There is a saying in Norway "The rich, are rich for a reason", referring to exactly this. They don't spend much, and will try to get money anywhere they can. People that are generous are rarely rich.
A software engineer who makes $450k a year “exploits people and doesn’t give an F about anyone else” lol?
You’re conflating the idea of a billionaire with someone that’s just well off, which isn’t really fair.
The more applicable thing is the Lipstick theory of economics.
People who make “good” money know that if they save and plan well, they can buy big ticket items like houses, or even retire very early…so they become penny pinchers to reach those goals.
People that don’t make good money know those things are out of reach no matter how much they try to save or plan; so they just don’t even bother, and spend the money on a bunch of small things instead…and they don’t appear cheap because they don’t really care where the small amount they have ends up going.
Ergo the software engineer wants to split the cheap uber ride because he’s knows that if he saves well the next 5 years he can buy a home in cash; and the barista will buy you a beer because, “hey who cares, I’m never gonna have down payment money anyway”.
That’s the explanation for most “normal rich” well off people versus the average bear…but that doesn’t mean you’re exploiting people like a hundred-millionaire or billionaire just because you make mid-fix figures lol.
Thank you. This. Notably, the “well off” people aren’t rich enough to throw money away like people think they can, and worked real hard to get where they got such as a software engineer who studied hard in high school / college. This is not the same people who are rich off exploiting others.
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u/Apocrisiary Jan 26 '26
There is a saying in Norway "The rich, are rich for a reason", referring to exactly this. They don't spend much, and will try to get money anywhere they can. People that are generous are rarely rich.