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Can a rich person be a good person? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by minnieo@kbin.social to c/AskKbin@kbin.social

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I don't mean doctor-making-150k-a-year rich, I mean properly rich with millions to billions of dollars.

I think many will say yes, they can be, though it may be rare. I was tempted to. I thought more about it and I wondered, are you really a good person if you're hoarding enough money you and your family couldn't spend in 10 lifetimes?

I thought, if you're a good person, you wouldn't be rich. And if you're properly rich you're probably not a good person.

I don't know if it's fair or naive to say, but that's what I thought. Whether it's what I believe requires more thought.

There are a handful of ex-millionaires who are no longer millionaires because they cared for others in a way they couldn't care for themselves. Only a handful of course, I would say they are good people.

And in order to stay rich, you have to play your role and participate in a society that oppresses the poor which in turn maintains your wealth. Are you really still capable of being a good person?

Very curious about people's thoughts on this.

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[–] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you don't use it to help others? Yes. Pretty simple concept, y'all are doing some crazy mental gymnastics here.

[–] killall-q@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

In this entire debate, you haven't made any logical arguments. You have only started and ended with a single assumption, that being in possession of great wealth inherently makes you a bad person.

I'm currently reading the Ender's Game series, and just finished the 2nd book, Speaker for the Dead. Mild spoilers follow.

Ender has been doing a lot of near-lightspeed travel, so due to time dilation, he is now about 3000 years old. He has a sentient AI friend who has been making investments in his name during his travels, so he has inadvertently become possibly the wealthiest human in existence. However, he never asked his friend to make those investments, and he only found out when he asked for her help with a problem one day. His wealth is rarely mentioned for the rest of the book.

He wasn't living a life of luxury before he found out about his wealth, and still doesn't, and he's too busy with protagonist stuff to devote any time to philanthropy; money just isn't part of his identity or decision making. He helps lots of people in his adventures, but not using his money, and most things he or they need can't be bought anyway. His wealth is just another tool to be used as needed, but it's far from his most useful or important one.

[–] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Cool. He should tell his AI friend to use that money to help people. That's the real protagonist shit.

You have only started and ended with a single assumption

Yes, and I don't know what about it requires more explanation. If you have more money than you will ever need, and you're not using it to help people, that is bad. It's almost axiomatic.