Don't kid yourself, these guys are in it to make investments that give them huge returns, notariety, control, prestige and the thrill of starting something big. They are absolutely motivated by money and possessions and if you think otherwise, you're fooling yourself. Instead of wanting a fancy car or a fancy house, they want the next headline, or name on a charity they helped found, etc. These people are creators, and the new princes and princesses of a type of renaissance. I don't think they should apologize for what they are doing, but I think you should also be careful in putting them in the light you're putting them in... you seem enamoured to a degree. Probably because you live in silicon valley and it would be easy to get drunk on the celebrity and power that seems to exist in that world.
I think the one thing they have figured out is that every extra dollar you spend on your house is one dollar less you have to put into that next start up, which is one less board you sit on, and one less open door or one less invite to the next big party you get. The reality is that we don't really need much more than such simple things, and the rewards from living a big life do seem to be so much more fulfilling than being some nameless corporation's bitch for decades just to get a leather jacket with your initials embroidered on the inside pocket at the end of it all as a thanks. Life is short, but there is also very little limit to what can be done with it, and that, I think, is the point.
There is nothing benevolent or "morally superior" that these people are doing - not to say what they are doing is wrong, I absolutely believe society needs people like this. Society will invariably benefit from the drive of these individuals, but it is because there are a few that are unapologetically pursuing what interests them the most.
I have no idea why the media is portraying these people like they are some kind of moral beacons or somehow different from their ancestors... they're not. They all want the same things, I just think there is less buy in for the imperfect social and economic systems that we've been agreeing to for decades now. Self reliance is a powerful thing and at the core of this, I think this is what is driving them. Entitlement is expecting others to provide for you what you want, living powerfully is going out and getting it for yourself.
|