Its disgusting, it really is.

POSTED BY: Smartbutdumbblonde
UPDATED: Friday, August 4, 2006 05:13
VIEWED: 6387
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SMARTBUTDUMBBLONDE

Sunday, July 30, 2006 4:57 PM

I was channel hopping the other day, and I happened across some sort of "Fabulous lives of the rich and famous" type thing, about extravagant things that celebrities spent their money on, and it disgusted me it really did. These couple of thousand people have so much money that they are willing to spend something like $15,000 dollars on a belt buckle, that they will probably only wear once, while there are billions of people out there starving to death because they don't even have enough money to buy food.
Here's an example. Ralph Lauren spent $200,000 on a fence for his ranch. A fence.
If I had $200,000 dollars, I wouldn't have to worry about how I'm going to pay for University, or have to get a stundent loan, and that's just me, an immaterialistic teenage girl in the western world. Imagine what a girl of the same age living in Subsaharan Africa could buy. She could get well dug for her village, for fresh, clean water, she could buy livestock, and probably never have to worry about going hungry again. Her family wouldn't have to die needlessly from some easily curable disease, becuase she would be able to pay for their healthcare.
Maybe the developed world should stop being so obsessed with the material, celebrity culture, and focus our intentions, and our money on the people who really need it.

/rant over.
Sorry, about that, it just really made me mad.

***************
I haven't had this much fun since the last time I ate a lightbulb
98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature

AURAPTOR

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:05 PM

In a waiting room recently, I waded through the pile of magazines to read and kill some time. A magazine - Yachting Life - caught my eye. Sure enough, inside was one big ass yacht after another, each stuffed w/ more luxury and amenities than the next. I was interested to see what went into these boats. I was floored. Never mind the state rooms which were more richly decorted than any hotel suite I've seen, but these things had more stuff than you could ever possibly use! Hot tubs, swimming pools, heli-pads, movie theatres.... I'm not talking Cruise ships, but personally owned YACHTS! Granted, I know there are corporations which own stuff like this, but this was tailored for the private yacht owners of the world. I've heard of Paul Allen and Greg Norman's yachts. Ok, rich folks and mega celebs have big boats..big dea. It's not so much that there are some pricy yachts out there, but that there are so MANY! It's a huge industry, one which I never gave much thought to before.

My whole point about this is, there are lots of folks out there w/ TONS of $$$. Maybe not as a % of the population, but I am staggered to see so many have so much. And of course, knowing that, there has to be that many more who have so little.

Then I remember hearing something about money and those who have it....... You could take all the $$ in the world, put it in one big pile, and give each and every person on the planet the exact same amount. In as short a time as 6 months, those who had the most $$ before would have it again, and those who didn't have it would be back exactly to where they were before.

Socialism doesn't work and capitolism suffers from bouts of extreme excess and indulgence. Don't know if we'll ever find a happy medium.

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

SOUPCATCHER

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:25 PM

Okay. I'm on my way out the door for a few days so I probably shouldn't even post this. But... .

I have no problem with rich people spending money they earned on whatever they want. As long as it's legal. It's their money after all.

I do have a problem with an inherited aristocracy (which is basically what we have in this country). If you're rich and didn't do a thing to earn that money, that's just not cool.

People who are wealthy have a better experience living in the US. They benefit more from this country. They should pay more for that service (higher taxes). After they die, their spouse should be able to enjoy the same standard of living. Their children should have enough money to have a decent shot at being successful (set them up in the top 50% until they are 30, just to pull something out of my ass). The rest of their money should go back to the community.

Every generation should be successful on their own merits.

Done with the broad brush. Ducking out the back door.

SIMONWHO

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:44 PM

If it's any comfort, the two richest people in the world are currently in the process of giving nearly all their money away to charity.

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CITIZEN

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Socialism doesn't work and capitolism suffers from bouts of extreme excess and indulgence. Don't know if we'll ever find a happy medium.

Neither philosophies work alone, it's just "capitalism"’s collapse is more insidious than that of Socialism.

The only way to get a workable system (until some visionary comes up with something better) is to combine the best aspects of both. For all the bitching and moaning of free market capitalist history has conclusively proven that reducing regulation does not improve things, and the only people who benefit from reductions in social services (i.e. aspects of socialism) like public schools, public health and so on are the rich.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

CHRISISALL

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SimonWho:
If it's any comfort, the two richest people in the world are currently in the process of giving nearly all their money away to charity.

Yes actually, it is.

Ain't it cool Chrisisall

CANTTAKESKY

Sunday, July 30, 2006 10:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SimonWho:
If it's any comfort, the two richest people in the world are currently in the process of giving nearly all their money away to charity.

The Gates are giving a big chunk of their money to a global vaccination program. Then they buy stock in companies that manufacture vaccines, of course, to promote the good cause of vaccination.

Do other people see this, or is it just me? They give away a lot of money (tax write-off included no doubt) to buy products that will make their stock worth more and make them richer.

Look, I'm not dissing the Gates. Just think they are very astute businesspeople. Very astute indeed.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

SIGMANUNKI

Sunday, July 30, 2006 11:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Smartbutdumbblonde:

they are willing to spend something like $15,000 dollars on a belt buckle, that they will probably only wear once, while there are billions of people out there starving to death because they don't even have enough money to buy food.

...

Maybe the developed world should stop being so obsessed with the material, celebrity culture, and focus our intentions, and our money on the people who really need it.

I agree completely.

Quote:
Originally posted by Smartbutdumbblonde:

Here's an example. Ralph Lauren spent $200,000 on a fence for his ranch. A fence.

You couldn't have picked a worse example. First off, fences aren't exactly cheap. Secondly, when you have to build one for your ranch, they tend to be *very* long. Thus, quite expensive. Go ahead, ask any rancher that has built a fence to keep the cattle in.

Not to mention that he probably needs rather good security b/c he has a lot of cash to keep people out from hurting him, or kidnapping him, or...

On the other hand, if you would have mentioned a $50 mil USD home, then you'd have something.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

MONTANAGIRL

Monday, July 31, 2006 1:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
Quote:
Originally posted by Smartbutdumbblonde:

Here's an example. Ralph Lauren spent $200,000 on a fence for his ranch. A fence.

You couldn't have picked a worse example. First off, fences aren't exactly cheap. Secondly, when you have to build one for your ranch, they tend to be *very* long. Thus, quite expensive. Go ahead, ask any rancher that has built a fence to keep the cattle in.

I have to concur that fences aren't cheap.
From the the University of MN Extension service (because my dad wasn't handy to ask how much it cost us the last time we had to rebuild fence):

Quote:
The cost for one mile of five-strand barbed-wire fence with metal T-Posts (every 16.5 feet) is about $1300.00 per mile for fence and T-posts only.

(Note that that doesn't include labor costs to actually build the fence.)
And that's about the cheapest kind of fence to build short of using electric wire. Somehow I think he was probably building something a lot more substantial.

So while I agree that a $15,000 belt buckle is ridiculous, I'm with SigmaNunki that using fencing costs to prove your point is a misstep.

-------------------------------------------------
You ended that sentence with a preposition! Bastard. - O'Neill

CANTTAKESKY

Monday, July 31, 2006 8:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Smartbutdumbblonde:
Maybe the developed world should stop being so obsessed with the material, celebrity culture, and focus our intentions, and our money on the people who really need it.

It's heartbreaking. It really is, to contrast ridiculously obscene wealth with the dire poverty in which the rest of the world lives.

I grew up in third world countries. During my teen years, I lived across the street from a market garbage dump in Paraguay where kids routinely visited to get food. Kids went to school at night, because during the day, they have to work to be able to eat.

I am now living in Peru, where I am surrounded by very short people. Peru has one of the highest rate of stunted growth in the world because of poverty-related malnutrition. The girls my 6 year old daughter play with are the same height, and they are 12 years old.

Poverty has always been a big issue with me; I've been thinking about it for a long, long time. In a previous lifetime, I used to be social worker, working with the poorest of the poor in rural Alabama. After a couple of years in that line of work and having experienced what I have growing up, I have arrived at a few thoughts.

1. Poverty is like living in a hole in the ground. Giving poor people money might make their hole a lot more comfortable, but it doesn't help them climb out of the hole. The money you give them will eventually run out; the goods they buy with money will eventual wear down. And then they are still in the hole.

2. Education is the first step out of the hole. It is better to teach a man HOW to fish than to give them a barrel of fishes. Once they know how to make money for themselves, they aren't dependent on others (and their strings) for money. Once independent, they can make not just make their lives more comfortable, but they can make capital to actually get rich.

3. Capital to own a business (i.e. self-employment) is the next step out of the hole. A serf on someone else's land might be able to live comfortably, but they will always be poor compared to the land owner. The only way for a serf to get ahead is to own his own land and reap his own harvest. To escape poverty, one has to be able to own capital and earn profits rather than wages.

4. A free market and the force to defend it will keep the poor person from going back into the hole of poverty. Poverty is a political reality, not a financial one. Rich people want to get richer, or at least remain rich. They use their power to keep poor people from ever becoming a threat. To truly break free, the poor man has to have a deregulated small business market and enough force to defend the market's political independence. (Think of the brothel in "Heart of Gold." They needed weapons and force to defend their business from being destroyed by the rich and powerful.)

Let's continue with the serf / land owner analogy. For a serf to escape poverty, he has to work his own land. Landlords don't like that, because they have lose a chunk of land to every escaping serf. If every serf owns his own land, they won't have more land or wealth than others, so this is a big threat to them. They construct laws to make it hard or impossible for serfs to own his own land. Depending on the society, the serf has to either change the laws to be able to own land and compete with the landlord (e.g. as in the USA) or defend legitmately earned land with weapons (as is in Africa).

If a landlord is smart, and most of them are, they will appease the serf with a higher standard of living.and entice him to give up dreams of land ownership. Work for me, live comfortably--what do you need to get out of serfdom for? Landlords give up a little bit of cash up front for increased security that their land ownership and profiteering will not be challenged. They create a middle-class that will die as happy serfs, not caring about the landlord's obscene wealth. If they are really, really smart, they will be charitable to the poor and make their holes in the ground

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