[walletdrainer]

I’m definitely not working particularly hard, but for what it’s worth my work has saved and will continue to save vast amounts of time for ordinary people. I’m not sure that how hard a person works is the right metric to use.

> it’s not like the wealthy have ever been in touch with the common man, for millennia

A few years ago I used to live in hostels, sometimes hoping that my (then few) websites would get one or two payments to cover my expenses for the next day so I wouldn’t have to go without food. I’d like to think that I’m not suddenly particularly out of touch.

[frmersdog]

>my work has saved and will continue to save vast amounts of time for ordinary people.

I have my doubts.

>A few years ago I used to live in hostels, sometimes hoping that my (then few) websites would get one or two payments to cover my expenses for the next day so I wouldn’t have to go without food. I’d like to think that I’m not suddenly particularly out of touch.

Consider that living in hostels and going hungry while maintaining multiple web services is maybe outside of the common man's experience. The priorities of someone stuck in the former situation, and the resources generally available to someone in the latter, usually don't overlap. Grocery shopping in Monaco and calling your taxes "donations" doesn't help matters.

I say this as someone who is, by many measures, out-of-touch himself: weird know weird. A measure of self-consciousness is healthy.

Finally, for efficiency's sake:

>Hard to reconcile it being super cool to build an unicorn (a cute term we’ve come up with to describe billion dollar startups which have made their founders tremendously wealthy), but somewhat disgusting to actually have or spend that money.

You probably misunderstand my perspective on the matter.

>Could I afford give more? Sure! To whom? How much?

Oh, the possibilities are endless (even if the ability to vet is not; so, don't).

Talk to people, find out their pain points, make their day.

OR

Your employees (or the people who automation has saved from being your employee).

OR

Invest in that neighborhood people tell you not to go to.

Just starter suggestions. Note that they're not merely aimed at making you feel good for being a good little philanthropist; in the long run, they make it safer to run your mouth off however you like.

[jazzyjackson]

gifting sums of money to someone to solve their problems can significantly complicate relationships, have you tried it? Unless theyre a close intimate that is genuinely able to accept a gift you'll end up with someone who feels indebted to you or the opposite, sees you as a bank account or a fallback for next time they're in need. I've seen it between parents and children, between friends, between strangers, debt complicates things. That's what I like about money, it's used to settle debt so you don't owe anything to anyone.

And people hate it when somebody buys a run down building in a poor neighborhood and "invests" in it because now you're making it unaffordable

Edit: I'll give you "pay your employees more", that's a fairly uncomplicated way to distribute windfall wealth, but now you've just passed the buck to them! ;)

[frmersdog]

>gifting sums of money to someone to solve their problems can significantly complicate relationships

Maybe. If you have a relationship. I was thinking more along the lines of listening to someone's story and them finding a check from a mysterious benefactor in the mail sometime later.

>And people hate it when somebody buys a run down building in a poor neighborhood and "invests" in it because now you're making it unaffordable

So don't do that. There are other ways to invest in communities. "Upgrading" housing is couched as the primary way to do so really only because it's a good way to make money (and influence what some people would view as desirable demographic changes).

Better things are possible.