This isn't an official post, it's more of a reaction to Adam's post about ambition, that lead into something I've been thinking about.... read it or not... it's up to you :) Have a great day.
Hmm... Oddly enough, Adam answered part of a question that has been running through my mind. I know that Saudi Arabia, at the height of the recent summer inflation of gas prices was able to sell oil for almost $150 a barrel, what I didn't realize was that it only costs them around $1.50 to produce a barrel!!! That's just unreal. I know for other countries/companies, it's not that cheap, but they're still making buku bucks on each barrel.
I'm a relatively non-"Ambitious" person. I want to succeed, but I'm not Driven like the people described in his blog, and the people we are reading about in The Prize.... I didn't really understand WHY they felt they needed to sell each barrel for such a high price... they're already making obscene amounts of money.... Outside of KSA since it's mostly government driven, there is NO way that any of these men/companies could use all that money that they're making.... so, why be so greedy? I get the ambition thing now... but I don't think I will even be able truly understand what drives them. For the most part Pieces people just aren't wired that way, but more than that, I don't really "get" business... hence the reason I am no longer an Accounting major, but have switched to a more art related field.
Intellectually, I understand that businesses have to make money in order to survive - but I don't think I will ever be able to fully comprehend the greed that drives men like Rockefeller and Deterding to ignore anything outside of making money. They spend every waking hour amassing large amounts of money they will never be able to spend in their life time. Giving to charities is great, give as much as you can.... but even Televangelists, who are supposed to be really close to needy organizations, can't give away all the money they get fast enough, so they end up spending it on things like "gold toilets" and stuff like that. When there are so many really good organizations out there, desperately in need of funds.... the fact that this money can't get to them saddens me.
Even if these rich oil men hired out a company, to do nothing but donate money to worthy causes, they still would not be able to give the money away fast enough. This amount of money, boggles my mind when I think of all the people in the world who are starving to death.... it's unreal.
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Hi there (this is Adam from class)-
I think, for the "why" question, you might consider looking at the 'positive feedback loop' of human greed. We make a buck, we wanna make two. We make two, we wanna make four. In the end, the process of making money might force us to make more money - something akin to an addiction.
This might be what drives gambling addictions, too - I talked to a person once who had a gambling addiction, and he said it was "the thrill of making money - the more I made, the more I wanted to make."
While, you know, this certainly doesn't answer your question completely, it might play a bit of a role. Perhaps their families valued money? Perhaps their family life conditioned them to have this enormous drive? It'll certainly be interesting to read - are you going to post it up after you're done?
Hmm... that's an interesting point. Is it something in their family history, like with Carnegie ~ coming from a dirt poor background ~ Now that I think about. Many of the more famous/wealthy people I've heard of, started out poor. At least some of the more outstanding ones.
It's definitely an interesting point. And you're right, there are a lot of positive things that have come out of many of these driven men. Some of it isn't even necessarily about money, it's about science, research, etc.
To me, addictions are a scary thing. They seem so illogical, and you can't reason with a person who has an addiction. Most of them don't even recognize/admit that they have a problem. And that's only the really obvious ones like smoking/alcohol/gambling let alone things like and addiction to a person, or an online community.
I am working to understand addictions more and more. So I guess if I looked at the idea of making money becoming an addiction, it would be, like the gambler, more about the chase and the acquisition, rather than, out and out greed. These men are brilliant, so part of their addiction might then stem from the intellectual stimulation they get when making a deal. I can understand that better than I can blind greed. I don't get the same "thrill" out of playing business, but I definitely enjoy playing with Photoshop, my light kit, and conducting a good photo-shoot with some really nice results... or even learning about some new piece of technology...
If I begin to think of it this way, then I can begin to understand a bit more about what makes these men tick.
Thanks Adam, that was helpful.
If it turns out to be any good. I will post it. :)
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