I saw a video a while back in which the creator compared how rich or poor people would react to various life situations. Obviously, this huge difference is due to only one factor: the presence or absence of money.
I believe that we often underestimate the power of money to completely transform people, changing their essence and even the smallest details.
Imagine how money can give people voices.
Consider a poor, marginalized person who is subjected to shame and discrimination by someone who has more money than them. On the surface, it appears that these people will die timid or voiceless, but giving them the opportunity to be heard without fear of repercussions allows them to reveal their true selves.
Marginalized? Check you might just be a marginalizer
In fact, people who are marginalized because they lack money are more likely to exhibit vengeful tendencies when they do acquire money. Why? Because they have spent a lot of time in pain and sorrow, they are likely to relive all of their retaliatory moments when the opportunity arises.
A person who has been marginalized because of money is likely to become a marginalizer themselves, even if they are unaware of it, because that is the psychological structure of the mind: we can hardly tell we are becoming the very thing we once despised.
Although money is only a tool, it has the power to rewire the very essence of who we are; the psychological and sociological parameters of our lives can be represented by the voice that money has the ability to give or take away.
Humble beginnings means nothing
Many wealthy people came from humble beginnings and had to suffer and work extremely hard to improve their lives, but the fortune they worked so hard for has transformed them into the people they had to fight to become.
This is why it is easier to become arrogant without realizing it. It's how you can look down on other without even having your conscience check mating you.
This is not to say that money takes away empathy; in fact, having enough to give can make one more empathetic, but this is not because of the money, it is because of the person who they were before they got the financial means of expression.
Money can cause people to become overconfident, complacent, and careless, and these attitudinal tendencies are not always obvious due to a lack of self-reflection and introspection.
Some wealthy people find it difficult to evaluate themselves because others may make excuses for them based on what they stand to gain.
The concept of comfort, ease, and goodness causes people to forget who they once were, where they came from, and what their stories were.
One taste of hard or good life is enough to override people, which is sad.
The fact that we are wired to be empathetic and full of emotions, with a rich burst of memories that define our personalities, can be gradually compromised by exposure to good or bad experiences.
Take a look at the concept of beauty.
Someone once told me I was ugly, but I was actually sick, suffering, and going through a difficult period.
However, several years later, the same person told me that I looked good.
What changed?
I was clearly the same person, but I had recovered from my illness, was dressed better, and wore cologne. Except for genetics, which is unchangeable, every aspect of human life is changeable, and money, or a lack of it, can cause more than 60% of this change.
Another aspect is sociological, and it is amazing how people change.
One moment you think they are local, unattractive, or classless, and then a few years later they have different accents, their personality has changed, and they no longer have the same attitude. They can now laugh freely in public, no longer afraid to make eye contact or speak up for themselves.
Unfortunately, the social experiment will be inconclusive. Why?
This is because not all rich people will become poor, and not all poor people will become rich, allowing us to conclude that all humans are likely to change when their financial situation changes. Although it is easier to draw conclusions from the evidence we see on a daily basis.
That is why we probably need moments of reflection and discipline. The mind is deep, but it can also become extremely shallow. We can bear deep and painful memories, and it may only take one good memory to wipe them all away. Realities like this make you wonder how we as humans are truly wired.
If you are on the average side of the spectrum, this may not be immediately obvious, unless you have been at the top or bottom.
Interested in some more of my posts
Why Is the grind getting harder?
Monopoly Is the Death of Civilization
Survival: Choas and Scarcity
Crypto: Gut & meaningful Connections
What is the primary barrier to entry in Web3?
What Are Some Things You Should not Do During A Bull Market Year?
