Ah, ok - fair enough. I can only see the thread title, I can’t see the content of the OP.
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Fair enough.
When does one feel guilty about how much one earns?
when one doesn’t feel the wage is justified? Probably never for most people.
I guess I’m talking about the wage someone gets vs the average wage. Is 1.5x the tipping point, 2x, 5x, >10x?
But to your point where should be the tipping point?
it’s subjective, this question is impossible to answer. Because guilt itself is subjective.
there’s footballers making $50mil a year to kick a bag full of air. But surgeons who work at Children’s Hospitals saving the lives of little kids make 1/200th of that. So, it’s subjective.
These are irrelevant in the context of the “city”. Some begrudge these footballers making these sums but in reality they are a tiny fraction of all footballers and are considerably less in number than the number of gangsters, politicians and (for sure) bankers making similar sums…
My point is more on a personal level. I had a colleague (not sure we were ever really friends) that gave 15-25% of their income to charity - always. I never had that level of commitment and it makes me feel inadequate (guilty) at the end of the day…
No question. I guess I should have referenced the “guilt” aspect when it comes to my statement of footballers vs surgeons. Messi thanking god every day that he makes more than a third world village probably doesn’t absolve guilt.
I wish I had that kind of money. I earn a good living wage but am still short when it comes to planning retirement. I didn’t make good career decisions when I was younger (hence, the blue pill over red pill discussion) so unless I have some kind of windfall I’ll be working until I can afford not to.
so I donate my time to the ALS Society to fundraise, I donate my recycling deposits and buy charity raffles when I come across them. Cost of living here is so bloody expensive I’m struggling 8yrs later to rebuild my savings that I had to spend when we bought this house.
He did this during his PhD - whatever stipend (was around £8-9k back in the 90s) he got he gave away 15-25%. Knowing him he has probably sustained that to this day.
This is not a slight - I admire people who give their energy to good causes and in the end that is very, very important.
not taken as a slight. 
I wish I had money to give.
If I could actually afford to do it, I’d love to go work with Habitat for Humanity or something along those lines.
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I think the question is an interesting one, but I wouldnt lose a moment of sleep in terms of comparing yourself to others. The guy might be a very good guy. And hopefully the donations have done some good over the years. But neither is a given. I know lots of people who are very charitable yet absolute cunts. What describe of the way this guy has gone about his charity sounds like a religious tithing, which even without getting into the ills of funding organized religion (especially the ones that demand such tithing), it’s rarely a sense of goodness that spurs it, but obligation. You’re not really being a better person by giving to a cause over threats of burning in damnation for eternity if you dont.
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Agreed but this person was and approached it from an atheist view point. I’m not sure how the position evolved and why. As to being personable, the person didn’t care to be so and was always outside of the near mainstream - let alone mainstream. As to whether the contributions did/do any good - it is difficult to gauge as you say.
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I knew a guy like that, made some very good money, not crazy rich, but decided to give two thirds of his income every month to charities, even sold his house and lived in a small apartment. Not religious either. Got to respect that.
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I earn well enough to take care of my parents, wife and daughter.
But still feel guilty, because my (unnecessary) expenditures are more than my income. No savings to be honest.
I think it’s not how much you earn. You will always find someone who earns more. Its about how you make the most of what you earn. I have been shit at it and working on it.
I know this cannot be relevant to everyone but over the last 2.5 years, getting laid off, and jobless for 2 years, and now trying to do some small business myself instead of looking for a job that pays me the same pay in the past, I have realized that people seek financial freedom in the sense of earning enough to live the lifestyle they crave, I now seek financial freedom in the sense that I have the ability to live with joy and in abundance that is regardless and independent of how much or little money I have. When I share this with my friends, even closest ones, I always get ’ thats nice…but’. I am thankful that even with my ‘misfortune’ of losing a job and income for 2 years and feeling like shite, I am in a better position already compared to many people in the world, who do not even have enough to put food on the table, who do not even live in dignity, who do not even have any choice to move away from their shit situations. If you are suffering, chins up and find joy in the small and big things in life, if you are well enough, do something for someone else who is not. Alot of times, we look to eradicate the big inequalities of the world, which is important but if we can help that just one person down the street, your neighbour, that it matters to that one person, and that is one person in this world who can live with more hope.
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And that’s the trouble.
People are brainwashed into wanting stuff they don’t actually need.
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It’s a complex thing. For example, I had friends who lament that they are struggling to buy that expensive milk formula and that the government is not helping to make essentials cheaper. I believed them until I go to a simple market run and realized there are much cheaper options from reputable brands. I asked them and they say oh but those cheap ones do not have dha, epa blah blah… I asked them do they know does it really help, they say nope but they don’t want to take any chances and they Need to get the best. So I told them you got to pay the bill for expensive marketing. So is wanting the best for kids a need or want? In Singapore, I think it’s the latter but I have also learnt, it’s impossible to compare mindsets, priorities, achievements and even sufferings but what I learnt, if what you need makes you so unhappy, you need to change something.
A lot of people find it difficult to be, or remain content even when they have reached certain goals or status… Some even think they have a God given right to be happy, or rich, or whatever else they crave no matter the cost to their standing as a decent human being.
I have met people that think life in general is crap, thus have conditioned themselves to accept this point of view… and so when some good times come along they embrace them, and appreciate them fully… as opposed to continuously bemoaning the fact they are not happy nor top of the food chain in their warped view of how unfair the world is to them.
Life is and will always remain a slog. More for some than others.
Jack Vettriano, a humble man with artistic talents @gasband might have already noted is a kindred spirit who turned his hobby of painting to take over his life so he could live his dream… Working in the coalmines he dared to think there was more to life… To him, he made it happen. Has it made him happier… according to him, not at all… but at a cost to himself, he has brought colour and imagery to a darkened landscape some would call life… We all a have a role to play in evolution, no matter how big or small that might be eh.
Same with Exon and Chevron.
No matter the economic environment, these companies win and the general public are always made to eat it.
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