This is a good rumination on sudden wealth (as someone who's also seen its impacts firsthand), and the cast of characters rings very true.
You have the relentless striver who stays in the game out of competitive FOMO.
Money is what those without talent use to keep score. They'll keep futilely striving, and then disappear one day. Whatever.
The bigger pity is those (and there are a few) who go off to become artists or writers or some other thing, untethered to financial constraints.
Well, where are they?
Because we're not exactly seeing a cultural Renaissance from this massive wealth creation, as we saw in 16th-century Florence, or even the early 20-century US.
The only guy from the FB pre-IPO crop who did anything interesting with his life (far as I can tell) is someone who was hellbent on making it to the Olympics as an athlete (starting off as very much not an athlete), and he actually made it! I followed his arc, and it was incredible.
(Elon, on this of all days, is the exception that proves the rule here.)
But how about the rest?
SF is mostly an unchanged one-industry town, the same misgoverned mess that greeted me in '99, and that almost everyone in this cohort bails on. There are no great monuments or works of art or institutions dating from this period...other than venture funds producing more startups. SF will not reflect this time of glory like Amsterdam and Paris still embody their golden ages.
To invert the Churchillian phrase: never has so much been given to so few, who seemingly did so little with it.
@zachweinberg I’d argue the reason they want to own a place/spend time here is because of the vibrant cultural scene. Good look replicating broadway in palm beach. Have you been to Monaco? It’s culturally void.
The only acceptable reason to have kids is that you want to nurture and care for another being.
That's it. That's all of the good reasons. Not because you want someone to take care of you in your old age, not because you want them to take on a certain career, to give you grandkids, to further your religion. None of that. To bring a child into this world with expectations makes it unethical to have one, it lays the foundation for emotional blackmail; as in, 'I brought you into this world and raised you, had you for this reason so give me that happiness'. No one owes you anything for the things you do out of your own will for your own sake, not even your children.
There are too many emails. Too many texts. Too many accounts. Too many logins. Too many apps. Too many rewards programs. Too many fundraisers. Too many appointments. Too many virtual meetings. Too many newsletters. Too many forms. Too many social media platforms. My brain hurts.
@JoeHolder_ I also think Nike has lost its cultural hegemony. Theyve be unable to align with burgeoning athletes to push the storytelling forward. Losing Steph and Ant Edwards & only rosterizing 1 NBA MVPs in the 10 years. The days of the brand built on Tiger, LeBron, Ronaldo, and Serena