What I Learnt about Inequality after Spending Time with Some of the Richest People in the world
So what are the super-rich: are they bastards? Are they, as Hemingway put it, just like us, but with "more money”? Are they going to save us? Destroy us? Are they corporate psychopaths who've channelled their murderous impulses into making money, not serial killing? Or are they lonely and needing love, but trapped in a gilded cage of Bentleys and Lear Jets?
No, none of the above. I spent 6 months with them for a show I made for the BBC, called The Super-Rich and Us. I travelled to various castles and penthouses all over the world. I was greeted by sportswear multi-millionaire Sir Tom Hunter in his vast manicured grounds with “Hello! My favourite champagne Socialist!” (a little more champagne and less socialist, thanks very much).
I went to The Dorchester to meet Wang Jianlin, China's richest man, who pretends he doesn't understand English when he's bored. He was off to see someone called Boris after me, who wants to flog him half of London, and then some bloke called David, who runs the country. That's what happens when you're worth a modest $21.4bn.
So what did I learn from spending so much time with the super-wealthy? They're fast becoming a breed apart. And this isn't a lazy use of the term "breed apart" - it's both biologically and psychologically accurate. It's their self-willed destiny.
The super-rich believe that they're Masters Of The Universe, and the facts seem to bear them out. They hold power in that quiet understated way Sun Tzu defined as “the one who doesn't speak in a room. He's the one who holds all the cards”.
This gives them something they can't help: an intolerance for weakness. Even the most self-avowed Bill Gatesian liberal and philanthropic billionaire, paying for libraries and vaccine programs in Africa, can't quite comprehend why everyone on Earth isn't as determined to be as successful as they are. If they're not - goddamn it, I'm going to show them how.
read on: http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/what-i-learnt-about-inequality-after-spending-time-with-some-of-the-richest-people-in-the-world/
Love always
mudra
So what are the super-rich: are they bastards? Are they, as Hemingway put it, just like us, but with "more money”? Are they going to save us? Destroy us? Are they corporate psychopaths who've channelled their murderous impulses into making money, not serial killing? Or are they lonely and needing love, but trapped in a gilded cage of Bentleys and Lear Jets?
No, none of the above. I spent 6 months with them for a show I made for the BBC, called The Super-Rich and Us. I travelled to various castles and penthouses all over the world. I was greeted by sportswear multi-millionaire Sir Tom Hunter in his vast manicured grounds with “Hello! My favourite champagne Socialist!” (a little more champagne and less socialist, thanks very much).
I went to The Dorchester to meet Wang Jianlin, China's richest man, who pretends he doesn't understand English when he's bored. He was off to see someone called Boris after me, who wants to flog him half of London, and then some bloke called David, who runs the country. That's what happens when you're worth a modest $21.4bn.
So what did I learn from spending so much time with the super-wealthy? They're fast becoming a breed apart. And this isn't a lazy use of the term "breed apart" - it's both biologically and psychologically accurate. It's their self-willed destiny.
The super-rich believe that they're Masters Of The Universe, and the facts seem to bear them out. They hold power in that quiet understated way Sun Tzu defined as “the one who doesn't speak in a room. He's the one who holds all the cards”.
This gives them something they can't help: an intolerance for weakness. Even the most self-avowed Bill Gatesian liberal and philanthropic billionaire, paying for libraries and vaccine programs in Africa, can't quite comprehend why everyone on Earth isn't as determined to be as successful as they are. If they're not - goddamn it, I'm going to show them how.
Sir Tom Hunter - Estimated Net Worth of $2.13 billion
This go-getting, sink or swim mantra of the super-rich is accepted by the Government. It's even taught in schools. But not everyone can be an entrepreneur – it's the reason people across Europe have been marching. They're not just protesting against austerity, but also reaffirming their humanity. In Athens they chanted "we are human", as if the troika and super-rich actually needed reminding.read on: http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/what-i-learnt-about-inequality-after-spending-time-with-some-of-the-richest-people-in-the-world/
Love always
mudra