On The Psychology of Extreme Wealth

*It starts with (1) a shift in how the person sees themselves. Wealth changes not just what a person can buy but what they feel entitled to want. Then comes (2) isolation: private clubs, private schools, private planes, private neighborhoods, private versions of reality. Soon (3) an echo chamber forms and the wealthy person is surrounded by people whose status and income depend on keeping them happy. Bad news stops arriving. As a result, (4) tribal instincts take over and outsiders are viewed with suspicion and contempt. Then come (5) psychological defenses. The wealthy person begins to deny the humanity and needs of others. They rationalize that if they made their money, anyone can, and those who didn’t are lazy or immoral. Eventually (6) they become isolated from consequences. They can hire other people — lawyers, publicists — to deal with the ramifications of what they do. From there (7) a feedback loop takes hold: Bad behavior is rewarded with more power, more wealth, more status, which only reinforces the conviction that one is right and others are wrong. The final stage is (8) moral distortion. “The person of wealth rationalizes their actions as appropriate because the world in which they live rewards those who live like they do,” Hokemeyer explained. “While their behaviors from the outside appear predatory, they view their actions as completely justified, normal, and in fact celebrated by their tribe.”

When I described the eight steps to Roberts, he nodded along. He thought of Tom and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby — “careless people who break things and let other people clean up the mess. They’re the literary paradigm of that whole trend.”

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-does-extreme-wealth-do-to-the-brain.html