[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

I hear a lot of bootstrapping rhetoric offline from some folks to justify whatever excesses they want to justify in their collecting. It is nice rhetoric but it doesn't play in the real world. I am a product of privilege; I owe a large part of what I achieved to being raised by wealthy parents who were able to send me to the best prep schools, universities and graduate programs. I went to school with scions of large fortunes, including some of the Forbes 400's kids. None of them earned it. None of them "deserved" it. They were simply born lucky. I socialize with many people who are nothing special but who emerged from the dot com boom with options that ended up worth fortunes. They did not deserve it nor did they earn it, they simply worked at the right company at the right time and happened to get some pieces of those companies when the friends and family were granted stock. Other wealthy people I know started out with no educational debts and inherited family businesses or six figures worth of family assets.

My point is simple: I do not appreciate analyses that equate worldy success with virtue. Some rich folks are virtuous just as some companies are run ethically. Many others are not. It is a case by case analysis.

As I said before: spend what you want on what you like, just stay the hell out of boxing cards.