". I changed my plans, I cycled Canada instead and never regretted it.
Today the way I achieve richness on a more daily basis is through creation, through art, photography, making videos, documentaries (again a plan in the whispering stage) through carving, writing, reading, sharing ideas and engaging people in ways that are new to them or conversely new to me.
I believe there is no wrong way to attain richness, I feel as if it is as personalized as we as individuals are.
Laurens Rademakers 50+
Perhaps the confusion (in the Western world) between "wealth in goods" and "wealth in people", is a morally dubious confusion of the first order.
Also: there's some science which shows that once you have 5000$ a year, adding money doesn't make you happier. This seems to be the universal line. But then, I don't know if there's a correlation between happiness and moral behavior.
In short, the question "is being rich good", is a highly bizarre question.