Above or below the Wealth Median

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slave
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28 Apr 2015, 12:51 pm

Mattland wrote:

Either because of, or in spite of, being an Aspie, I'm way above the median financially. It's partly because of my job (physician), but mostly due to luck (investments).

I believe it was Jack Nicklaus that said something like ~~ The harder I work the luckier I get.

This is probably the case for you and you're just being modest.

auntblabby
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28 Apr 2015, 12:53 pm

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

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28 Apr 2015, 1:40 pm

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

As luck would have it, as a little boy, I was often getting into unexpected trouble until I learned the Golden Rule. Having that test available changed my life, and convinced me that this was the key to mature behaviour. That turned out to be naive, but my habits were set, and it has always been my goal to live comfortably on a sustainable world average income. That's illegal in developed countries, but I managed to meet the unsustainable average while working on more appropriate technology. Wealth requires luck in both ones own make up and one's associates, and, in most cases not based on sheer talent, a willingness to ignore the pernicious effects of capital on human and planetary health.

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28 Apr 2015, 1:44 pm

Dear_one wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

As luck would have it, as a little boy, I was often getting into unexpected trouble until I learned the Golden Rule. Having that test available changed my life, and convinced me that this was the key to mature behaviour. That turned out to be naive, but my habits were set, and it has always been my goal to live comfortably on a sustainable world average income. That's illegal in developed countries, but I managed to meet the unsustainable average while working on more appropriate technology. Wealth requires both luck in both ones own make up and one's associates, and, in most cases not based on sheer talent, a willingness to ignore the pernicious effects of capital on human and planetary health.

you have a point there :star:

in a closed-loop system like that of the earthlings, one person's too much generally results in many other people's too little.

slave
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28 Apr 2015, 2:48 pm

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

The answer to your question is complex and the causes are multi-factorial.

The economic sector one chooses is important. Those who work in high finance generally make substantially more than those who work in the Arts, for example. How many potters make more than stock brokers?

Ones motivation is a factor. Some people are driven to succeed financially, others value other forms of success.
School teachers choose the rewards of helping children discover and make near min. wage, a realtor's commission may be $20 000 dollars+ per house.

Employer vs. employee.
Most rich people are advanced professionals(surgeons, executives) or own businesses.
Very few employees end up rich.

In general, rich people work very hard in lucrative fields....it is seldom luck.

and so on......

btbnnyr
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28 Apr 2015, 3:04 pm

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

Luck plays a major role in terms of upbringing/parents/socioeconomic status, but I think natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness are important too.

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auntblabby
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28 Apr 2015, 3:14 pm

IOW the most important thing is to choose the right set of genes, the right parents/family/neighborhood etc. before one is born.

btbnnyr
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28 Apr 2015, 3:28 pm

auntblabby wrote:

IOW the most important thing is to choose the right set of genes, the right parents/family/neighborhood etc. before one is born.

I don't think that is the most important, because people can have all those good conditions and still not get a state of personal contentment with themselves even if they are rich.

I think one of the keys to being content with oneself is to put in effort to improve oneself in some area that is important to oneself, like career or relationships or whatever.

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28 Apr 2015, 3:34 pm

btbnnyr wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

IOW the most important thing is to choose the right set of genes, the right parents/family/neighborhood etc. before one is born.

I don't think that is the most important, because people can have all those good conditions and still not get a state of personal contentment with themselves even if they are rich. I think one of the keys to being content with oneself is to put in effort to improve oneself in some area that is important to oneself, like career or relationships or whatever.

it is much easier to do those things if one has the right set of genes. sorta like one can't print stuff on a puter without a proper printer driver, even if one has a printer.

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28 Apr 2015, 3:37 pm

Some of you are beginning to sound just a wee, tiny tad-bit holier than thou, now.

It's not always hard work, "golden rules" and an "effort to improve oneself" that gets you automatic success financially or otherwise.

Speaking for myself I've been ALL the good qualities some of you are saying separate the below-median people from the above-median, but anything I do in life is never going to get ME to be above median.

As someone else pointed out, those in the arts are not necessarily ever in their lifetime going to make what, say, a banker or doctor makes.

Plus, I'm smart but I was never going to have the academic wherewithal to ever become a physician.

It's not my fault that even though I've still worked hard in the things I CAN do, they are never going to make me the money that kind of thing easily makes for others.

Not "working hard" isn't even always the reason why someone is simply never going to make a lot of money.

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28 Apr 2015, 3:39 pm

I have resolved that before my next life I will choose genes that encode for more earthly success.

slave
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28 Apr 2015, 3:43 pm

auntblabby wrote:

IOW the most important thing is to choose the right set of genes, the right parents/family/neighborhood etc. before one is born.

did you not read what i wrote?

you seem determined to believe that affluence is a total genetic crap shoot/luck of the draw and that personal effort/choice is irrelevant

obviously, some ppl are born rich but they are not the majority

besides some ppl don't value financial success

i know ppl who are below median and are very happy with their deliberate choice

eg. i know a guy he has a PhD, he is a genius and he works FOR FREE for several NGO's as a CEO and lives below the poverty line.

he could easily command a high six figure salary with his skill set and acumen and he CHOOSES not to

slave
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28 Apr 2015, 3:44 pm

btbnnyr wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

Luck plays a major role in terms of upbringing/parents/socioeconomic status, but I think natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness are important too.

YUP

BirdInFlight
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28 Apr 2015, 4:00 pm

slave wrote:

btbnnyr wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

Luck plays a major role in terms of upbringing/parents/socioeconomic status, but I think natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness are important too.

YUP

And once again I will say, while no successful person ever got that far without "natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness," it also happens that someone can have those same qualities and still not get to the same place.

There really is such a thing as the element of dumb luck, and also "who you know" and who you can schmooze.

Yep, an Aspie quality, the ability to schmooze....[insert sarcasm smiley here]

Speaking for myself, if you had any idea some of things in my life where I have had to have not-giving-up-grittiness, it would make your hair curl.

Still not rich.

auntblabby
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28 Apr 2015, 4:09 pm

BirdInFlight wrote:

slave wrote:

btbnnyr wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

Luck plays a major role in terms of upbringing/parents/socioeconomic status, but I think natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness are important too.

YUP

And once again I will say, while no successful person ever got that far without "natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness," it also happens that someone can have those same qualities and still not get to the same place. There really is such a thing as the element of dumb luck, and also "who you know" and who you can schmooze. Yep, an Aspie quality, the ability to schmooze....[insert sarcasm smiley here] Speaking for myself, if you had any idea some of things in my life where I have had to have not-giving-up-grittiness, it would make your hair curl. Still not rich.

some folks will not be disabused of the horatio alger meme because that is the thing which enables them to feel hope in life.

BirdInFlight
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28 Apr 2015, 4:23 pm

auntblabby wrote:

BirdInFlight wrote:

slave wrote:

btbnnyr wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

aside from sheer brute force IQ and general lack of addlements, I wonder what it is that separates the above-the-median aspies from the rest of us? luck?

Luck plays a major role in terms of upbringing/parents/socioeconomic status, but I think natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness are important too.

YUP

And once again I will say, while no successful person ever got that far without "natural-born motivation, personal effort, and not giving up grittiness," it also happens that someone can have those same qualities and still not get to the same place. There really is such a thing as the element of dumb luck, and also "who you know" and who you can schmooze. Yep, an Aspie quality, the ability to schmooze....[insert sarcasm smiley here] Speaking for myself, if you had any idea some of things in my life where I have had to have not-giving-up-grittiness, it would make your hair curl. Still not rich.

some folks will not be disabused of the horatio alger meme because that is the thing which enables them to feel hope in life.

There's nothing wrong with striving for the general Horatio Alger idea because, as I said, there certainly isn't much that can be achieved without those principles and elements, sure.

And I don't mean to have anyone feel there's no hope.

It's just that it's important to point out that things aren't quite as black and white as "Poor, yet smart and could have been so much more than you are? You're just lazy and didn't have the grit or the drive."

All I know in my own case, and the story of my own life, is that for a long while I was so depressed I couldn't leave my room in my parents house, and then I finally somehow found it in me to bust out and get a life. I had drive and grit to spare and I DID in fact change my life with an enourmous effort, but for all my application, I still fell short of actually managing to get beyond survival level.

What I guess I'm saying is that, for some people in life, the same amount of drive that gets someone to be Donald Trump can only get me to "wow, I can manage to pay my own rent and feed myself......" It still took a lot just to get to that.

I'm starting to feel emotional about this now, because I'm both a loser and a winner because I've managed to do that much but then a thread like this practically screams "yeah if that's all you've achieved you're still an undriven bum."

For some people there are different levels of what was, to them, a mountain to climb, is all I'm saying, and they put no less hard work and grit into that than did the millionaires. And that's kind of what sucks about this mortal coil.

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