Yes, they do. Poverty creates desperation. They also have less to gain. Most any billionaire likely understands that earning a few more billion will not change their life that much.

I can’t disagree about people living at or below poverty line, even from the materialistic view. The average HN reader, though? Philosophically, I believe what I wrote is generally true. Having a bunch of money isn’t going to change how happy someone is. You aren’t any freer. You are still bound by the human condition like everyone else.

A guy working for McDonalds and living in a small run down apartment in a bad neighborhood definitely has less to lose by going to prison then a billionaire.

I think this takes a narrow materialistic view of things. People don’t suddenly get any happier when they have billions of dollars. At the very bottom, sure, there is something there. But the average HN reader and poster has as much to lose as any billionaire or millionaire in the abstract. Freedom is an extremely undervalued asset.