does money change people or just reveal their true nature?

[Otto the Orange]

What say you?

[Nazgul Girl]

    I think it can change people in serious ways.   Not everyone manages to stay true to themselves.

[Deleted]

I think it's a little of both.... Or maybe both are possible. 

[Deleted]

It's close to one of my favorite sayings;

Money does not make the man, it unmasks him.

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

I think it's both.  I also think it can change the attitude of people around you (I've seen this happen a lot where someone starts making a lot of money and their family/friends start asking for all kinds of money.  When the person refuses to give them money, they are the "bad one"  )

[Deleted]

Aug 18, 2013 22:22:40 GMT -5 Mardi Gras Audrey said:

I think it's both.  I also think it can change the attitude of people around you (I've seen this happen a lot where someone starts making a lot of money and their family/friends start asking for all kinds of money.  When the person refuses to give them money, they are the "bad one"  )

I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but my husband and I make a lot more money than most people in our families.  When I refused to help bail out my brother yet again, I was called a selfish stuck up bitch.  He has been in rehab 4 times and can't hold a job, but I was the one that was called names because I refused to help him out.  My parents had already drained their retirement accounts trying to help him.  I wasn't willing to do the same.

As for the question, I think it is both. 

[zibazinski]

I'm still very careful. What I like now is that I have a safety net and I can help out my kids if they need it. I helped my DS go to Oahu and stay with a friend who has a months leave. He sent me a picture of playing golf on base! So except for what he spends there, to go to Oahu and stay was free and what an experience for him!

[Spellbound454]

Its changes you... because it changes your status.

There is more opportunity, more attractiveness, admiration and envy from others, more power.....and with power, arrogance.
There can be(not always) a loss of humbleness, dignity and respect for the people you once used to hang out with......who are on a lower status.

Its important to remain grounded and remember where you came from.

otherwise there is a danger of turning into a total jerk.........

[Jake 48]

Aug 19, 2013 7:31:33 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

Its changes you... because it changes your status.

There is more opportunity, more attractiveness, admiration and envy from others, more power.....and with power, arrogance.
There can be(not always) a loss of humbleness, dignity and respect for the people you once used to hang out with......who are on a lower status.

Its important to remain grounded and remember where you came from.

otherwise there is a danger of turning into a total jerk.........

[greeniis10]

Aug 19, 2013 8:42:03 GMT -5 @tbird said:

It also depends on when you get money - 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, etc.

Yes, and also HOW you got the money.  If you build a business from the ground up and are a self-made millionaire (or whatever it takes these days) then I think you have a right to be proud of yourself and therefore, feel somewhat powerful.  Not arrogant and not use the power for selfish gain.  But, if you hit the lottery by sheer luck, no, I don't think you have the "right" to be treated like royalty just because you have money.

I think it all depends on your character to begin with, so I'm going with money reveals a persons true nature.  Not every case is the same, however.

[kittensaver]

Aug 19, 2013 1:02:36 GMT -5 imanangel said:

Aug 18, 2013 22:22:40 GMT -5 Mardi Gras Audrey said:

I think it's both.  I also think it can change the attitude of people around you (I've seen this happen a lot where someone starts making a lot of money and their family/friends start asking for all kinds of money.  When the person refuses to give them money, they are the "bad one"  )

I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but my husband and I make a lot more money than most people in our families.  When I refused to help bail out my brother yet again, I was called a selfish stuck up bitch.  He has been in rehab 4 times and can't hold a job, but I was the one that was called names because I refused to help him out.  My parents had already drained their retirement accounts trying to help him.  I wasn't willing to do the same.

As for the question, I think it is both. 

OMG do we have the same brother?

PS: Both.

[shanendoah]

I have always hated that staple yearbook phrase "Don't ever change". How boring would life be, and how awful, if one was not capable of learning and growing or just adjusting to changed circumstances.

In that sense, having money changes you. It has to, if for no other reason than you are called on to make decisions you never would have had to before. If money does not change you, at least in some ways, then you won't have money for very long, and probably wind up pretty miserable.

At the same time, having money can also be freeing. It can allow people to act in ways they had thought about acting before but did not feel able to, for whatever reason. Those actions can be either "good" or "bad".

Talks with people this weekend and getting ready to re-calibrate our budget left me realizing exactly how much money we do have. So today, when there was a homeless man and his lovely, sweet GSD on the corner my office window overlooks all morning, I decided to walk the 2 blocks to the nearby grocery store and buy some dog food for the dog and a couple boxes of granola bars for the man. C and I have always talked about doing this kind of thing before but never have. Today I did. That wasn't a change, it was a moment of freedom. But it also doesn't mean that I will be giving every homeless person I see food or money. And giving to one and not another doesn't make me a bad person.

Funny how we never talk about money "changing" people, or even "revealing their nature" when we agree with what they choose to do once they have money. It is only when they act differently than we want them to that we make those kinds of comments.

[Deleted]

I agree age is probably an important factor.

I know having some money now makes me very grateful for what I have and a heck of a lot less fearful. I think that makes me a better person.

[formerroomate99]

Money is a mere tool, but not everyone sees it that way.  So whether or not money significantly changes you depends pretty heavily on your initial attitude towards money, how you got money, and when you got money. 

[jkapp]

I think it changes people...although it may not always be a bad change. 

I've seen people who had little money for years, so were very protective of it, get more generous as their financial situation improved.  I've also seen the opposite, where people became more and more protective (and paranoid) the more money they earned.  To the point where they were hiding money around their house and putting in fortress-like security...

[8 Bit WWBG]

I think that money (like alcohol) can remove barriers.  It can add some as well, but on the whole, having ample money means that there are a lot more options available to you than to those who lack money.

After that, it depends a lot on the personality, because there is no shortage of permutations here.  There are people who will be born rich, live rich, and die rich.  Some will be generous and kind, and others will be stuck up.  There are some who are born poor, live poor, and die poor.  Some of those will have grounded values, and others will be bitter and immature.  There are those who came from money, but lost it; and those who came from poverty but made it.  There is everything in between.