Richest man in the past or average Joe in the present?
 

If you were able to go back to the past (1800 and earlier) and become the richest person in the world, would you? Or do you think the modern comforts of an average life in the US/EU now beats being the top dog of 300 years past?

Regardless of your answer, please explain how you arrived at your conclusion :)

Rich men get more pussy. The time frame does not matter.

Although I disagree with the second sentence, your first point is spot on. A relatively recent study indicates that kings and nobility have more surviving descendants. In fact, a large chunk of the world's population can trace their bloodline to past kings/rules. I'm trying to find the link.

If you are rich 300 years ago you will enjoy in all good thing who were in that time, so time is doesn't matter cause you can buy everything available in that time.

rich in the past

Average in the present.

Sure being rich would rock, but in my 24 years on this planet, I can't see myself living in the past... Everything I know and do is all modern stuff... I'd probably be bored out of my fucking mind with thousands of dollars (Yeah, being rich back then was having like $100k in the bank) and nothing to do.

I'd rather have enough to get by and do what I want without thinking "hmmm, do I have enough money to do this or do I need to save a little more?" in the present.

Richest man in the past, fuck yeah. Then I'd at least not sit behind the computer all day long. I'd fuck bitches and crucify people I don't like.

Back in time, for sure.
1) There would still be huge sense of adventure with everything, and it would be exciting as you knew where everything was going. I'd try to avoid medeival times, wouldn't want to get strung up for being a witch.

2) You'd be able to travel and move with liberty, living real history. Amazing chance.

Still, I think being rich in the 20s would be something else :)

Rich in the past. No question about it.

Timeframe doesn't matter much but if anything rich in the past is even more powerful then rich now.

yes

fuck every day next bitch, make bunch of kids, enjoy in everything, die year later from some shit disses :D

Wealthy in the fucking past.
No fucking brainer.

If the choice came down to working 9 to 5 or being rich I'd choose rich.
But if I could be an average Joe webmaster and work from home then I'd stay in the present. TV, net, loud music, medicine. Sure you'd get a lot of fair maiden pussy as a king in the past but that's one hour of your day gone, what can you buy in the past with all that money?

You guys are crazy. No electricity or indoor plumming no motorized vehicles. next time it's hot outside leave your air conditioning off all day then tell me how you feel about living in the past. You talk about all that pussy. Yeah pussy that didn't bathe but once a month. No cure for any VD that pussy might have. And syphilis kills.

No you wouldn't the fact you were in the past changes the past so history would turn out different. The only thing that wouldn't change would be things like natural disaters like volcanoes erupting and earthquakes.

richest man in the past of course :1orglaugh

Without a doubt...take me back with mucho dinero:thumbsup

Killswitch is out of his mind:helpme

Not so much. Enjoy living without ANYTHING you're accustom to today...

Richest man in the past.

you can pretty much get anything with unlimited money, the only thing that would suck is the medical treatments...wouldn't want to go to a 1700's dentist...

Being rich in the past was way better than being rich now even... The gluttony and decadence was amazing.

Except indoor plumping, electricity, refridgeration, decent medical care, TV, radio, internet basically any kind of recorded entertainment. No porn of course.

I agree with GatorB.. modern achievements far out weigh having cash 300 years ago. Aside from "fucking bitches" you would spend all of your wealth enjoying a fraction of what you could today just with current technology.

Wasn't aware this would turn into a debate about causality / determinism / etc.

Actually, depending on your stance, you could argue that your going back in time was already determined, so the events that change etc in the past are integral in forming the current present as you know it..

Or, perhaps you'd be living in an uneffected state, where what you change simply reverts.

Really depends on how your 'universe' functions, or which standpoint you're looking at it from.

Richest man in the past easy......... unlimited supply of power and an unlimited supply of young whore to keep you healthy.

Crucifixions were used as government sanctioned punishments in the past. But only government players can use that. On the front of legality... smoking pot, eating shrooms, smoking poppies.... all legal in the past.

Before 1929

Here's something to ponder: Medical care and dental care. Remember, anesthesia and antiseptics only became widespread in the mid 1800s. The question was pre-1800.

I hear there were kill parties in the 30s for those who were still rich....

That's a great question Gene.

I thought about it last night. Being a black guy, I don't think being rich in the past is a good idea for me no matter how much money I could have. The world has come a long way to where I would imagine even if I was a broke black guy in the present it's better than any status would be for me in the past.

What's the point of having all that pussy hundreds of years ago? People were nasty back then - rotten teeth, dirty hair and skin . In the 1800s the stench at balls was so overwhelming - people would faint! And what about the wigs they were wearing?

"By the mid 18th century, powdered wigs were a natural part of daily life and the height of fashion. Lots of movies that show old courtroom cases and trials have actors wearing these weird-looking white powdered wigs. The problem with the wigs back then was that people didn?t really bathe as often as we do today ? they didn?t have indoor plumbing, and getting and heating the water to fill a whole bath was hard and took a lot of time and energy. That being the case, people covered their dirty, oily, greasy, unwashed hair with powdered wigs and, as a result, the unwashed wigs became infested with lice and ? we?re not making this up ? even mice. In fact, the problem was so bad that someone invented a special scratching stick that most wig-wearers came to carry with them ? to itch their creepy-crawly scalps."

If that goes for their hair, can you imagine what the pussy was like?....:Oh crap

But you would think you lived in the modern world. You would think it was all cool because you would not know better.

Depends how far in the past. You don't want to live in a time where polio or the plague was still a major factor.
WG

Agreed it would depend how far back we are talking.

just follow the golden rule.

'he who has the gold makes the rules'

er, killer parties. I'm not a tin foil hatter, honest.

I only know the day we live in and I'd have to say from reading up on the past I'd prefer this now. Living comfortably, having a couple of properties, a bmw sports car, nice tvs etc and summer holidays wherever I feel like going.

I can't ever imagine living in the past. Being the richest man would probably mean looking over your shoulder for someone trying to kill you. I'll stick with my life the way I have it right now thank you very much.

Average in the present.

200 years ago I would've died before my first birthday, so being rich would have been pretty much pointless.

Considering I'm pretty well off now I see no point in going back in time to be rich.

But I would trade being rich now for being average joe after 2300 any day.

only if it was the 60s your talking about.

Fuck going back further than that, think of all the Wars, Famine, Plague, Not having electricity, poor living conditions the list goes on.

Oh wait that sounds like the present! :1orglaugh

It astounds me how many would trade all the tangible benefits of modern civilization, technology and medicine, just to exercise a bit of power over others. You humans are crazy creatures.

tuberculosis kills...(so does many other diseases)

i'll stick with the average joe of modern time.

True.


In Roman times you had marble lined baths with a bunch of of slaves to ice down the water to a nice comfortable temperature for you.

Whats more, my palace is going to be on the waterfront with plenty of nice sea breezes blowing through it :)


They bathed regularly in ancient times and whenever the rich man told them to at all other times.


Well, yeah that would suck.


Which is why I'd definitely steer clear of Pompeii :winkwink:

As for the rest of history: the distant future might change, that is if you rocked the boat enough, but the immediate future wouldn't change because that would be (most likely) dictated by things that were already happening and that would happen in any case.

By average Joe today, I assume you mean average Joe in America or another civilized country.

I'll take the present. I don't give a fuck about having a castle and a moat and armed guards at my disposal, plus an entire harem of concubines.
Give me fucking air conditioning, refrigeration, antibiotics, television/movies/internet plus all the published works of all time at my disposal. I can fly from one end of the world to the other in hours. Not to mention Monday Night Football, electricity, etc.

Plus that harem I "could" have as mr rich in pre 1800....I wouldn't want them and their rotting teeth and smelly snatches. Give me one chick today with some listerine and running water with good soap. :2 cents:

Life before Penicillin sure was challenging... I wonder when scientists will finally discover the antivirus equivalent of Penicillin. That would truly be a HAPPY DAY in history.