So, you think your pretty balla eh?

[b_t]

Originally posted by Destinova403


it would probably end up in the pockets of the corrupt politicians who will use it to buy weapons and stay in power...

ever consider why Africa is so poor? a LOT of the aid money ends up in the hands of the wrong people

but i digress... we give people the freedom to make money how they choose and then scourn them when they choose to spend it?

besides... why? being so quick to judge an "un-named russian tycoon?" you dont know if he makes charitable contributions or helps the less fortunate... hell we dont even know how he got his money.

he had lots of money, so he excercised his freedom to spend it on whatever he wants... and that is a damn beautiful house.

You could make it work. Fuck, you could probably donate $375m to the United Nations to support a peacekeeping effort or something. That is just a lot of money that has been wasted for bragging rights. I'm not going to call it short man syndrome or tiny penis compensation - its just being the biggest hedonistic dickhead on the entire planet. It would be the Sultan of Brunei, but his country is actually pretty prosperous, so this guy wins instead.

[Destinova403]

its his money, not mine. and the money wouldnt have been completely wasted, it does get pushed back into the economy.

different people with different values, its not our place to judge.

its like getting mad at someone who modifies their car because they should have spent it on something better.
or someone who buys a new car, or an ipod.

"for the price of that iphone you could have fed an african for a year!!!"

its only because of the scale of the purchase that anyone gives a damn.

in the end people choose what they want to do with their money.

EX:
hell, your truck is an 07... you dont NEED an 07 truck to do your job... you coulda got a 00 for half the price and donated the rest to charity... YOUR A HEDONIST

see my point?

[b_t]

That's not a valid point, it is actually a logical fallacy. And I didn't buy my truck in a lump sum of cash like this guy bought his house. And I do (quietly) criticize a lot of people for buying a lot of stuff they don't need, but this guy at the moment is the world's foremost example of enormous wastes of money and flat out not caring for anyone.

[Destinova403]

how is my point flawed logic?

you are essentially saying that anything over and above necessity is a waste of money and resources... because ultimately these items are luxurys.

having a large house is a luxury, so is having a new car, or an ipod... etc.

regardless of whether or not it was paid for in cash, you are saying that any amount of money spent on luxury items or "penis enlargement" is a waste. payments on a decent truck will be a couple hundred per month... you could probably feed 4 africans for the money you would save by buying a used/older truck. ($1/Day as per those world vision commercials)

this is the giant hypocricy of ideas such as yours, you are quick to criticise someone who has more than you, but still want unnecessary luxuries of your own. the problem with this idea is that it doesnt work, in order to equalize the worlds wealth we need to remove peoples freedom.

you can have freedom or equality, not both.

you cant judge someone for "not caring for anyone" if you dont know anything about him just because the scale of his luxury is exponentially above that of regular joes.

if he made his fortune beating kids in africa or selling drugs to teenagers then yes, i will judge him, but seeing as we know nothing about him (except the fact that he has a house in france) it isnt fair to judge.

[b_t]

I do pay money to Worldvision and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

There is an economic concept that would eloquently describe what I am trying to say but I can't remember what it is. Basically, a small difference to me could be a huge difference to someone else - if I am carrying $100 and give $5 to a homeless guy who had $5, that's a 5% hit for me for a 100% gain for him. If I have $750m and give away $7.5 million to someone else, that's a 1% hit for me that could establish a huge scholarship fund or build a whole new building for a university or something.

All they had to do is let the house set on the market for a little bit longer, and someone could have saved a huge amount of money that could have gone somewhere else. But they probably snapped it up or even outbid someone else just for self-gratification.

Do you get what I am saying yet?

[Destinova403]

i do understand what you are saying.

i just find it to be VERY hypocritical

the way i read your original posts is that this guy is a bad person because he chose to spend his money on a luxury item rather than making a charitable donation.

what i am saying is that:

1) its impossible to know that he doesnt make charitable donations
2) by this logic 99% of us are bad people

regardless, as i said, its impossible to know this persons financial dealings because we dont even know who it is.

a person with the ability to drop 3/4 billion on a house has a lot more money sitting around than just that, however, its impossible to know if he just spends it on himself, or if he makes massive contributions to the community.

we live in a culture of excess and we all buy into it... anyone with an ipod, nice house, even a car, or a computer, is spending on things that are selfish.

notice how nuns and priests give up their worldy posessions and donate their lives to helping others?

[b_t]

We don't all buy into it - you point out nuns, and I'd point out aid workers in Africa, career volunteers, the family in Bearspaw that donated their huge amount of land to a wildlife reserve instead of selling it, etc.

We all choose a certain level of luxury for ourselves, that's a given, and I've done that for myself. But there are people who take it to excess, which is why I compared this guy to the guy who paid tens of thousands for his Lambo's oil change, and the Sultan of Brunei.

And it is these people - the enormously rich - who have tons of shit they don't need, pay huge premiums to be early adopters, who could for a tiny tax-deductible hit to their huge bank accounts make a real serious difference in this world. But they choose not to, because they don't give a fuck.

He could have bought his own island, he could have bought a house in a different location for 1/10th the money, he could have built his own skyscraper and given other people a place to live as well, he could have let the house sit on the market longer to save millions, so and so forth.

And I know the article doesn't say who bought this house, but it does say that there is a common pattern of behavior to these Russian millionaires that are just buying up things to one-up each other. At any point, any of them could stop the pissing contest but instead it just escalates until this guy gets worldwide attention. I remember reading a stupid article about how hard Russian millionaires party and one of them actually said he doesn't give a fuck about normal people and he only spends money on himself, and that is what I am criticizing.