I found this story interesting. The title’s use of “enigma” kind of exposes some societal issues we face… Is it confusing that someone give away a large sum of money because we’re usually unable...
I found this story interesting. The title’s use of “enigma” kind of exposes some societal issues we face… Is it confusing that someone give away a large sum of money because we’re usually unable to accumulate such wealth? Is that because we follow a consumerist mindset ? Or is this action odd because people generally leave their wealth to family and charity?
In my opinion we’d be a lot better off if more people led a similar lifestyle as Mr. Holt, at least in terms of being frugal and generous to our community.
I think he was an enigma the same way our local schizophrenic is. Our local schizophrenic goes around leaving broken electronics salvaged from trashcans on people's doorsteps as a way of saying...
I think he was an enigma the same way our local schizophrenic is.
Our local schizophrenic goes around leaving broken electronics salvaged from trashcans on people's doorsteps as a way of saying "welcome to the neighborhood." Weird, but harmless.
Dude you mostly interact with as "the former driver's ed teacher who rides around on his lawnmower in old clothes doing odd jobs" definitely fits as an "enigma" to me.
I can't say that if I amass a small fortune like that, that I wouldn't be doing something similar as my day job...going around doing handyman oddjobs for cheap to pay some bills and pass the time.
I really do not agree with this. His gift benefits thousands of people, whereas his lifestyle benefitted only himself. Even if he was the absolute happiest person in the entire world, his...
I really do not agree with this. His gift benefits thousands of people, whereas his lifestyle benefitted only himself. Even if he was the absolute happiest person in the entire world, his happiness would probably still be smaller than the happiness he gave and continues to give to others. Improvements to education and health, in particular, echo down the generations. Because of him, a family may not have to grieve the loss of a child, or a student may discover a lifelong passion and pursue it as a career; things like this are huge.
It also does not look to me like he deprived himself of material pleasure. He collected model cars and trains, he amassed books, he owned a lot of music, and he regularly rode around on his riding mower (which, speaking from experience, is a lot of fun). He wore old clothes, used old furniture, and lived in an old trailer — but this may easily have been because he had a sentimental attachment to these things or because he could not be bothered replacing them. I mean, I also wear old clothes with holes, use old furniture that could use a repair, and live in a small and inexpensive home (in my case, an attic studio above a workshop), but I am no ascetic. I just have other priorities.
I think the one thing we can conclude about him is that he did not seemingly care about chasing status and flaunting wealth. But that is far from the only material pleasure that we can pursue in life—and, in most cases, I believe it is actually a major impediment to material pleasure. (Ironically, I think it is also often a major impediment to being respected and admired, but that does not stop people. I think it is actually an anxiety-driven behavior more than anything else.)
I think it is an enigma because most people expect people who have wealth to be recognizable as at least prosperous. I've seen articles about similarly surprising bequests. In one case the funds...
I think it is an enigma because most people expect people who have wealth to be recognizable as at least prosperous.
I've seen articles about similarly surprising bequests. In one case the funds came from a long time homeless woman. That woman's life choices and priorities make her truly an enigma, since she clearly had funds for housing
I found this story interesting. The title’s use of “enigma” kind of exposes some societal issues we face… Is it confusing that someone give away a large sum of money because we’re usually unable to accumulate such wealth? Is that because we follow a consumerist mindset ? Or is this action odd because people generally leave their wealth to family and charity?
In my opinion we’d be a lot better off if more people led a similar lifestyle as Mr. Holt, at least in terms of being frugal and generous to our community.
I think he was an enigma the same way our local schizophrenic is.
Our local schizophrenic goes around leaving broken electronics salvaged from trashcans on people's doorsteps as a way of saying "welcome to the neighborhood." Weird, but harmless.
Dude you mostly interact with as "the former driver's ed teacher who rides around on his lawnmower in old clothes doing odd jobs" definitely fits as an "enigma" to me.
I can't say that if I amass a small fortune like that, that I wouldn't be doing something similar as my day job...going around doing handyman oddjobs for cheap to pay some bills and pass the time.
I really do not agree with this. His gift benefits thousands of people, whereas his lifestyle benefitted only himself. Even if he was the absolute happiest person in the entire world, his happiness would probably still be smaller than the happiness he gave and continues to give to others. Improvements to education and health, in particular, echo down the generations. Because of him, a family may not have to grieve the loss of a child, or a student may discover a lifelong passion and pursue it as a career; things like this are huge.
It also does not look to me like he deprived himself of material pleasure. He collected model cars and trains, he amassed books, he owned a lot of music, and he regularly rode around on his riding mower (which, speaking from experience, is a lot of fun). He wore old clothes, used old furniture, and lived in an old trailer — but this may easily have been because he had a sentimental attachment to these things or because he could not be bothered replacing them. I mean, I also wear old clothes with holes, use old furniture that could use a repair, and live in a small and inexpensive home (in my case, an attic studio above a workshop), but I am no ascetic. I just have other priorities.
I think the one thing we can conclude about him is that he did not seemingly care about chasing status and flaunting wealth. But that is far from the only material pleasure that we can pursue in life—and, in most cases, I believe it is actually a major impediment to material pleasure. (Ironically, I think it is also often a major impediment to being respected and admired, but that does not stop people. I think it is actually an anxiety-driven behavior more than anything else.)
I think it is an enigma because most people expect people who have wealth to be recognizable as at least prosperous.
I've seen articles about similarly surprising bequests. In one case the funds came from a long time homeless woman. That woman's life choices and priorities make her truly an enigma, since she clearly had funds for housing