Would You Rather Be John D Rockefeller In 1895 Or A Regular Person Making $95,000 In 2019
Over the weekend History Channel did a marathon of its “Men Who Built America”. If you have the chance, set your DVR and put it under do not delete ever status. It is the perfect hangover show. The type of show that you throw on at 6AM on a saturday because you had to get up to let your dog out to pee, but your goal is to fade in and out of a nap until the football games start at 11am. Just interesting stories about iconic names and people speaking in hush tones. Perfect nap show.
One of the facts that seeped into my brain while I was semi-conscious last weekend was the John D Rockefeller was worth $336 BILLION in today’s money. An absolutely abhorent amount of money. The richest person in the world today is Jeff Bezos and he’s worth an estimated $110 Billion(post-divorce). THREE times richer than Bezos. Unbelievable. I started thinking about all of the things you could do with that money. And…I couldn’t really come up with anything sweet to do in 1895.
You could build an absolutely palatial estate. Cornelius Vanderbilt had the Biltmore Estate which looks like Louis XIV wouldn’t even be allowed to take a shit there
You know who else couldn’t take a shit there? Vanderbilt. Because nobody could take a shit. At least not a good shit with indoor plumbing. That didn’t exist. That got me to thinking about all the other shit those titans of industry types couldn’t do. It’s literally everything that makes life enjoyable. You want a big fancy, delicious meal…well you can probably get that like once per year based on what is in season. You definitely can’t even get a salad in January. The richest person in the world was probably eating like canned turnips and jam preserves in the winter. If you took Rockefeller to Chipotle in the winter he’d probably lose his mind. He’d probably think it was the most delicious thing in the world. I had ice cream while watching that show too. Rockefeller couldn’t eat ice cream whenever he felt like it. Nobody had a freezer. You want to take a trip to Europe? Guess what… you are going to be in tight quarters with whoever you go traveling with for like at least like 10 weeks on some shitty steam powered boat. And that is before you even get there. No TVs, no electricity, no internet, no sports. What do you even do for fun in 1895? Go to the symphony? I went to Salzberg one time in like 2009 and they had this “Mozart night”. 300 people paid a good amount of money to listen to the symphony play Mozart in his home town while a staff served you a traditional dinner. That night fucking SUCKED. It was so boring that we left early and that was the HEIGHT of the entertainment. That and plays. I saw Hamilton. It was okay. I wouldn’t choose that over watching MACtion. And if you’re thining about the amount of women you can get in 1895 with Rockefeller money…
She might show you her ankle, but she probably doesn’t shave her armpits or legs.I bet there were wild under sex parties for the elite back then but again…I mean, how great could it be with Gertrude there. And I am not a sex party kind of guy. I wouldn’t know what to do.
I am sure there’s something fun about meeting in secret societies and world domination, but that honestly sounds like a lot of work. I think you’re better off being a normal person making $95,000 or whatever you think a decent livable wage is in 2019. You at least have food, places to shit in comfort and things you actually would enjoy spending your money on. Making 95k in 2019 allows you to not really have to worry about your bills, you can have a decent apartment, you can travel, and your tv is at least 55inches. Rockefeller couldn’t do any of that shit. A reasonably average person has a WAY better quality of life in 2019 than the richest person in the world a little over 100 years ago.