There is a fascinating new opinion
piece in The Guardian confirming
our suspicions that rich men do
indeed cry.
>> I care.
That's it.
>> Never gets old.
Like that little quivering lip.
It's delicious.
>> To me the best part is
a quivering chin.
I didn't know your chin could
quiver, there are going to
be taxed a little bit.
>> Remember he's crying
over a proposed wealth tax.
That was what that segment and
those tears were about.
Now, luckily we have an expert
weighing in on wealthy people and
how damaged they really are.
Okay.
This is such a fascinating because
I always felt that if you're
wealthy, you have an obligation,
a responsibility to everyone to
enjoy that wealth.
But that is not what's happening.
So this was written by
Clay Cockerell.
And it's titled,
I'm a therapist to the super rich.
They are as miserable as succession
makes out.
And of course that's a reference
to the HBO hit show succession,
which you all should be watching
right now because it's fantastic.
But I think the takeaway from this
is even better.
So, I'm going to read a few
excerpts, then we'll discuss.
Succession is built on the idea of
a group of wealthy children vying
for who will take the mantle from
their father.
None of them are able to convince
him that they can do it.
And that is because they have
reached adulthood completely
unprepared to take
on all responsibility.
I think that's a good description
without giving any spoilers away
right now.
He also writes that over the years,
I have developed a great deal of
empathy for
those who have far too much.
The television program succession
now in its third season does such
a good job of exploring the kinds
of toxic excess my clients struggle
with that when my wife is watching
it, I have to leave the room.
It just feels like work.
So what he's doing here is really
justifying some of the anguish that
ultra wealthy people experience.
And obviously these
are difficulties that are very
different from what the vast
majority of people experience.
I would argue not being able to pay
for shelter or provide food for
your family.
That is clearly something that
needs to be addressed and
I think should take priority
in our society.
However, if you are raised in
a fabulously wealthy family as
Tucker Carlson was,
as the heir of the Swanson fortune.
I think Carlson is a perfect
example of how damaged you
can end up being right?
And it's because of a number
of different factors.
The fact that you might not feel
you have any purpose in life
because you don't have to work for
things like other people do.
As Cockerel writes in this.
Well, what would it be like if you
couldn't trust those close to you
or if you looked at any new person
in your life with deep suspicion.
I hear this from my clients
all the time.
What do they want from me, or how
are they going to manipulate me?
Or they're probably only friends
with me because of my money.
Okay, so let's stop right there.
Jink.
>> Yes, so
this story has been conflicted,
it's a roller coaster ride.
So I'm going to take you through
the whole roller coaster.
But first, okay, yes,
definitely buckle up.
First let me just double
down on it.
And I said,
succession is such a great show.
Its executive producers
are Adam McCain, Will Ferrell and
Adam McKay right now.
The single most successful
producer and director in Hollywood,
he did big shorted advice.
He's got the Leonardo DiCaprio
movie, don't look up coming out.
And he's a huge progressive.
Not only has he been on the show,
he watches the show
like you guys do okay.
And I ran into Will Ferrell once,
and he's had a nice thing to say
about the show, so it's wonderful
to see actual progressives putting
out this message.
And and they're right,
it's modeled on the Murdoch family
and every time when I watch it,
I have great shot in Florida.
And I feel so
good about myself because I'm like,
it turns out these incredibly
wealthy right wingers are neurotic
messes and their disasters.
They're totally miserable and
I feel great about it, now,
that's the beginning of the roller
coaster now I don't feel since I'm
such a bleeding heart lib,
I don't feel great that all rich
people feel miserable.
No, when it comes to
the right wing.
And the Murdoch's of the world who
are doing so
much damage to the rest of us.
And all those republican donors who
are in favor of their tax cuts,
those guys I have no sympathy for.
Okay, so now, okay, look,
is it true?
Or is this just like, cry me
a river about how rich you are and
everybody wants your
money and stuff?
No, it's true.
They are actually miserable.
And it's not just this guy
saying it.
Every interaction that I have had
with ultra wealthy folks,
they're not in some magical la la
land where they're all super happy.
Like, hey, we made it,
we got money.
You assume that because that's how
you would feel because you were
a poor middle class.
And you've always thought like,
if I could just get that and
then I would feel great, etcetera,
but they didn't grow up that way.
>> So let me just let me
contextualize this further because
I think it's important.
So, the very people in this country
who have exploited a system that's
rigged in their favor, which makes
them fabulously wealthy.
And other people struggle,
still doesn't make them happy.
It's not good enough because that
comes along with a whole host of
other issues,
including are my friends really my
friends because they like me and do
I really serve a purpose in life.
So yeah, I think that context
matters and look, I let me just get
this off my chest right away.
I don't feel bad for them at all.
Like 0%.
I feel zero empathy for, do you
feel like maybe your friends aren't
genuine cry me goddamn river.
Okay. Are you living in a cardboard
box on the sidewalk?
I don't think so.
Do you feel like maybe you don't
have purpose in life?
Go find purpose bitch.
Don't cry about it.
Okay.
You have endless resources to carve
a path of your own without having
to rely on mama and
papa to do everything for you.
I know it's tough.
It's tough when you have someone
wiping your ass for
you every single day and you have
servants doing everything for you.
It's tough to get out of that
comfort zone and actually have to
work for something.
But if you want to find purpose,
work for it.
Okay, after your therapy session,
maybe think about what you want to
do with your life.
>> So I'm definitely
more conflicted than add on this
because of two reasons and
then I'll go back to supporting it.
Okay, so
number one, it's so hard for
us to understand how they grew up.
They never had to work for
anything.
And so, and I say this, I get how
deeply ironic it is, right?
But it sapped them of the best part
of life, to me, the best part
of life is fulfillment.
That's why I talk to you guys like,
hey, get involved, go join wolf
packer, just democrats or whatever
your local group is because
fulfillment is a hell of a drug.
When you actually work for
something and
you get it accomplished,
it feels so good,
nothing feels better than that.
But they've never
experienced that their whole lives.
And everyone around them is also
incredibly wealthy and spoiled and
generally miserable.
So they are in a bubble.
They have no idea how we feel about
that.
And whenever they hear they're
going to do a billionaire tax or
whatever like that.
They think the masses are evil and
they're coming to get our money and
all.
They never worked for it and they
just want our money and everyone
around them says the same thing.
So they really think they're right,
that they're the victims.
And I know it seems impossible
to believe,
how can they possibly think that,
but they genuinely do right?
That doesn't necessarily make it
any better, right?
But I'm telling you how they
actually think and so, but
I've seen it with my own eyes,
they are really miserable.
They never find happiness because
they didn't earn it.
They're constantly
worried that people are going to
take their money.
They're obsessed with greed, in the
book that is almost almost done.
Justice is coming is the name of my
book and just you can pre order it
at Justice coming book dot com.
I have a section called Greed is
dumb.
And I tell you why we as
progressives are smarter than
the richest people in the world
because if your goal is money,
it's never enough.
It's an endless cycle of greed.
So they're always like more,
I need more.
They're just like they really token
nailed a precious dude, you already
have enough enjoy your schmucks.
You schmuck of schmucks, but
they really are that clueless.
>> But I mean think about what
it also takes to become wealthy in
a lot of different cases.
So often times, I mean there are
people who will literally turn on
their own friends like Dave Rubin
in order to acquire wealth.
But then what are you left with?
You're left in a room full of
people who don't like you,
don't respect you,
don't really see you as a friend.
You abandoned your real friends and
sure you live in a $5 million
dollar mansion, but it's pretty
damn lonely in that mansion where
everyone in the outside world is
mocking you constantly right?
>> So that's a little bit different
because they didn't grow up rich.
So the rubens and
doors of the world there crying in
their mansions all alone.
>> But my point is,
I get what you're saying and
there is a difference.
If you've been raised in
a wealthy family,
that's a different experience
from becoming incredibly wealthy.
But my point is, wealth by itself
is not something that's going to
make an individual happy.
What makes a person happy?
Really stop and think about it.
Let's not joke ourselves.
Obviously, we all need to have our
basic needs met, we all need to
have a roof over our heads comfort
in our lives and all of that.
But your happiest moments in life
are not the moments where
you're like coming up with a ton of
cash, right?
It's the moments where you get to
enjoy moments with your family,
with your friends,
when you have experiences, when
you're at a concert with people.
When you're able to share
an experience with your loved ones
when you experience love
with your partner, right,
intimacy that's in our code.
Like that's what humans are right?
Like a sense of community.
And I think that in our society,
in the United States, there's just
always such an emphasis
on property, on money, on wealth,
on all the material stuff..
That I think it kind of
makes people assume that money is
like the of creating happiness
in your life.
It doesn't create happiness and
in the case of these people who
grew up in wealthy families.
Since they've had everything handed
to them, they don't know what it's
like to have to work hard and
accomplish something on your own
and feel the thrill of
accomplishing something right?
That's why they don't have this
sense of purpose.
But get over it.
You can create a path for yourself.
You can use the resources that
you're super lucky to have because
of your wealthy family to create
a path for yourself.
I mean could have done that.
She could have been the campaign
manager for
the Bootleg Bernie Sanders.
But she didn't do it because
she wants validation from daddy.
I'm talking about succession.
Sorry. Yeah, No, absolutely.
>> So the last part of the roller
coaster here, it's a couple of
turns left real quick.
Look, I've never heard anyone say,
no you don't need money unless they
were rich okay.
For poor folks and middle class
folks you know you need money.
But at the same time you shouldn't
be obsessed with it because
it's definitive.
It does not bring you the happiness
you think it brings you and
there's limits, right?
There's different thresholds.
You get to a certain
threshold actually 70,000 year.
We've showed you
the studies before.
I'm surprised it's that small,
that low right?
And that's higher than the average
American's income.
But it's not like a millionaire or
anything, you get to a certain
threshold where you're not scared
to death of not being able to pay
the rent or the mortgage.
And getting humiliated, et cetera.
Not being able to feed your kids
once you get past that threshold,
then we're all nearly even.
And then I'm sure there are other
thresholds.
But once you get to a point where
you're at extreme wealth,
the incremental donald's dollars do
not help you at all.
They probably hurt you, right?
So, and by the way, but
progress is at the same time,
don't hate all wealthy people.
That's crazy.
There's a lot of wealthy people who
start out poor middle class.
And made it there and whether they
start out middle class or not,
there's a lot of wealthy people who
do good things in the world, so
don't use it as a blanket
statement.
That's crazy.
And then the last turn is this.
But if you're not obscenely wealthy
but you're middle class,
you're hanging in there.
You're doing all right.
Please enjoy life.
There is no magical place where
things are filled with unicorns and
rainbows, You probably
have it as good as it gets.
>> No life always sucks.
Like, let's just be clear about
that no matter what.
>> Last turn I didn't expect.
>> But your life is probably not
going to
get any better than it is now.
No, but seriously hold on, but
think about it, okay,
because again, what really does
make you happy in life?
It's the people around us,
the people closest to us and
as we get older,
those people slowly pass.
And I know it's like a morbid thing
to say, but it really helps
me personally enjoy the present
because I have the people
that I love the most still with me.
And so when I'm going through
something tough, I'm like, hey, at
least I get to go visit my parents
over the weekend or I get to spend
time with these loved ones and so
try to put all of that in context.
Whatever you're going through right
now, it'll eventually pass.
But don't forget to enjoy the good
parts of your life right now.
>> Yeah, So
to summarize rich people, go do
something good in the world, you'll
be shocked at how good you feel.
That's the cure to the therapy that
you need.
Okay, that's
just if you're miserable,
go spend that money on yourself and
on others and you'll feel amazing.
And if you're not obscenely wealthy
like these folks
don't sweat it man.
That kind of wealth,
you don't need it.
And oftentimes it makes you or
certainly your kids way more
miserable.
And I'll end on this Russell brand
was once on the show.
And I asked him because he said he
was really miserable growing up and
then he became famous.
And he always wanted to be famous
and wealthy.
And I asked Russell,
did it work once you got fame?
Did you feel better?
And he said not at all, it didn't
fill the hole in my heart at all.
And so,
It's an illusion of the media gives
you, if you're just rich or if
you're just famous you'll be fine.
No you can be fine now,
of course you need some money.
There's no question about that, but
there's so
many wonderful things around you.
And in a sense, the good news is,
we all don't know
how good we have it.
It doesn't get that much
better up there.