Howard Hughes was one of the richest people in the world during his lifetime. He was also a non-human (to put it mildly). But I recently read an interesting article about his life that puts into perspective how rich we are today in ways that cannot be captured by reference to GDP accounting.
Hughes was a restless sleeper and loved movies. Unfortunately for him, the evening programs were very limited. He wanted to have more options available for what to watch during his sleepless nights. And, with his incredible resources, he managed to find a solution. He ended up buying the television station, KLAS, in 1967 for $3.6 million, which would come out to just under $34 million today adjusted for inflation. Now that he controlled his own private TV station, he could ensure that movies would be broadcast at all hours. And apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for him to decide he didn’t like what was being shown and call the station and tell them to play something else instead. Because of this, anyone else watching the channel would find themselves confused as the movie they were watching was suddenly switched to something else.
Hughes was a rich man. But at the same time, he had to spend today tens of millions of dollars for a service that was far less than anyone who subscribes to Netflix today. Hughes could have burned his entire fortune without coming close to finding the bewildering variety of entertainment that you or I can have today for less.
If you look at what Hughes was worth during his lifetime (even without adjusting for inflation!), by all standard measures he was a much richer person than I am. But I would never be tempted in the slightest to exchange my standard of living for the standard of living that Hughes had during his lifetime. And 1967 isn’t exactly ancient history. One doesn’t have to look back that far to see that the luxury of the super-rich a generation or two ago couldn’t even begin to measure up to what today is so much considered trivial.
If I suggested to someone right now that their grandchildren will have more things than Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos and all their wealth today, they might think that’s a sweet claim. But it’s a claim we can accurately make now about ourselves and Howard Hughes, or John Rockefeller, or any other wealthy person from a generation ago. So the next time you settle into the couch and log into your Netflix account, take a moment to appreciate that you don’t have to live like Howard Hughes. When you turn on the air conditioner to get out of the sun on a hot summer day, be thankful you don’t have to live like John Rockefeller. If you apply antibiotic ointment to a small area, thank your lucky stars that your medical care is better than what was available to President Calvin Coolidge’s son, who died when a toe bump became infected. And be thankful to know that your grandchildren will be thankful that they don’t have to live like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos live today.
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