Oddbean

@3967703f I was just thinking about this the other day. For context, I am in a third world country. I was outside of my condo the other day and a guy pulled up in a car that is easily worth 10 condos here. It is probably worth about as much as my parents 5 bedroom house in the states. I live pretty comfortably here, but there is extreme poverty. I started wondering why society can even function when there is such a divide between people.

@3967703f @f15fec4b I believe the rich experience security not the way that normal people do - "Are my needs met?", but in a maladaptive way of "Am I winning?" They seem to need reminders of how much money they COULD lose, or their wealth isn't worth anything to them. The feeling of being "special" and "chosen" to be in a wealthy group seems to be the motivation, not the money itself (which has to lose meaning pretty fast at those sums.) Therefore a "lower" class MUST exist for them to feel like they have anything at all. And the "lower" that class gets, the more money they feel like they have.