It's lonely at the top – because there is nothing there

What do Tiger (Sex Addict) Woods and Nicholas (First Class) Winterton have in common?

They are living proof that beyond a certain level of income – perhaps £40 k -- individual wealth does not bring extra happiness and provides only temptation, isolation and judgement-warping pomposity.

Money hasn’t bought Tiger love and it can’t buy Nicholas a decent train experience (unless the state will finance his first class habit.) The only answer for both men is less personal wealth, less belief in different rules for life at the “top” and a more equal society. Nothing less will save Tiger from himself or provide Nick with the productive rail journey he craves at a price the public purse will weather. Not surprisingly, I doubt either man sees it that way.

It may seem pointless to focus on that strange 14 minute scripted performance by Tiger Woods.

And yet, data shows oil trading in New York fell by a third and trading volumes on all US stock exchanges fell by a fifth for the duration of his televised apology. If Woods is addicted to sex, then the world is addicted to Woods. For one simple reason – he is the principle actor in America’s founding myth. Woods is a self made man who has reached The Top.

So his speech was no less interesting for being calculated. “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled.” The message from Tiger (or his minders) is that too much money corrupts. Too much celebrity skews perspective. And yet he clearly intends to re-enter that celebrity maelstrom as soon as his wife and sponsors give him the all clear. Never mind question marks over his sincerity. Tiger – like any addict -- needs to be saved from himself and separated from his drug of choice. Life at the top.

Tiger hasn’t grasped a fundamental truth.  To read more - click here.

Comments

[Douglas]

good points Lesley