According to Statista, in the second quarter of 2023, 69% of the total wealth in the US was owned by the top 10% of earners while the lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.5 of the country’s total wealth. When you read the news about how much money some companies and already rich people already have and what they earn each year, it can make you feel enraged and powerless. However, being constantly angry is no way to live either.
Our team here at Bored Panda has traveled all across Reddit to bring you some of the most mind-boggling facts about billionaires and the wealth gap. Scroll down to check them out. But keep in mind, some of them are so shocking that you might want to skip work today and work on some protest placards.
Bored Panda wanted to learn about envy and why people tend to think that having more money will make them happier, so we got in touch with Glenn Geher, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz and a published author. He was kind enough to shed some light on this. Read on for our full interview with the professor.
#1
Put the blame where it belongs
Image credits: RelevantSwimmer
“Humans are a deeply social animal—and this fact has been true across our entire evolutionary history. So valuing relationships and connections with others makes a lot of sense,” Dr. Geher, from the State University of New York at New Paltz, told Bored Panda via email.
Despite the fact that many people would choose love over wealth if they were forced to choose, money still plays an important role in our lives.
“This said, at some point in our evolutionary history, money entered the scene. And money allowed people to differentiate themselves from others—often securing power along the way. And people like power!”
#2
“How true”
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#3
“8 vs 4 billion”
Image credits: Canabinoid
Dr. Geher explained that money can lead to outcomes such as having power and high status. Ironically, the professor said, these things are “likely valued because these features are helpful in advancing in social contexts.”
He said: “In some ways, money and human relationships are actually related to one another—they are not completely independent facets of the human experience. And this connection may help us to understand why there is often tension in people’s lives when it comes to balancing fiscal versus social issues.”
According to the professor, it would be “a questionable stance” to assume that someone is a “bad” person just because they’re rich. “I personally don’t think that people come in ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ varieties. A lot of research on the importance of situational factors in shaping human outcomes backs this point up,” Dr. Geher explained to Bored Panda.
#4
“Sounds too complex”
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#5
“Look up, not down”
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#6
“This is the best wealth inequality analogy I’ve come across”
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“That said, money may create situations that cultivate such questionable attributes as greed, status-seeking, and perhaps arrogance—none of which is a good look.” However, he added that “wealthy people, like all people, show extraordinary variability from one another and we need to really appreciate this fact (regardless of our own financial situation).”
The psychology professor noted that money and power “famously go hand-in-hand” with social features like envy. “The tendency for people to envy what others have goes back deep in evolutionary time. And just as arrogance and greed are not exactly a good look, envy is really not much better,” Dr. Geher said.
“As I see it, striving to become rich in love and relationships and in ‘the good life’ in general is the best way to divert someone from focusing energies negatively on such things as envy of others,” he suggested. “At the end of the day, love and social connections are what matters. And truly understanding and appreciating this fact can go a long way toward fending off the beast that is envy.”
#7
“Capitalism will end you”
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#8
“No More Billionaires!”
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#9
No words describe this.
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Research conducted at Purdue University in 2018 found that there’s a certain point where more wealth doesn’t make you significantly happier.
“It’s been debated at what point does money no longer change your level of well-being. We found that the ideal income point is $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being. Again, this amount is for individuals and would likely be higher for families,” the lead author, Andrew T. Jebb, said.
These sums also vary depending on the part of the world. For example, in wealthier countries, they’ll be higher than in poorer regions.
How you take care of your health, the sense of purpose you have, and the quality of your relationships have a huge impact on your happiness and quality of life, too. However, one of these factors is far more important than the rest.
#10
A billionaire bottle of wine could pay a year of my rent
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#11
“Public Relations”
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#12
8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, 2025 years (the gospels don’t actually say Jesus’ birth date but apparently it’s 4-6 BC). $2000 an hour does in fact check out to be $8.39904B. I was sceptical at first but not only is the maths correct but you would actually be the 59th richest in America and about 205th in the world. Stupid to think that $2000/h is a ridiculous amount to regular people but Jeff Bezos makes that in about 2/3 of a second.
Image credits: hikethearrow
As reported by CNBC, an 85-year study conducted by Harvard unequivocally found that it’s our positive relationships that keep us happier and healthier, not our career achievements, money, or diets.
It’s perfectly normal to feel infuriated when you read about wealth inequality and injustice at home and abroad. It can make you feel as though no matter how much time, energy, and tears you put into your job and side hustle, you’ll never have the kind of financial stability that you dream of.
Owning a family home is still a pipe dream for many families. Others, with middle-income salaries, as CNN notes, can’t find property to buy even if they could technically afford it.
#13
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#14
“Jeff Bezos wealth. Seems very true but would like to know the math behind it”
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#15
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Though becoming extremely rich depends a lot on luck and perseverance, you can still live a high-quality, comfortable life without being a billionaire or even a millionaire. We don’t write that in an off-hand kind of way, either.
Of course, having money provides you with more opportunities, power, and clout in life. You can eat better food, save your precious time by hiring experts to do many things for you, afford a better education for your children, and fund the worthwhile causes you personally care about.
However, with riches comes a lot of additional pressure. For one, whether you’ve inherited your family’s company or started up your own, you now have a literal business empire to run. That means making tough decisions, worrying about investors, and managing hundreds or possibly even thousands of employees around the globe.
#16
‘THE BILLIONAIRE PATH CRUSHES EVERYTHING IN IT’S PATH’
Image credits: Sensitive-Jury-1456
#17
“Billionaires should not exist”
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#18
Wealth Inequality in America.
Image credits: politizane
While some people would embrace this kind of responsibility, this sort of entrepreneurial and corporate rat race isn’t for everybody. If you’re earning millions and billions, then it’s likely that you’re also sacrificing something to focus on your work, whether that’s your health, spiritual needs, or time spent with the people you love.
It’s easy to envy billionaires and assume that all of them are ‘lazy’ or ‘evil’ or take advantage of their employees or don’t deserve their wealth. It might be true in some cases and it’s vital to call this sort of behavior out, but not everyone who’s rich or inherits wealth is automatically a bad person. Some folks really do deserve what they’ve built up, they donate to charitable causes and treat others with respect. Others do not. It all depends on the individual and their values.
Generally speaking, many people would probably agree that they’d love to see their efforts rewarded. And they’d also like to leave what they’ve built up over their lifetimes to their children and grandchildren.
#19
Here’s how insane it is at the top.
Steve Balmer – the 9th richest person in the world with ~$86 billion- is closer to the broke janitor than the richest person in the world, Bernard Arnault with ~$190 billion.
Image credits: seaburno
#20
“Nationalize it”
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#21
“How long it would take to get one billion dollars from a job earning $100 an hour”
Image credits: Gameprince999
It’s not just running a business empire that’s stressful. When you become rich (especially when this happens quickly), your relationship dynamic can change quite a bit. Suddenly, it becomes difficult to distinguish between your real friends and people who cozy up to you because they expect gifts and a fancy lifestyle.
You can also become the target of scammers and con artists. Meanwhile, others, who feel envious of what you have, might talk behind your back, even if you’ve done nothing wrong.
#22
The unequal distribution of wealth demotivates me immensely.
Image credits: onesnowcrow
#23
There is a finite amount of resources in the economy. For one group of people to have so much money they have to be able to prevent the other group from getting more. In the past decade 7 trillion dollars has been transferred to the top wealthiest of Americans out of the hands of the workers. Meanwhile, 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and 15 million children live in food insecurity. And it’s only getting worse. Billionaires aren’t just people who make a lot of money, they are actively the cause of so many families going hungry in the wealthiest country in the world.
#24
Wealth Distribution by Generation in the United States.
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#25
Reminder that billionaires are destroying the planet.
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#26
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#27
The average American household makes around $60K a year, it would take that average household over 16,000 years to accumulate $1B. Think about that: SIXTEEN THOUSAND YEARS.
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#28
Even if you by some miracle manage to become that wealthy through completely ethical means (press X to doubt), STAYING that wealthy is a moral failing of an incalculable magnitude. You can get rid of most of that money and still live comfortably for the rest of your life and your children’s lives and their children’s lives. There comes a point- well before when you have the resources of a small country btw- that you have a responsibility to help other people.
#29
Wealth inequality by country (OECD data)
Image credits: YakEvery4395
#30
How much did billionaires’ net worth increase during the pandemic? 62%. How much did wages for workers rise? 10%. And the 10 richest men in the world? Their wealth doubled during the pandemic. The same pandemic that sent 100 million people into extreme poverty.
Image credits: inequality