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Korea (South)1897 Posts
I'm fairly unapologetic in the subject matter that I write,
some guys like it, some guys hate it,
if they like it, they like me, if they hate it, they hate me.
It's the nature of talking and writing about money, but also ambition, competing and being out there for the world to admire your successes and even your failures. Cause even when you fail on the road of ambition, it is some how admirable that you are still fighting the good fight, even as you're actually eating a lot of shit and forced to suck a lot of dicks to stay in the game.
I APOLOGIZE TO NOBODY
But I'm unapologetic because it is something that I enjoy doing, as I enjoyed playing rugby competitively and had I been a bit more talented and not have gotten my ankle broken, then maybe I would be doing that and coaching rather than having completed my MBA 10+ years ago.
The reality is, for most of the time I'm doing business, it is like I'm playing a game, and it's a game where the game never turns off; its a game where you forget you're in a game and you need to consciously turn it off so you can appreciate the real things around you like your kids growing up or your wife. It's like real life Grand Theft Auto without the violence and the risk of jail, but also with the consequence that you really need to pay, like monthly salaries of your staff depending on you and raises and bonus as well as supplier and those who have extended you way too much credit and you have the need to make it up for your business reputation and to continue to do business as well as not screwing people over. And of course, those consequences get out of hand some times.
HIGH STAKES POKER
But, people love to watch high stakes poker, cause when you see someone bet and lose, you can see all those emotions all in just a space of 10 mins. All business can be like that when you're dealing with cash, cash as investments, loans, and risking high return projects with governments or exclusive agreements, the only difference is, you can't edit it into the space of a ten minute TV poker hand. But, I gotta tell you, I absolutely live for the show 'Billions' season 2.
I wont' get into the show other than it is business drama, which is:
1. Ultimately about power
2. Unapologetic about it
3. Is not basic in the content.
The last point is, I absolutely love that this show hits the topics right at the top of the level, I really think it really pierces it. Season 1 was nothing special, honestly, maybe a 6/10, but holy shit, season 2. Man, I count down the days till the next show. I watch each show like 3 times during the week. Pathetic I know, but there is just so much win in the shows cause it just hits at such a high level.
I LOVE AMERICAN MONEY
What I mean by that, is that my exposure is not the American version, it's the East Asia + China+ ASEAN + Swiss version, and I think I operate at a level close to what is portrayed in Billions. Close in that I get snippets of that level, it's not an everyday thing, maybe once or twice a month I peek over into that level, but I really know the game and how it is played. So watching the show is like watching the greatest hits live, like condensing all the best experiences (both good and bad) and the best stories and seeing them as if someone recorded them on their phone and I get to re-watch it for shits and giggles. Like I got this massive smile on my face as I kinda forget it is a show.
There are these lines that come out, that represent such distinct characters; it's hard to explain, but the lines and dialogue represent really gifted or powerful characters, and each of these characters have a defining characteristic and in one way, I forget that these are actors, but then I'm so impressed with their acting because I wonder how can these actors really grasp the confidence, power or talent of what these characters represent so well (I know it's their job), but damn, if I met them in real life across the table, I would have no fucking clue that they weren't who they pretend they are.
11/10
I say this because some characters in most TV dramas are larger than life, or the circumstances seem so unlikely and then you get lost in that make believe world and take the story for what it is, but in this case, yes, the pace is make believe, but damn, you can see that each character is based off of someone real, some real friendships and relationships. I know I would get my ass handed to me 9 out of 10 times if I was a character on the show. And I guess that is what makes the show so enjoyable, everyone who has a strong role is an 11/10, even with all their strengths and faults. And I can seriously guarantee and vouch that this is some really high quality content in season 2.
SEASON 2 FTW
Season 1 I don't think I would bother watching more than once, but Season 2, I think I want my boys to see this when their old enough too. Of course like the simpsons, there is the story on one level, but there are the 'adult' themes that make the story so much deeper than a kid's cartoon. In the same way, I can feel like that dialogue is just so much win, like 10 great conversations distilled in 1 fucking vintage moment. I say this, because you may say, 'meh' not that great, i don't get why Mightyatom was gushing over this crap, but I'm telling you, if I just used the lines from Billions in the right situations, I'd crush it and people would be telling the story for years to come,...'remember that time we met that fund manager and MA just shut him down with that line...'
So this is me, sharing, on TL, a fairly safe place for me, and a place where I want to contribute to. But as I have mentioned, sharing for me is also a way I collect my thoughts as well. Which brings me to my second point, Mr. Gordon Miller.
A BETTER OLDER GUY THAN ME
He is a most viewed writer on Quora and he tells it straight. He is an older guy, 52, but not that old, and he has gotten banned by Quora because he gets barraged with requests for loans and funding and when he doesn't comply he gets complains, lol, so his 'about page' is somewhat lol, because he address a lot of these points head on:
https://www.quora.com/profile/Gordon-Miller-21
FROM THE ABOVE LINK
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Gordon Miller
Entrepreneur and Investor. Send ideas to ***
Serving Early-Stage Ventures and Emerging-Growth Companies, G3i Ventures, LLC offers an alternative to traditional venture solutions. With solutions ranging from teaming and mentoring to revenue sharing and equity for services, we can propel you to the success you are looking for without drastically cutting your future upside.
Connect with Me:
YouTube channel Gordon Miller.*** Don’t forget to add me to your LinkedIn network . Submit any business opportunities for consideration to ***
Disclaimer and Qualifier:
The following guidelines might be helpful if you plan to submit ideas:
I do not invest in deal in India or any African country, due to infrastructure issues, general corruption and political instability.
I do not invest in any real estate deals, restaurants or any project that requires huge cash outlays of over $10M with a long return of more than 5 years.
I do not invest in any opportunity that is not fully researched and properly presented. I typically use a 1–2 page summary format and a pitch deck of 5–15 slides.
I do not invest in any opportunity that for which there are billion dollar companies already doing it. So, if your app idea is to take out Google or Facebook or Uber, then “I’m out”.
I enjoy ideas that get submitted regardless of the nature of them and I always try to provide prompt and meaningful feedback. But I am busy and I will try to get to all submissions.
I have provided a way for people to reach out to me via *** and that is to protect your privacy, my answers and to help my workflow. Please do not contact me via Facebook or LinkedIn. You are welcome to add me to your network in LinkedIn and I will accept, but my workflow is designed to help you.
If I say that I am not interested, then please respect that and do not continue to send me a half dozen e-mails over a 2 day period telling me how it is my loss and how I will be sorry. I am already sorry.
I am not a bank. Please stop sending me requests to loan you $20,000 at 9%. If you want 9% money, go to a bank, that is what they are for. Secondary market lenders are charging 2% per month.
I do not answer questions in direct message, so stop asking. I also do not give personal or one-on-one advice. My mission here is to help everyone.
Thank you all and I appreciate all the positive comments and feedback on my posts and I have enjoyed the submissions so far. Thank you.
************************************
HATE HATE HATE
And this guy definitely has haters. Haters who hate him cause he is open about his wealth, even though he is trying to share his knowledge, and hate him cause he seems like a condescending know it all, because he does answer a lot of questions outside of business and technology as well (People can think, why doesn't he just stick to what he really knows instead of passing off all his 'insight' on every subject).
But, I get where the haters are coming from, and yes, he is human and he sometimes steps over the line, but you know what, that is really him. You can hear his voice through his writing, you can see he sincerely cares and wants to share, what he is publicly good at, and his experience as a father and husband. And more often times than not, his advice outside of business is good, - it is straight to point, without out any hangups or illusions, - as lot of people's advice is who have lived a life with a lot of broad ranging responsibilities and experiences.
RAT'S ASS SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE
TL is the extent of my sharing, and while I have my hater's here, the fact is, I dont give a rat's ass about them, they may be here now, but give it 1 or 2 years, they wont' be here anymore, TL is not the place for those who just hate cause they just want to hate, and I know that, they won't be here long. And those who do dislike me, they can respect me for what I contribute to TL, just because I'm as much as TL as they are a part of TL. But I applaud Gordon for what he does. I do subscribe to him, not because I am learning when I read him as he really writes to novices, but I admire that even bothers to write.
I DON'T GIVE A FUCK
I've always wanted to produce films or have my own talk show. The 'I don't give a fuck' talk show, but 1. I don't feel I am justified or qualified to do my own talk show, cause I would like to be legit if I did it, and I think I am still figuring a lot of things out still. and 2. I think I have no talent to do a talk show cause I don't really like people in general. lol. I just like hanging out with nerd buddies and my jock buddies. I am actually extremely anti-social outside of my close friends and I ignore the rest.
But my point is, I think with a show like 'Billions' I could just enjoy that master piece of greatest hits, and my hats off to Gordon Miller. If you really want to follow someone you can learn from, rather than getting piecemeal business insight through my blog, then I'd say follow that guy. He can be every bit as annoying as I can be, but he is authentic and is doing something I could never want to do.
  
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I'm like half your age but I have enough wisdom to say that if someone says they don't give a fuck too often it means that they really REALLY give a fuck.
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High stakes poker is a great show, i especially like to see sammy Farha getting involved in hands.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On April 12 2017 10:43 Thaniri wrote:
I'm like half your age but I have enough wisdom to say that if someone says they don't give a fuck too often it means that they really REALLY give a fuck.
Let me add to that, while I actually may really REALLY give a fuck, I remind myself daily, not to give a fuck. ^^
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On April 12 2017 14:46 pebble444 wrote:
High stakes poker is a great show, i especially like to see sammy Farha getting involved in hands.
Probably the greatest poker show made thus far, and likely maybe will be the greatest ever made.
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As always, I dig the blog. Thanks for the quick update compared to last time!
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I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On April 13 2017 00:20 Cauld wrote:
As always, I dig the blog. Thanks for the quick update compared to last time!
Cheers,
Although I am really feeling like my writing is quite uninspired of late,
truth is, I spent a few minutes reading some of my old blogs and I was exhausted just reading them, in that, I was thinking how much effort I was able to expend writing them, and now, just the thought of it makes me feel exhausted.
I guess either I'm still recovering physically/mentally from almost dying, or else, this is a new reality.
Well, lets see. ^^
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me.
This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry.
In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge?
If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
Watched it through, but no, I don't.
www.youtube.com
I'm still hoping things work out, I feel it coming.
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On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that.
Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On April 13 2017 11:35 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that. Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world.
I completely agree with you, very well said.
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On April 13 2017 11:13 MightyAtom wrote:Watched it through, but no, I don't. www.youtube.comI'm still hoping things work out, I feel it coming.
+ Show Spoiler +
?????
edit: I guess I should mention that I never watched the show, so I have no idea how prominent this soundtrack is within the show. Given the shitty sample I bet the original artist wasn't even credited.
edit edit: https://www.tunefind.com/show/billions/season-1/27789
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On April 13 2017 11:35 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that. Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world.
money is the universal exchange equivalent. it gets you whatever you want. it is power.
no one would say, "hey superman you are a god, why don't you give up some of your power to be more mortal"
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On April 15 2017 15:09 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 11:35 GreenHorizons wrote:On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that. Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world. money is the universal exchange equivalent. it gets you whatever you want. it is power. no one would say, "hey superman you are a god, why don't you give up some of your power to be more mortal"
Superman ceases being superman the second he neglects those in need and no longer uses his powers for common good. A Superman that hoards all the powerdollars is a Lex Luthor.
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surely there's a more nuanced DC iteration of kryptonian theodicy
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On April 13 2017 11:35 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that. Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world.
I think a similar situation to MightyAtom's point is sports stars. Certainly sports stars love money, but almost none of them started off for the purpose of being wealthy.
When you get to the billionaires, it does seem that money is no longer the prime driver. Money is just the way they keep score. That's why sports fans flip out when their billionaire team owner is quibbling over a few million dollars. That's who they are; they can't flip that switch off.
Also, not to nitpick your word choice again, but make sure that "unapologetic" doesn't mean "I'm not going to think about this and you can't make me". Else, you'll turn into Warren Buffet: at best considering the significance of your actions far too late, at worst naively pushing an ideology to assuage your conscience.
On April 15 2017 15:09 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On April 13 2017 11:35 GreenHorizons wrote:On April 13 2017 11:03 MightyAtom wrote:On April 13 2017 03:18 GreenHorizons wrote:
I love the show Billions too. But many of the characters remind me of addicts. Addicted to money and power to a point that would be absurd if considered in any other medium.
No one would admire someone for acquiring thousands of homes they don't need, millions of cheeseburgers they don't need, etc...We would suggest they seek mental help. But acquire billions of dollars you don't need and people consider you a hero. Doesn't make sense to me. This is why I really love season 2. If you look at the episode and the character of Taylor and the reality is that the point isn't getting money, in fact, all the problems really are about ambition or power or ego and even ideals, which is not about the addiction to money, but this conflict among people who have clear goals and feel entitled to go for them and where is the line of morality/ethics when that line becomes very real because when you cross it too many times, it sucks your soul dry. In terms of the millions of cheeseburger analogy, yes, we would suggest they get mental help, and I would think the world is split 50/50 on if billionaires are heroes, but I wouldn't judge someone either way to have that as a goal, or have a goal to simply live a solid middle class or working class existence. If they've made that choice who am I to judge? If I could have been anything, I would have just devoted my life to rugby, but I ended up in business, and I think a lot of people would have been happy making what I made as a senior executive of a multi-national. But I quit, and yes, I quit because I wanted to try to make more money, but if that was my only goal, I would have just looked to become a public company CEO, rather than start my own company and brand etc, rather I did want the challenge, and really that was a sincere ambition of mine to be the undisputed best in my industry. Did I succeed? No, I'm good, but I'm not undisputed and while I'm still in the race, I think I'm quickly falling off, but my point is, we look and we assume that a person made money because that was all they were after, but I think we do lose something in the conversation if we leave it at that. Interesting points and I think you're right that there's more to it than strictly an addiction to money/power. I mean, like alcohol, there are plenty of people that can interact with it in varying degrees with varying effects. Billions seems to show the folks that are at the point where it's an addiction, in that it's interfering with them leading an otherwise happy life. Then again when you look at the pinnacle of any field it's usually full of addicts who can't function very well outside of that world. money is the universal exchange equivalent. it gets you whatever you want. it is power. no one would say, "hey superman you are a god, why don't you give up some of your power to be more mortal"
There are lots of things you can't trade for money.
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everything that's tradable is tradable for money
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EPT
