Which rich people do you admire. Which rich people do you disdain. What is the difference?

I admire those who became rich because of their dreams..not those who are rich because they wanted a lot of money.

Andy Murray, Rory Mcilroy, Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Lewis Hamilton.
Those I admire because they earned their fortunes through elite skills/talent.
The Royal Family I despise, because they were born into wealth & they all look like ponies.

What do you consider rich? You seem to be talking about the rich and famous, but do you also mean rich and not known by the general public? Like @ucme with his butler and driver and maids? I like him.

I don’t think there are many people who actually hate “the rich” as a whole. It’s just a convenient shorthand for talking about a certain group of rich people (usually the ones who are way too obsessed with gaining and keeping their wealth whether they deserve it or not). So you might be misinterpreting the comments of people around you, especially since who counts as “rich” really depends on what sort of scale we are using. And a lot of people distinguish between “the rich” and “the wealthy.” Wealth is straightforward: it’s about your assets. But “rich” has deeper connotations, and a lot of people seem to use it when they are talking about people they think are ostentatious about their wealth.

The way you asked the question makes it seem like you think being “rich” and being “wealthy” are the same thing, though, so I’ll answer based on that assumption. The rich people I admire are the ones who do as much good with their money and power as they can. They are the ones who try to make sure that no one lives in conditions unfit for a human being and who recognize that no one succeeds on their own. The rich people I disdain are the ones who use their money and power to manipulate people and governments for no one’s advantage but their own. They are the ones who want to pull the ladder up after themselves so that no one else can achieve what they have and who seem deeply fearful of those who are below them economically.

I admire Jimmy Carter for all the fine work he’s done as a champion of human rights and various charitable causes during his post-presidency.

I disdain the Kardashian family and their famous-for-being-famous ilk for their witless media-slurping shenanigans.

and…

I admire Caitlyn Jenner for coming out so publicly. It took incredible courage and I’m sure it it’s a step forward in public understanding for the transgender community.

I disdain Caitlyn Jenner for coming out so publicly. It feels to me partly like a money-making operation.

Yes, I’m conflicted about Caitlyn Jenner.

I admire wealthy people that became rich from their own hard work and business deals, not by crushing the less fortunate on their way to the top.
Sorry as to those I admire and those I dislike, OK the old owners of the trucking company I work for those guys made their money by plain ole hard work ,and good business deals,and they did while paying and treating employees fairly, I like those guys.
Rich people I dislike is the owners of Wal-mart they got wealthy by paying their suppliers and employees like crap and treating them like dirt.

I admire good people and hate bad people, rich or not.

I like W. Craig Jelinek..

All the Walmart kids can die in a fire….

How rich is “rich”? There is a saying, if you can count your money than you are not rich. Are we speaking of people who have so much money they are like Mr. Drax of Moonraker, if they don’t possess it, it is only because they did not want to buy it?

It isn’t a contradiction at all. The Clintons are simply playing the game the way it is constructed. And yes indeed they have quite eagerly pushed themselves onto the lofty rolls of the well heeled. It is both pointless and silly to resent the rich. It’s also a huge waste of time, though there are those here who read my ravings and make the mistake of thinking I’m devoted to hating on the rich. The rich (as they are quick to point out) are just people with the same flaws and virtues distributed amongst the rest of the population, with perhaps a greater percentage of that single sticky attribute…..greed. Even resentment of the rich for being greedy is a mistake because—————————- The big problem in discussing “the rich” (and its a problem which works decidedly to their advantage) is that there is no fixed definition for “RICH”, let alone “rich enough”. It’s the fluidity of that definition which permits a great deal of flexibility of conscience and more importantly, the required ETHICAL FLEXIBILITY. But I can yak like this all night. Time that I get on with the business of feathering my OWN nest at the expense of others.

@SQUEEKY2 But Squeek the Walmart heirs PLAYED BY THE RULES. When you can buy the government that writes the rules or even write the rules for the government to rubber stamp, you wind up with a situation where it is legal to amass billions through the simple expedient of paying your employees starvation wages, then saddling the taxpayers with the expense of feeding those employees through food stamps. As a bonus, you’re lauded with awards and accolades as a model of sound and shrewd business practices, while beleaguered taxpayers heap vitriol and hatred upon your “freeloading” employees.

I can’t say I hate anyone who is rich. There are some I don’t have respect for or who I feel abuse the power and privilege they have. Hate is a strong word though.

I respect those who are wealthy and do something with that wealth to help others. People like Bill Gates, Richard Branson and those of their ilk. They’re not just living the high life, they’re trying to use their wealth to improve the lives of others.

I just met an older chap that has me intrigued. He has several degrees and earned his money in construction. He has a degree in engineering and business administration and then, when he retired, he got a degree in social anthropology and is now working on saving a language in a remote area of the mountains of Vietnam. He is also building an organic farming cooperative on some neighbouring land where I live. He is a friend of my bestie. They met at University about 7 years or so ago at kept in touch. He has a pool built into his house, which he shares with the community. He has one of the best trained dogs I’ve ever met. He drives a nice but humble vehicle. He’s asked me if I’d like to get involved in some way with his project and I’d really like to, but I have no idea what someone like me could contribute to the list of people he was talking about are already involved. He mentioned he needed help with his website, so that might be something I can do for him.

I do not admire or despise people from a distance – I’d have to get to know them.

I like you too @JLeslie, Porsche gal.

I can answer the question without knowing the definition of rich we are using here. I don’t think about a person’s income or wealth much at all. There are good people and bad people in every group no matter how you group people. Even a particular individual might be very complex. Look at Bill Gates. He is doing a lot of good in the world, but he also could make his products more affordable by lowering the price. Maybe he would have millions instead of billions if his profit margins had been a little lower.

I hate blanket statements that all rich people have hurt someone getting their riches, that really bothers me. Also, a lot of rich people just did their jobs and their jobs paid a lot. Who would turn down the money if it’s there? Not many people.

I really don’t have much to say about rich people I don’t know personally. What am I going by? How the media portrays them?

I know quite a few people who are what would be considered rich by a lot of people, most of them I don’t consider to be rich. Most of them their “status” is precarious really. Look at me, my husband lost his job and when his severance runs out, which will happen very soon, our household income will be $300 a week from me and I assume he will qualify for unemployment, so whatever low amount that is. Hopefully, he gets a job before we need to go to asking for unemployment. At any time the rug can be pulled out from almost anyone.

To me rich is not having to worry much at all about income, because you have enough wealth to live just on what is in the kitty. The money throws off so much money that you’re all set.

I guess I’m pretty bothered by people who make loads of money in health care by denying treatment to people. But, probably in one of my IRA accounts I own stock in some insurance company that has done just that. I hope not. I specifically didn’t pick any health related accounts because the business turns me off so much.

The few people I know who I think of as wealthy are seemingly very nice. The very rich do tend to stick to their own group in the end. It’s not that they put other people on the outside, I think it is just a function of what they can afford and their world is different than the rest of us.

Ted Turner.
Media mogul, bison breeder, restaurateur, philanthropist and Americas largest landowner in the west with over 2 million acres across 12 states and Argentina. Ranches galore kept in pristine conservation condition, home to massive amounts of wildlife and preserved for future generations. My dream if I had gazillions of dollars to buy wild lands and huge ranch properties to preserve and protect nature and wildlife.

Ranches galore kept in pristine conservation condition,...]
Until he dies, then watch out, bulldozers, housing tracts, and shopping malls…..sad but true.

@Hypocrisy_Central Nope, he has provided well and his land holdings will be protected, as he says ” It’s in my will, that they won’t be developed, I wasn’t going to leave them dangling when I passed on.”
He is currently working with the Nature Conservancy to protect many of his land holdings.
I admire him greatly.