Is this what the super-rich really do with their time?
Just go to expensive lunches and dinner parties every day of the year? No wonder they're so despised.
shareYou forgot golf.
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MovieChat Forums > Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) Discussion > Is this what the super-rich really do wi...
Maybe he reads philosophy, psychology, science, and attends to Mensa debates but that would be too boring to put it on the show. Who knows!
share"Maybe he reads philosophy, psychology, science, and attends to Mensa debates"
How do you read 'science'?
Also, you think 'attending Mensa debates' is something worthwhile to do? Debating is what he already does in the show, how would this be any different? Instead of mentally m4sturbating by debating about some kind of trivial philosophical crap like how many angels can dance on a pin, at least Larry is pointing out about the hypocrisies and the selfishness of people's everyday social interactions and the ridiculous, insane 'unwritten rules'.
In any case, is THIS what you think people should be doing, is THIS what you think is a worthwhile 'spending of your time'?
I mean, instead of cultivating yourself so you can be a better human being, instead of using this situation of living on this planet as an opportunity for spiritual growth and processing personal hang-ups and paying karmic debts and serving the Universe, helping others, learning about reality, existence, the Universe, the dimensions beyond the mere physical and mundane, realizing why spiritual life is important of humanity is even to survive..
..you'd have him just bicker with some 'mental giants' in 'Mensa debates' that lead nowhere, and 'READ SCIENCE' (whatEVER this means!) and do nothing constructive that can actually lead him forward in the eternal pathway of life?
I am not saying he should do Yoga and say 'Namaste', but what the heck is this 'reading' nonsense? Is READING the highest cultivation you can imagine someone can aim towards in the attempt of attaining the most worthwhile way of spending their time?! Reading is MUNDANE ability, everyone should be able to do it - why do you treat it as some cosmic providence granted for only a handful of elect adepts?
In _MY_ opinion, someone WEALTHY could be doing VERY, very, veryveryvery interesting things that most people can't do, and Larry _IS_ squandering his wealth (in real life and in the show) by not realizing these opportunities.
Money can't make you happy, that much is true. The old Zen koan also says something like: "Poverty is your treasure. Never exchange it for an easy life."
There's great wisdom in that.
Having said that (yeah, I know, but I am going to use this phrase anyway)..
..wealth, money, and even celebrity status DOES open many doors. It establishes opportunities, it gives you larger possibilities in life. If your perspective to life is unaffected by this, it's unfortunate, but it SHOULD be able to elevate you in multiple ways, even literally, because a wealthy individual can afford things like helicopters (or at least travel by the usage of them).
This means a rich man can get to a difficult-to-traverse place in the mountains that pretty much no one can disturb them in, because no one else can get there (they don't have helicopters, so they'd have to climb).
A wealthy individual could TRAVEL. I mean, instead of 'traveling', like regular people, a wealthy one could _TRAVEL_, truly travel in the most comfortable luxury, in an endless way, to any location on THIS planet at least.
Of course mere traveling without a purpose would become like playing GTA V with cheat codes; it's fun at first, but it becomes boring pretty quickly.
They could look at their lives as layers, and what can be improved. They could look at Maslow's hierarchy charts (as faulty as they are, they are some kind of pointer at least), and start building their 'optimal life'.
They could start at looking at their bodily needs, and see how they could be met optimally - now, we don't have to delve into the crude and mundane, I am sure a lot could be written about the eating, defacating facilities (designing and decorating, customizing your toilet IS a privilege not everyone can afford, just for example) and such, and how he could fulfill his sexual desires and fantasies very thoroughly because he has money.
Then there's the whole 'shelter' thing.
They could carefully (!) plan, choose, acquire and customize a few 'bases' on the planet, let's say four-to-five. Those could all be equipped with anything they want it to be equipped with, like all the best, old computers, consoles, arcade games, and so on. They could be in the most harmoniously inspirational, yet slightly isolated locations where no one would think to look, but which would have beautiful sceneries and lots of nature for inspiration.
Of course he could customize their 'dream house' any way they want, and each room in the house could have a specific purpose, for example, a 'color room', whose wall colors can be altered (or at least have each wall in different color, in a shape that allows you to have multiple walls, so you can always sit 'in any color you want' - of course with LED technology and such, this could be easily done in a more customizable way - however, LED lights can be a bit soulless and disturbing when you want to meditate, I don't like them myself, but you could even have different lamps with different colors or filters or whatnot).
I mean, you could have a 'meditation room', a 'creativity room', a 'meeting room' (and not a boring one, either, it could be as wild as you want!), a 'communication room', you name it. Only your imagination would be the limit in this kind of situation (besides the physical-world limitations, of course).
I, for example, would have one room that's completely 'blank' - it would have some kind of pleasant coloring, of course, but it would be as 'sterile' and 'shapeless' as possible, no furniture, no wall decorations, no paintings, no windows - just "a room" - it would be isolated, protected, perhaps a Faraday's Cage as well, so no impulses could enter the room. Just so you can 'just be', no distractions. Soundproof, etc.
Another room would be as connected to the nature as possible - maybe in the ancient Japanese style with simple, but effective space.
I mean, there would be 'room plants' (I think 'houseplant' wouldn't fit as a proper description), but not enough to make it an unbearably busy jungle. I would like to keep the simple, spacy aesthetic, so it's pleasant and you feel good in there. It could open to a big garden, and so on - using imagination, all these 'specific rooms' could be made to be amazingly unique and beautiful and also functional and interesting.
This kind of house customization wouldn't make for a fun TV maybe (or who knows), but it's definitely something wealthy people COULD do. Instead, they buy a boring, big, pre-furnished, box-shaped house with no imagination and then start planning their dinner parties and golf trips.
I mean, imaginative people should be the wealthy ones, but instead, we get these boring old geezers who wouldn't know imagination if it hit their face with a bunch of cotton candy.
Wealth would enable people to live the most interesting lives, meet the most interesting people, travel to most interesting places, and practice the most interesting hobbies. But sure, playing golf and drinking tap water works, too, I guess.
It would also enable them to try to improve the world, help the hungry and homeless, not only just giving donations, but actually building structures that would help everyone in the long run, and exposing and tearing down structures that only help the rich and exploit the rest.
They could build laboratories dedicated to creating the best possible, but also free computer and video games for everyone to enjoy. Not for capitalistic purposes, but for 'good of humanity'.
They could do MANY things from this motivation. It would give them purpose.
Researching Nikola Tesla's style of 'Free Energy' and other things like that could be done, they could afford to build new laboratories for this purpose.
"They could have theme months, where they do different things, like 'paying for highest-class prostitutes to serve shy nerds who would never get any otherwise", or even create lectures about 'women could be altruistic in sexual ways instead of financial ones' (women are selfish female dogs, so they would never do this, but one can at least point out the hypocrisy of women being seen as 'angels', and yet they never just decide to give some to some lonely nerd that lives in their mom's basement, instead of shaming, insulting and laughing at these innocent poor bstrds).
There's SO MUCH a wealthy individual could do, but instead, if you look at the world, they're doing the most mundane, boring and greedy things, and they just play golf to pass the time instead of adventuring in some South-American jungles to create a lab that innovates how to give free, fresh, clean water to poor people or raise whole cities out of poverty and misery.
Oh well, at least we get to look at unimaginative, boring people get angry at each other for first-world problems and trivialities..
If you were super-rich, what would you be doing with your time?
shareI'm not rich myself, but I'm sick and tired of people from the lower and middle class whining about rich people. If you had spent more time working you wouldn't be so poor.
shareI think its despicable to complain. Rich people have problems too. Its just that it isn't money. But who said every problem has something to do with money?
shareI dont have a problem with rich people persay... It's just i have a problem with wasteful and exuberant expenses or miserly curmudgeons.. The good for society that they could do with that money is immeasurable. Dont call me a socialist but I think those reasons are why rich people are scorned. It also inspires a lot of jealousy. And the amount of work has nothing to do with it. Those resources are monopolized by a solitary few and someone who works 3 jobs to take care of their family dies without a penny to their name. Life isnt fair for rich and poor alike..
shareYeah, but you constantly see Larry giving money to various charities and stuff in the show. He never likes doing it, but he does it, even if it's only because of peer pressure.
In season 7, he offers to pay for the college education of his cousin's daughter.
And in season 6, the Davids take in a whole homeless family after Katrina, remember?
The irony is that these acts of generosity and good will always backfire on Larry.
In many cases people are pissed off at him for not giving more, or don't acknowledge his contribution at all, since he is so rich that it can't really hurt him financially.
This is the feeling that a lot of wealthy people have. No matter how much they give, it's never enough.
Which is true by the way. The problems with wealth-inequality in our world today can't be solved through charity.
Larry's ultra-rich, but he betrays his lower middle class origins all the time. He's rough.
sharethats idiotic. heres an option, dont have a family , and pollute thw world w ugly poor children. and then you dont even need 1 job
shareper se
Rich people are only scorned by people that AREN'T rich, and are just jealous. They find ways to justify the disdain, but it's almost always jealousy in reality.
shareThey could go hit the gym, although Larry's about as trim as they get.
shareI was kind of wondering about this myself. They never show them doing any housework, gardening, or lawn work that the common people have to do. Obviously they have people they pay to do these things. Maybe Cheryl washes an occasional dish.
You never see Larry go to the gym, but like the above poster says he is about as trim as it gets. If he were to start lifting weights and getting all buff, his weight would probably spike up and he would end up messing up his metabolism, go up a size or two, and he'd have to get a whole new wardrobe. He has a tall, lean look, so it's not surprising that he sticks with that.
It depends on their age. If they are older, they socialise, pursue their hobbies or sports, manage their assets, do charity work which is often combined with socialising. As they become really old, they become consumed with their health, like most people.
If they are a bit younger, say, 30-55, they do work of their choosing, and of which they are always in charge.
These two groups may or may not be very involved with their families.
If they are in their late teens to 30, they finish school and university, may work at a job of their choosing, very possibly in a family business, and party on a grand scale. They enjoy cars, fashion, travel, expensive sports and hobbies, and very possibly drugs.
Why despise them? They obviously did something to get there. What would you be doing that would be so superior if you were rich?
"Why couldn't the monkey arrange this from INSIDE the garbage can?"