This is laughable
“Mo money mo problems” a common refrain among the super-rich
By Zachary RothWed Mar 9, 2:29 pm ET
Are the super-rich truly happier than you and me? One study last year suggested that they are. But as reported by the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank, a new survey by the Gates Foundation suggests they're weighed down by anxieties over status, family, friendship, personal merit and a host of other issues.Here are some quotes from participants in the survey, as picked out by the
Atlantic Monthly and noted by Frank: • "If we can get people just a little bit more informed, so they know that getting the $20 million or $200 million won't necessarily bring them all that they'd hoped for, then maybe they'd concentrate instead on things that would make the world a better place and could help to make them truly happy."
• "Financial freedom can produce anxiety and hesitancy. In my own life, I have been intimidated about my abilities because I inherited money."
• "We try to get our kids to do chores," but it's hard to get them to mow the lawn when "we have an almost full-time gardener."
• "Nobody has the excuse of 'lack of money' for not being at peace and living in integrity. If they choose to live otherwise, that's their business."
It's true, the rich don't sound like the happiest people in the world. Still, it's not as if anyone should be feeling sorry for them. After all, among the "stressors" cited by one participant was "awkwardness re: who should pay at a restaurant." We should all have such problems.
It's also true that the study may have set out to highlight the downsides, such as they are, to wealth. The Gates Foundation wants rich people to give more money to charity. Trumpeting the failure of money to buy one happiness might help do that.
(The late rapper Notorious B.I.G., whose posthumous hit "Mo Money Mo Problems" topped the charts in 1997.: Mark Lennihan/AP)
