spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

the degree poll got me thinking...

a lot of posters mentioned that they would never have less respect for a person w/o a degree... and immediately mentioned that they know someone w/o a degree that makes 'good money'

Does that make being uneducated OK? If the person isn't financially set, is there a different set of standards for them (i.e. it's NOT OK for them to be uneducated)? Does a person's wealth affect how you judge them?

Please really think about how you often feel.... forget about being PC.... be honest! I'll post my personal opinion below..... (don't want to infuence the poll )

Message edited 4/20/2009 5:50:18 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

I'm impressed by wealth and will always make a point to find out someone's story if they are in that elite club- I want to be in there one day

BUT I have the utmost respect for hardworking people that dont make much- my grandfather came from nothing, got up every morning at 3am and worked his butt off laying down railroad tracks & put my dad through college

I dont know if that answers the question lol

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

Do I think "more" of someone if they make good money? No.

There are plenty of wealthy people that I have zero respect for.

I usually don't judge someone based on one thing like a degree, or salary, or car, etc.. It's always a combination.

I'm not saying I don't judge people because I do. I'm not perfect.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

Depends, there are many careers, I dont like and feel people enter for the $$$ only, so in those cases, NO.

Then there are people I know who inherited the money and you wouldnt know unless friendly with them how they accumulated their wealth....or like my BIL and SIL who are lotto winners.

But I think there are some occupations like Dr.'s whose lives are really devoted to helping other who I think deserve the money they make. Others like MovieStars, baseball players etc...IT makes ME SICK to think how much money they make! So No I actually disrespect them for the amount they have ( unless they are very giving...charitywise ..etc )

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

I couldn't care less if a person is wealthy. There's a good chance they did NOTHING to get that money... (a relative did... sometimes long ago )


I frankly DO care about people being educated. I value my education greatly. There are a lot of intangible benefits to an extensive / well-rounded education. In hindsite, I went to school to become educated, not for a quick degree so I can get job X. I even took an entire 2nd major in undergrad with absolutely NO job market potential , becuase I was curious... (physical anthropology) My, and my DH's extensive educations will never lead to extensive wealth, dispite a strong work ethic... becuase we conciously decided to enter a world of public service (much like a lawyer that opts to be a distrct attorney over private practice...)

Then comes the secondary topic of ethics. frequently, the people who do the most charitable work and are the most generous are living paycheck to paycheck. they could be educated, they could be uneducated, but their ethics are solid and they are admirable people. I have inate suspicion that some of the wealthiest people only give to charity for the tax benefits (yes, I know, a jaded, cynical, and possibly untrue view... yet I'll own it.)

My perspective could derive from my upbringing in a reasonably comfortable neighborhood where I saw that a bunch of rude and crude people that easily made and flashed tons of $$$..... trust me, I wasn't impressed by them... intimidated, maybe... impressed, never. Greed and excess should be a badge of shame.

(for the record, some of those families were very educated, some were not....)
life lesson: neither education or $ can buy ethics and social grace.... which above all else, I value most.

oh, to answer my own question (does money make it ok for a person to be uneducated?) NO, IMO, it doesn't. I appreciate that many people (ex. a business owner) didn't have the opportunity to get a higher education when s/he was young.... but if offered to someone by their parents, I feel everyone should jump at the opportunity to get a higher education... in an area of their personal interest. Doesn't mean they can't have a techinical job afterwards

On the flip side, like the OP, I have zero respect for a person who only got a degree in order to get a super-$$$ job. To me, that is a pursuit of greed, not of self-improvement.

Message edited 4/20/2009 5:32:58 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

I never think about it in terms of money.

I don't have a degree..I'm just as smart as some who do.

I know a few PhDs who make very little..I'm still impressed by them as well as the people who don't have a degree who are smart and hardworking. Money isn't the barometer for me.

Did that cover it?

eta: I am impressed with some of my doctors who attended certain med schools though. I see a difference in doctors.

Message edited 4/20/2009 5:27:09 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

the results of this poll are very interesting so far... a broad spectrum of responses....

it's especially interesting when comparing it to the degree thread responses.

virtually no one would think less of someone who lacked a degree... yet many people would think more of a person if they had money....

the scientist in me thinks the results are partially due to poll wording (thinking less of someone = bad.... thinking more of another group = not as bad). yet, it seems that LIF'ers value money over education......

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

Does money make it ok for a person to be uneducated?

IMO, no it doesn't make it "ok" - however, I would never think that just because someone doesn't have a college degree or a masters degree(s) that they are not educated people - education comes in lots of forms and some people are either not meant to go to college, don't want to, or do not have the opportunity to. That does not make them any less than those that had the opportunity and/or desire.

To me, that is the bottom line. Trust me, I have a degree from a great university and am very proud of that because I worked my butt off, but that doesn't make me a better PERSON than someone who didn't. And that's what matters to me.

I DO value education though, and I think that a higher education is beneficial in many ways - some people close to me that don't have college degrees seem to lack certain skills that I feel would be beneficial to them, but that's not to say that people that have gone to college or beyond have all the skills they need.

I'm just going on and on, but I think the most important thing to me is the quality of the person - not the education they have or the amount of money they make.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

Message edited 11/24/2011 12:27:20 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money'

Message edited 4/20/2009 5:51:18 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

Bill Gates doesn't have a formal eucation, but I'm not sure that anyone thinks of him as "uneducated"

<----coming from someone working on her fourth degree

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

money doesn't make a difference to me either way.

i don't think "higher" of someone who has money, education or not.

money doesn't buy class, morals, character, kindness, true friendship, integrity, honesty, or just about any other great chacteristic that i look for in a decent human being.

i don't think less or more of someone whether they have money or not or whether they have an education or not. i'm all about the person and who they are vs. what they have.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

I don't judge a person based on money or education -- I judge based on the character of the person.. how they treat others, how they endure hardships, how they live their life -- some of the best people I know don't earn much at all and some of the most rotten people I know are wealthy. And I would never think less of someone just because they don't have a degree, or a high paying job... in the end that's not what matters.

Am I jealous of people who make lot of $$$... hell yeah!!!! But I don't think more highly of them because they do.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

I absolutely don't form an opinion about someone solely based on their income, nor does it make me think they are better people.

But, I will admit there have been polls and subjects and I've had some "Wow!" moments at the combined household salaries of some people here. I have to remind myself not to drool when I see someone's brand new gorgeous kitchen or their houses that are sometimes 4x the size of mine!

It does make me a little green with envy sometimes and I think... They must be really good at their jobs. I'm largely satisfied with our lives and salaries though.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

Having a degree or having money doesn't make somebody a good person. I know people that are educated and others that are wealthy that are still tools.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

I don't think more or less of people based on how much they get paid. I say "get paid" because some people earn more or less than they get. So, I do think that some people earn a different amount than they receive!

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

It depends on how they make "good money". Someone who sells drugs and makes good money- no- I don't think more of them. And how someone who handles themsleves with (or without) money is primarily how I judge them. If they are good people and treat other s with respect...I think highly of them. If they don't- I won't.

Someone who didn't have any a lot of opportunities and makes "good money" or worked very hard to make "good money" or who is very good at what they do and makes "good money"- yes, I think a lot of them- assuming they are a good person.

Message edited 4/20/2009 8:49:48 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

IMO
- not having a degree doesn't mean that someone is not educated.
-having a degree doesn't mean that someone is educated
-having a degree doesn't mean that you will do (financially) well in life.
I know many people(friends and some family) who have no degrees, but they are very educated and very very smart and make great money.
I never ever assume that just bc someone has no degree they are not smart or uneducated or they can't make more(or same) as someone with a degree .
Do I judge people? Of course I do, I am human.
Do I think any more of them bc they have money. NEVER.

Message edited 4/20/2009 9:16:46 PM.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

First, I think everyone's definition of what it means to make "good money" is different - for some it may mean 6 figures and for others it may mean 7 figures.

As I said in the other post I value knowledge above all (with or without a degree). I really love speaken to a person who is incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable. That being said I can be impressed with credentials sometimes (moreso than wealth).

While I do believe it is very possible to be incredibly successful without a degree (both financially and professionally) - my grandafther is just one example - I do believe at a certain point there is usually a cap as to how far you can go. Yes, there are cases like Bill Gates etc. but they are the exception and not the norm. This is not to diminish the accomplishments of those without degrees but statistically speaking those with degrees generally enjoy a higher standard of living.

I say this as someone who while I do have several degrees I come from an immigrant family without any "education" who did very well for themselves.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

I know a few wealthy people who are FILTHY rich and they are down to earth people. They donate time/money to organizations they have a good time with their earnings but at least they give back so I think nothing but the best of them.

Then there are a few that are rich do nothing with their money but spend it on themselves and make me ill.

I can't really say I think less of people for making more then dh and I because we are below the 80% wealth of LI so we are not wealthy by far but we are wealthy in the fact we don't piss our money like many of my friends living it real good in their big houses, lavish cars, amazing vaca's and with their 200K salaries but yet they have 100k in debt and can barely make any of their payments

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

i answered NO. LIke PP have said there are plenty of people with degrees and money

that do nothing with it and vice versa. There are plenty of jobs that

require master's degrees and higher that don't pay well at all. When I meet or who I associate with has nothing to do with their income.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]

Quite honestly, money does NOT impress me. Not at all.

Re: spin-off-making 'good money' [poll]