財富真的不等于幸福

What is the point of being a “high net worth” person — of being seriously rich? As wealth increases, its benefits seem to diminish, or at times, lead to major problems.

身為“高凈值”人士(即達到真正富有的境界)到底意義何在?隨著財富增加，其帶來的好處似乎越來越少，有時甚至會帶來大問題。

It is easy to see the benefits of having enough money to afford a nice house or two, private education and healthcare, the best food, expensive cars; not having to worry about what you spend. But you do not need dozens or hundreds of millions for these. Let us say £20m in capital and property combined, and an income of about half a million, should do the trick.

有足夠的錢來購置一兩處不錯的房產，支付私人教育和醫(yī)療保險，買最好的食物、昂貴的汽車，而不用擔心自己的開銷;這些好處很容易理解。但你不需要數(shù)千萬或數(shù)億的資產就足夠為這些買單。讓我們假設，資本和財產總計2000萬英鎊、收入約50萬英鎊，就能達到這個境界。

A simple game illustrates why it is pointless to want more than that, unless you have an unusual reason to do so (like a passion for a particular benevolent cause or a burning desire to fly to the moon).

一個簡單的游戲可以表明為什么想要擁有更多是無意義的，除非你有一個不尋常的理由想要更多(例如對某項慈善事業(yè)的熱衷或者渴望登月)。

Suppose you have the UK’s national average wage, nearly £28,000. Now I am going to double that, for no additional work hours or change in role. For a short time you feel good, sure. But only six months later, you are already moving the goalposts, spending more and expanding your consumption horizons to fit £56,000.

假設你擁有英國的全國平均工資收入，近2.8萬英鎊。現(xiàn)在，在不增加工作時間和不改變工作崗位的情況下，把這個收入翻一番。沒錯，短期內你感覺很棒。但在僅僅6個月后，你的標桿就會開始改變，開銷增加，消費范圍擴大，達到與5.6萬英鎊收入相稱的水平。

Six months later we repeat the exercise — double the money again. With £112,000 to play with, you feel a rush of excitement. But again, how long before that wears off and the newly moved goalposts of aspiration eat it up?

6個月后我們重復以上操作——把收入再翻一番。有11.2萬英鎊讓你支配，你感到一陣興奮。但是同樣，這種興奮又會在多長時間內消失殆盡，被再度上調的欲望標桿吞噬?

Six months later we double it again, and so on. At what point does the doubling begin to become meaningless; £57,344,000, £114,688,000, £229,376,000, or more than that? There are only so many boats, planes or houses one can buy.

6個月后我們再來翻一番，以此類推。在哪一個點上，收入的翻倍會開始顯得毫無意義?5734.4萬英鎊、1.14688億英鎊、2.29376億英鎊，還是更多?一個人能夠買下并享用的船、飛機或房子終究是有限的。

All sorts of new problems will have arisen as you accelerate up through the millions. 當你的收入在百萬英鎊的級別加速增長時，各種新的問題將會顯現(xiàn)。

I have seen my rich friends fuss at expensive restaurants if the cutlery is not spotless, the £500 bottle of wine not quite right. I have looked on as they waited years for their dream houses to be completed. But worst of all, I have seen the effects of inherited wealth.

我見過我的富人朋友在高檔餐廳吹毛求疵，只是因為餐具不閃閃發(fā)亮;500英鎊一瓶的葡萄酒不太對味兒。我曾見證他們?yōu)樽约簤粝氲暮勒⒐ざ却龜?shù)年。但最糟糕的是，我見識過繼承得來財富的后果。

The impact on offspring is usually dire. I have known well about 50 people who inherited enough money never to need to work. I can think of only one — incidentally, a therapist — who was not severely handicapped by their wealth.

對后代的影響通常是可怕的。我熟識大約50個繼承了足夠財富、以至于永遠無需工作的人。就我記憶所及，其中只有一個人(順便提一句，這是一名治療師)沒有被其財富嚴重“致殘”。

Most of the rest never achieved anything in their careers, insofar as they attempted one. A few became ferocious workaholics, seeking to outdo their forebears, living miserable and frenzied lives. Worst of all, nearly all of them suffered a variety of depression, anxiety and substance abuse, living sad and emotionally unhealthy lives.

其余大多數(shù)人從未在職業(yè)生涯中實現(xiàn)過什么——如果他們曾經(jīng)嘗試的話。少數(shù)幾個人成為不要命的工作狂，尋求超越他們的祖輩，過著乖戾和瘋狂的生活。最糟糕的是，他們幾乎全都遭受著不同程度的抑郁、焦慮和藥物濫用，過著悲傷和情感不健康的生活。

I am not remotely suggesting that absolute poverty is the route to wisdom and emotional health, although it is true that many poor countries have far lower prevalence of mental illness than rich ones.

我絕不會說絕對貧窮是通往智慧和情感健康的途徑，盡管事實是很多窮國的精神疾病發(fā)病率遠低于富國。

For example, only 4 per cent of Nigerians have suffered a mental illness in the past 12 months, compared with 26 per cent of Americans — invariably the most mentally ill country in all surveys, despite being one of the richest.

例如，在過去12個月中，只有4%的尼日利亞人患上精神疾病，相比之下美國人的精神疾病發(fā)病率高達26%——在各類調查中始終是精神疾病比例最高的國家，盡管美國是最富有的國家之一。

The problem is relative, not absolute, deprivation: the more we have, the greater our tendency to keep up with the Joneses; to engage in malignant social comparisons and conspicuous consumption.

問題在于相對(而非絕對)貧窮：我們擁有的越多，跟別人攀比的欲望就越強烈，更容易投入惡性的社會攀比和炫耀性消費。

Huge wealth seems to drain life of meaning for its owners and their offspring. That this capital could be serving the wider community is a secondary, political issue. My point is, high net worth seems to produce low net self-worth and greater vulnerability to mental illness.

巨額財富似乎會剝奪所有者及其后代的人生意義。至于這筆資本原本可以服務于整體社會是一個次要的政治課題。我的主要觀點是，高凈值似乎會帶來較低的自我價值感，并且更容易患上精神疾病。