I wouldn't want to be rich and famous as I think it can become a prison (& I don't like the lime light and value my privacy possibly above all). I think that being a blue collar worker though takes a serious toll on a lot of people's self-image and self-esteem. I don't think it's all relative either. If you can imagine enough people looking down at you or treating you as someone there just to serve them or as someone who probably isn't too bright... that would probably eventually seep in. I probably think that being on the extreme ends (either really wealthy and/or famous or really poor or just in the working class) can be more difficult than being in the middle (maybe). Perhaps one always imagines with money that no one will know they have it and so they can just do whatever they want because they don't have any financial obstacles. Probably few people actually live that way. It's amazing how many people just throw large amounts of money away (I think this probably says something about the new kinds of temptations one is faced with if they have it, particularly if they just got it... but I still don't understand why they would wish to rush and spend it all and even end up in debt afterwards). I can see the interest in investing $ if one finds they have a lot of it. Perhaps this has to do with power to some extent. Having even more money means even more influence. One could actually affect the world in some way. Maybe it begins as a less than greedy ideal. Also, I'd imagine one might become paranoid about losing it and so investing it could bring a sense of security.