I recently attended a conference in NY that was promoted as an inspirational day of networking and hearing from successful leaders and entrepreneurs. It was a gross display of “someday you will be good when you have money like we do”. And the saddest part to me was how many people in the crowd were buying their bullshit. It was almost cult-like. Promoting the idea that any human will matter more (or at all) only when they are richer, more influential or more powerful is so dangerous but this idea is spread widely, especially on social media.
One of the founders of this event even encouraged people to promise him that after they made their millions they’d all run out and start nonprofits, as if the work we do in this space is so simple that people don’t need any experience or knowledge- just money. They truly believe having money is the answer to everything.
Your writing confronts such important topics and challenges so many things that need to be challenged. I am so grateful for your work.
I also attempted to talk to the cofounder about the charity he started as it was clearly a bullshit tax shelter and when his Director tried to introduce me and said I had some questions, he coughed, pretended to need to get a drink of water and then never came back. Coward.
Thank you so much for this. As a small biz owner I've seen the power these kind of entrepreneurs have in marginalized communities. They end up harming the very audiences they court. I really think small business can be a force for good if we can reimagine its part in a community. The girl bosses and marketing bros have other plans though.
Another brilliant piece! So many parts I want to highlight and force people to read.
I have long thought similarly that our focus on individuality, our growing isolation from one another, is resulting in a world where we fail to understand that we need each other in order to survive. We would all do well to embrace the Ubuntu philosophy - my humanity is bound to yours; we cannot be human, or exist, without one another.
Thank you for articulating this message. The "rags to riches" and "up by your bootstraps" narratives, coupled with a culture of individualism, are so ingrained in our culture, that it is hard for many to see what you outline so well. I worked in investment management for decades, mostly helping not the super-wealthy, but middle to upper middle class folk. And I was always astonished when I encountered people who believed they needed more, more, more--when our models clearly showed they were financially fine...and would be indefinitely. (IDK what drives this insecurity, but I finally decided to leave the profession and now help underserved communities with financial literacy.) A friend recently returned from Norway, where he encountered a much different narrative: one where a sense of community and the common good were valued so much more than they are here in the US. Whether we can inculcate more of that narrative here seems to be one of the biggest challenges of our time. Well done and keep going! --NLG
The unanswerable question of, “What is ENOUGH?” For most people, there will never be enough, because they can’t meet their basic needs. For other people, there will never be enough because they don’t understand how to satiate their actual needs, so they just get more and more and more and more.
This hit me in my Soul in such a deep way. I have bought all the courses by savvy marketers, still haven't yet found a way to offer my gifts in the world that also honor my actual needs for money. It has been a terrible feeling especially watching as so many "leaders" in the world flaunting their 7 figure businesses. I get jealous which makes me realize I want wealth as well. I question why shouldn't that be me too as I'd probably be a much better steward of money than those who currently hold it. I don't know how to find the balance myself. I want to embrace the potential of building generational wealth in a way that doesn't perpetuate all the shit that I have spent years healing from. When I was married to someone working for "the man" and ensuring the comforts of my life , it was easier to be the "humanitarian" and critique the system. I don't know how to reconcile that within myself. I would hope that there is a way to pursue individual wealth in a way that also uplifts the collective. Thank you so much for giving voice to something that has been really weighing on my Soul.
America is destroying itself with greed. Our great grandparents stood together and supported one another in times of trouble, now people are preyed upon when they are at their lowest. Taking advantage of people is seen as good business. People go to places like Kensington, PA to film people on drugs (while people like Elon Musk do the same thing in their penthouse suit) while mocking, belittling and making fun of them to get likes on their social media in order to gain popularity at the expense of people at the lowest possible point in their lives. It is truly repulsive. (The people watching these videos are just as bad as the people making them because if they where not watched not as many would be made.) If a nation invades the U.S., we have no chance because the majority of people would be worried about saving their new car, TV, i-phone, etc. Individually, instead of trying to save the nation together.
I am not innocent, but my eyes are open now and I do the best I can. Back in the '90s I sold weed, not the kind of weed they have now but bricked weed. The bags we got where always short so in order to make up we would put carrots in with the weed for overnight and the weight would increase due to the moisture. I look back in disgust.
Thank you for writing this out so articulately! This needs to go on blast over and over on social media to the point of drowning out the voices of those malicious and vicious vultures out there! As a small business owner in Las Vegas, NV (arguably one of the hardest hit economies with inflation and greedflation since 2020 pandemic, with all of the corporations taking over with sports teams as their tool to refocus our city as the next 'luxury' destination), I have seen people literally ran out of our valley financially or worse, put out on the streets. My business is currently struggling because I am in the beauty service industry, which people cannot afford like they used to. This article (and I searched all over to see if anyone put there was seeing the same things and just as disgusted and scared for the future of America like I am). You, sir hit the nail on the head and are preaching to the choir here! I figure if greedy individualism can become viral, somehow so can rebuilding sustainable communities and steering toward sharing responsibilities through community cohesion and cooperation. Thank you for putting what needs to be said out there!
“And it seems that the profound danger of our age is not just the pervasiveness of this greed, but its glamorized portrayal, often celebrated as business acumen and entrepreneurial grit.”
F-ing preach that!!!!
I’m a person who’s been exploited by wildly overcharging coaches since I started my business in 2013. In 2017 I finally woke up and said enough, it was humbling AF and so destabilizing.
I texted our mutual friend Weeze this week to say I have such a brain crush on you (a non-romantic human and intellectual appreciation - not tryna flirt - much respect to your wife 🙌🏼). I am just so into how you think and write. You really articulate things I think (and talk shit about when I’m angry) in ways that help me let go of what I need to so I can engage in a healthier and more productive way. Thank you!!
These are people who have fallen hook line and sinker for capitalist propaganda: they want to be in the vulture class, and some of them get in and run the very corporations that are the greediest. How does anyone deprogram that?
I recently attended a conference in NY that was promoted as an inspirational day of networking and hearing from successful leaders and entrepreneurs. It was a gross display of “someday you will be good when you have money like we do”. And the saddest part to me was how many people in the crowd were buying their bullshit. It was almost cult-like. Promoting the idea that any human will matter more (or at all) only when they are richer, more influential or more powerful is so dangerous but this idea is spread widely, especially on social media.
One of the founders of this event even encouraged people to promise him that after they made their millions they’d all run out and start nonprofits, as if the work we do in this space is so simple that people don’t need any experience or knowledge- just money. They truly believe having money is the answer to everything.
Your writing confronts such important topics and challenges so many things that need to be challenged. I am so grateful for your work.
Thank you so much for saying that. The conference you attended is exactly the issue!
I also attempted to talk to the cofounder about the charity he started as it was clearly a bullshit tax shelter and when his Director tried to introduce me and said I had some questions, he coughed, pretended to need to get a drink of water and then never came back. Coward.
Thank you so much for this. As a small biz owner I've seen the power these kind of entrepreneurs have in marginalized communities. They end up harming the very audiences they court. I really think small business can be a force for good if we can reimagine its part in a community. The girl bosses and marketing bros have other plans though.
Another brilliant piece! So many parts I want to highlight and force people to read.
I have long thought similarly that our focus on individuality, our growing isolation from one another, is resulting in a world where we fail to understand that we need each other in order to survive. We would all do well to embrace the Ubuntu philosophy - my humanity is bound to yours; we cannot be human, or exist, without one another.
Thank you for articulating this message. The "rags to riches" and "up by your bootstraps" narratives, coupled with a culture of individualism, are so ingrained in our culture, that it is hard for many to see what you outline so well. I worked in investment management for decades, mostly helping not the super-wealthy, but middle to upper middle class folk. And I was always astonished when I encountered people who believed they needed more, more, more--when our models clearly showed they were financially fine...and would be indefinitely. (IDK what drives this insecurity, but I finally decided to leave the profession and now help underserved communities with financial literacy.) A friend recently returned from Norway, where he encountered a much different narrative: one where a sense of community and the common good were valued so much more than they are here in the US. Whether we can inculcate more of that narrative here seems to be one of the biggest challenges of our time. Well done and keep going! --NLG
The unanswerable question of, “What is ENOUGH?” For most people, there will never be enough, because they can’t meet their basic needs. For other people, there will never be enough because they don’t understand how to satiate their actual needs, so they just get more and more and more and more.
🎯🎯🎯
This hit me in my Soul in such a deep way. I have bought all the courses by savvy marketers, still haven't yet found a way to offer my gifts in the world that also honor my actual needs for money. It has been a terrible feeling especially watching as so many "leaders" in the world flaunting their 7 figure businesses. I get jealous which makes me realize I want wealth as well. I question why shouldn't that be me too as I'd probably be a much better steward of money than those who currently hold it. I don't know how to find the balance myself. I want to embrace the potential of building generational wealth in a way that doesn't perpetuate all the shit that I have spent years healing from. When I was married to someone working for "the man" and ensuring the comforts of my life , it was easier to be the "humanitarian" and critique the system. I don't know how to reconcile that within myself. I would hope that there is a way to pursue individual wealth in a way that also uplifts the collective. Thank you so much for giving voice to something that has been really weighing on my Soul.
Outstanding article that couldn't have been said better. Thank you.
I’m glad we’re starting to see it. We need to start supporting each other for God’s sake. Pay it forward, let’s bring back community.
America is destroying itself with greed. Our great grandparents stood together and supported one another in times of trouble, now people are preyed upon when they are at their lowest. Taking advantage of people is seen as good business. People go to places like Kensington, PA to film people on drugs (while people like Elon Musk do the same thing in their penthouse suit) while mocking, belittling and making fun of them to get likes on their social media in order to gain popularity at the expense of people at the lowest possible point in their lives. It is truly repulsive. (The people watching these videos are just as bad as the people making them because if they where not watched not as many would be made.) If a nation invades the U.S., we have no chance because the majority of people would be worried about saving their new car, TV, i-phone, etc. Individually, instead of trying to save the nation together.
I am not innocent, but my eyes are open now and I do the best I can. Back in the '90s I sold weed, not the kind of weed they have now but bricked weed. The bags we got where always short so in order to make up we would put carrots in with the weed for overnight and the weight would increase due to the moisture. I look back in disgust.
Thank you for writing this out so articulately! This needs to go on blast over and over on social media to the point of drowning out the voices of those malicious and vicious vultures out there! As a small business owner in Las Vegas, NV (arguably one of the hardest hit economies with inflation and greedflation since 2020 pandemic, with all of the corporations taking over with sports teams as their tool to refocus our city as the next 'luxury' destination), I have seen people literally ran out of our valley financially or worse, put out on the streets. My business is currently struggling because I am in the beauty service industry, which people cannot afford like they used to. This article (and I searched all over to see if anyone put there was seeing the same things and just as disgusted and scared for the future of America like I am). You, sir hit the nail on the head and are preaching to the choir here! I figure if greedy individualism can become viral, somehow so can rebuilding sustainable communities and steering toward sharing responsibilities through community cohesion and cooperation. Thank you for putting what needs to be said out there!
“And it seems that the profound danger of our age is not just the pervasiveness of this greed, but its glamorized portrayal, often celebrated as business acumen and entrepreneurial grit.”
F-ing preach that!!!!
I’m a person who’s been exploited by wildly overcharging coaches since I started my business in 2013. In 2017 I finally woke up and said enough, it was humbling AF and so destabilizing.
I texted our mutual friend Weeze this week to say I have such a brain crush on you (a non-romantic human and intellectual appreciation - not tryna flirt - much respect to your wife 🙌🏼). I am just so into how you think and write. You really articulate things I think (and talk shit about when I’m angry) in ways that help me let go of what I need to so I can engage in a healthier and more productive way. Thank you!!
These are people who have fallen hook line and sinker for capitalist propaganda: they want to be in the vulture class, and some of them get in and run the very corporations that are the greediest. How does anyone deprogram that?