Many years (decades, actually) ago, a now former friend and I were joking about what we would do if we won the lotto (which was unlikely, given that you had to buy a ticket - although two of the tickets others have bought me have given me a few score dollars in winnings), and we both agreed that we would be able to buy the best coronary care in the land (to deal with the shock of winning).
I actually met someone who had had two reasonable wins, but - unlike most people who win, according to a media article I read years ago and cannot be bothered trying to track down now - they used the money to buy homes for themselves initially, and, with the second win, their daughter. They had a modest holiday, kept their jobs, and kept working.
They didn't indulge in excesses, or start thinking they were better than other people.
And that's the thing about coming into money - whether inheritance, a lottery win, or a good wage/salary: it is a moral test.
In my case, I would like to use any substantial windfall to make sure my family are OK - and by family, I also include family of choice, not just family of blood / legal relationship (which, since I found my birth family, includes a lot of extra nephews and nieces 😊 ).
The law has no moral basis for limiting who we care about.
But let's say that sum went well beyond what I could reasonably use personally: what then?
There's a story I read somewhere, a long time ago now, about someone who accosted a millionaire (this was back in the days when that was significant) and said the millionaire should give away all their fortune. Said millionaire checked the number of people in the world, and then instructed his sidekick to give the person the few cents that worked out to be.
If I became a billionaire, and decided to give that away, it would equate to around 12 cents per person in the world - which is insignificant to each person.
However, having made that point, there are ways that such money can be put to good use. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, the main concern about the existence of billionaires is, in my opinion, that their existence shows that most people in the world do not have sufficient to survive well - not enough money and access to resources to thrive. I agree that there is no valid reason for the world to have the ultra-wealthy, but it is the fact that so many others do not have enough combined with the ostentatious misuse of money that makes their existence so truly obnoxious.
If a billionaire had achieved their state of richness ethically, lived in a modest home in an ordinary suburb (although they would probably need some security against kidnappers), and used their money predominantly for the good of others, I would not object to their existence.
So let's move on to using money well. Facing the reality that no billionaires (nor even millionaires) are going to be reading this blog, there are two sites I wish to introduce:
- 80,000 hours, which is about sound ethical decisions around obtaining and using money well - for example, getting a good job and making financial donations rather than necessarily being a volunteer. Their website is at https://80000hours.org/; and
- Give Directly, which recognises that people know what is most important for their needs. I've been helping a young friend in Africa get through Uni, which includes helping his family survive the pandemic shutdown: some of the things they've needed are backpacks so his siblings can go to school with food, writing materials, etc, period pads, and a bicycle so he doesn't have to walk to Uni (still working on that, and getting them solar panels so they can charge devices at home and stop using paraffin lamps). Give Directly honours that sort of common sense awareness; their website is at https://www.givedirectly.org/.
In my experience, most Westerners are rabidly sure someone is trying to rip them off, and it makes most of us the stingiest creatures in creation - and that not only harms the people we could help, it harms our souls.
Further to that, billionaires in the world today are a sign of the harm that our inequitous, unequal and unfair financial systems cause - but hating them is harming us. Rather than that, look to see what opportunities to help are nearby (do you ever pass a homeless person without giving them something? Do you know how to donate for the Indigenous people of your nation?).
And remember that advocating for fairer systems may be an "opportunity nearby" as well . . . just, if you do that, aim to be effective - aim to change decision makers, rather than salve any guilt you may be feeling.
