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from the this-is-just-what-our-corporate-overlords-want-us-to-think dept.
You’d think striking it suddenly rich would be the ultimate ticket to freedom. Without money worries, the world would be your oyster. Perhaps you’d champion a worthy cause, or indulge a sporting passion, but work? Surely not. However, remaining gainfully employed after sudden wealth is more common than you’d think. After all, there are numerous high-profile billionaires who haven’t called it quits despite possessing the luxury to retire, including some of the world’s top chief executives, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
But it turns out, the suddenly rich who aren’t running companies are also loathe to quit, even though they have plenty of money. That could be, in part, because the link between salary and job satisfaction is very weak.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday December 13 2016, @12:06PM
I'd do it ... to cure a few personal bugbears.
This sounds kind of free software-ish. Scratching an itch. I wonder if there is some kind of economic equivalent to open-source either already in existence, or waiting to be invented?
I agree with your sentiments. If I had huge amounts of money I'd see to my own extended family's stability and comfort, and then redistribute the rest in the most fairest and most efficient way possible: Infrastructure. Either set up an organisation or team up with local / regional / national government(s) (depending on scale of my fortune) to build lasting infrastructure that will benefit thousands of people every day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @12:14PM
I wonder if there is some kind of economic equivalent to open-source either already in existence, or waiting to be invented?
Begging, SN does it.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday December 13 2016, @05:45PM
The reason open source works so well economically speaking is that while the cost of producing one copy of software is very very high, after that, the cost of producing any number of copies of the same software is almost zero. Other things that kind of behave that way are what are thoroughly misnamed "intellectual property": musical recordings, writing of all kinds, artwork, research and scholarship, and so forth. So with that in mind, one very ethical option for rich people is becoming, to use an antiquated phrase, "a gentleman and a scholar".
That, or your proposed foray into philanthropy, are absolutely worthwhile and fulfilling activities for rich people. Playing the game of who's highest on the Forbes list or who has the bigger ... yacht are not.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday December 13 2016, @05:51PM
I'd try to change the world. You speak of infrastructure. I'd like to get people thinking that governments should build more transportation systems than just roads for cars and trucks. I'd like to see the sidewalk promoted to the walkway. The "side" in sidewalk denotes a vastly inferior status. Just because a route is inconvenient for an automobile road is no reason why it can't be done with a walkway. Make most buildings at least 2 stories, and connect the upper story with an entire network of elevated walkways. Move the sidewalk to the 2nd floor, call it a walkway or maybe a skywalk, and leave the ground level to the cars. The buildings themselves can be designed to support the walkway, no need to put bridge piers all along the walkway.
But then, we can't be bothered to eliminate railroad crossings.
I'd also like to see copyright law made completely irrelevant, turned into the kiss of death that ensures a work of art will be buried in obscurity because no one will touch it, and that because we have set up better business models to pay artists.
Would take more than a few millions to swing those, I'm sure.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Tuesday December 13 2016, @06:14PM
part of the problem with city design is that things were made as the technology allowed it, rather than designed from the ground up with everything we have today. rails were laid down across the country long before the personal automobile was even a dream, and walkways were used long before either of them. we've had to lay rails across the walkways, and then lay roads across the rails, leaving us with a big, mishmashed mess of modern and legacy pathways crossing over each other all over the place. i dont think there's a single city in existence that doesn't predate the automobile (maybe in like China or Dubai or something, there's probably an edge case somewhere, but in general, most cities are well over 100 years old). if a new city were designed today, it could factor in all kinds of better ideas, like elevated walkways and light rail from the start instead of implementing them each as the new technology becomes available.
(Score: 1) by charon on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:28PM
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday December 15 2016, @11:16AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by charon on Thursday December 15 2016, @08:43PM
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday December 16 2016, @11:43AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by Murdoc on Wednesday December 14 2016, @02:25AM
I wonder if there is some kind of economic equivalent to open-source either already in existence, or waiting to be invented?
Funny you should mention that. I've long liked to think of Technocracy [technocracy.ca] as an "open source" style of economy. It's entirely voluntary, just like open source. It works better with transparency and sharing of information like open source, as opposed to "trade secrets" that companies like to keep. And infrastructure!
and then redistribute the rest in the most fairest and most efficient way possible: Infrastructure. Either set up an organisation or team up with local / regional / national government(s) (depending on scale of my fortune) to build lasting infrastructure that will benefit thousands of people every day.
Technocracy's katascopic methodology insists on getting proper infrastructure in place from day 1. It's a key component of efficiency which is an important part of the design. This might be what you (and perhaps even ledow) are looking for.