Down with Gluttony

The BBQ Pit
61

Pleas give to the Make PitBullDawg Rich foundation. If everyone would send me $5, after I am rich, we can all send someone else $5… etc. etc. etc…

Sounds like a joke, but it works. I have a lot of Korean friends and it is very common among Korenas for them all to pool their money together to help one person get a start in a business. Then they do it again to put another of them in business and so on and so on.

If poor people are so tired of being poor that is a very viable solution. Even poor people can come up with a dollar. Assuming they don’t spend it on beer and cigarettes. It disgusts me that I see some of the same people in Dallas still holding signs on the streets “WILL WORK FOR FOOD” that I saw 5 years ago. I also have watched them all gather at the end of the day to see how much they raked in and then head to the liquor store so they can get tanked that night, sleep, and go back to their job on the street corner holding that goddamn sign.

Sorry folks. But I need some poor schmo to make my hamburger at Wendy’s. And I need some loser that wasn’t smart enough to finish school to clean up the dog shit in the park so I don’t step in it (unless it’s my dog that shit, then I know where it is and I won’t step in it).

But if poor people want a viable solution (I can’t think of any other solution for people that don’t want to apply themselves to too much intellectual thought) then they should simply band together and make each other wealthy.

So is anyone on here interested in making each other rich? I figure if we get a big enough list of people that are willing to send 5 people $5 (say 5 to 10,000 people or more) we could all be driving new Lexus’s within a couple of months.

Nah, won’t work. Getting that many strangers to work together would be an effor in futility.

The ever insensitive, politically incorrect PitBullDawg.
Political correctness is a disease. Cure it with the truth.

62

Not to personal Krisp. Do you know the Studebaker family? Not related to the auto manufacturer.

terggie

63

Can’t say that I do…although that name is not uncommon in these parts. I live in the country, west of Troy and am a “Troy” person, but West Milton is not very far away (maybe 7 or 8 miles) and I drive through West Milton on Rt 48 from time to time. My kids have played baseball and basketball versus MU teams before…Nice little midwestern town…decent place to raise a family…

Krispy Original – voted SDMB’s 19th most popular poster (1999)

64

As a matter of fact Tergi, I am a size 6, see the other thread in MPSIMS titled “You’re so vain”
You stated “MY POINT IS SIMPLY THAT TOO MANY RICH PEOPLE SEEM TO GET FAR TOO MUCH STATUS, EGO GRATIFICATION, ENJOYMENT, ETC FROM ACQUIRING MATERIAL THINGS WHICH THEY PROUDLY DISPLAY LIKE A RED BADGE OF COURAGE. WOULDN’T THIS BE AN EVEN GREATER PLACE TO LIVE IF THESE SAME INDIVIDUALS GOT GREATER SATISFACTION OUT OF GIVING THAN GETTING? WOULDN’T THIS BE AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IF THERE WERE MORE “GEORGE BAILEYS” IN THE WORLD?”

First of all, must you YELL? Sheesh, I realize this is the BBQ Pit, but even in here there is something about decorum that strikes me as someone who has a point to be made without screaming it so loud people in the next county can hear it.

In either case, you have lumped all wealthy people in some uncaring sect that only thinks about the outward appearance by which the rest of us see.

But you must remember, behind the scenes of many of those people you want to flame because they have wealth are a great many people that honestly care for others and give a great deal of money every year to those charities they believe in. I think you are so envious of their ability to purchase the million dollar house that you don’t want to even think they have any good in their hearts.

Why do you feel it helps others by your need to rake the wealthy over the coals? Do you have a personal experience by which you care to discuss? Or are you here simply to get the masses to take offense over those that have more financial assets than the average SDer?

I am curious, since you obviously are stuck on seeing wealthy people as the evil of the world. Which, I personally take offense to because in this matter you are attacking my father who may have not always been the best man in the world, is and has been helping those that need the basics to survive…why shouldn’t he have the Jag, 52" TV, Surround Sound, 9,000 sqft house? Can you tell me that, do you KNOW him so well that you can judge whether he’s “worthy” in your eyes of having things?

Again, I ask of you, if you are so bent on helping those without then take stock of your life and go into the Peace Corps, but you should stop lumping every wealthy man and woman into some category like I did with your career as an attorney.

65

BTW…thanks for calling me “Teacherchick” makes me feel good if what I am saying is getting through…< grin >

66

The thing about this that disturbs me is that the line between debauchery and an expensive “goodie” (that is somehow justifiable and not excessive) is hard to define. It will vary depending on who you talk to.

While it’s easy to see that some rich people are shallow and selfish, and have bought some really expensive things that they don’t really appreciate, there are too many grey areas.

For one thing, who among us hasn’t bought something we don’t need? All of us. What about the example I gave earlier, of my dad buying an expensive recording of music ($50-$100) to get a 2 minute piece of music he didn’t have in his collection? It was a totally extravagant thing to do. I mean - for a two minute piece of music? But who are we to deny an old man something that he enjoys so much? What if the record he bought was $200? $2000? Would that be anyone’s business? Would that be socially wrong? What if it was a fancy car? Would that be too much? Would you deny an old man, who worked and earned it, the joy of getting a fancy car he’d dreamed of? How much is too much?

If we all really think about it, we should give up many of our possesions, wear old flour sacks for clothing, and live in old shacks. Hey, we’d still be alive and functioning - do we really need all the stuff we buy?

You can’t insist that people be generous. And you can’t say that they haven’t been, just because you don’t know otherwise. And if they’ve been generous to those who are less fortunate, who are you to deprive them of things that they enjoy?

Think of Hearst Castle. I don’t know much about Wm. Hearst, but I’m sure he was a rich scoundrel. But I am very glad that all those years ago he had his Castle built on the coast of CA. I’ve been on the tours to see it many times. It’s GORGEOUS. If Hearst had thought that he wasn’t “entitled” to spend his money in such a way, he would have never built that castle. It never would have existed. I think that would be a shame. (Granted, not all opulent buildings end up being tourist attractions, but in Hearst Castle’s case, it did.) Do you think it is preferable that NO ONE, ever, is prompted to create and put money into creating opulent and beautiful things (like Hearst Castle)? I think someone should, seeing as I can’t afford to. I’m glad that someone else is doing it out there.

67

FYI, a “red badge of courage” is a battle wound, you subliterate doofus.

“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather

68

Tergivesater said

It’s not like you can exactly legislate the idea of humanism. When giving and charity become forced, it sure resembles socialism.

It may be a nice idea to advocate the idea of giving to friends and others, but it still comes down to a personal choice of if they want to give, how much, when, to whom, etc. When I can truly afford it, I likely will. The more people try to force me or guilt me into doing something I don’t want, the less likely I am to give.

69

Also, don’t forget that the government does encourage donations to charities, etc., by making them tax-deductible. Now, granted, you can’t show off a donation to the Salvation Army the way you can show off a fancy new car, but it helps ease the tax bite.

[stereotype]Rich people care about money, so easing the tax bite is always of interest to them.[/stereotype]

Never attribute to malice anything that can be attributed to stupidity.
– Unknown

70

profit is theft…people are basically evil…slave owners need to believe that they deserve to own slaves and that slaves deserve to be slaves…lots of hard working people starve and want and need…eat the rich but kill them slowly. Would i trade places with Prince William? Yup. This is who we are.

71

Well, heck. As long as everybody is piling on, I might as well get my pet peeve in, too:

George Bailey was guilty of improper lending practices, poor internal controls, lying to bank examiners, misrepresentation of subordinated debt as deposits, co-mingling of assets and about 10 other violations of federal and most state laws governing Buildings and Loans. He should have gone to jail.

I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!

72

100 points to the first one to guess what planet this one’s from:

yamo said:

73

Tergie: I think “humanism” as you put it begins in the home. My advise to you would be “don’t envy another person’s money and what they do with it”. I have a very good friend who is an Ob-gyn. She makes “bubkas” tho she “bleeds” for her patients. And yet a sports figure can make more in one year than she ever will in a lifetime. Is it fair? Is what he does with his money fair? Who is to judge. You work for the legal aid society…I admire that. But jealousy OR envy doesn’t become you.

74

Tergivesater, You admit that you don’t even know if they give to charities. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt - let’s say they do. Let’s say they are quite generous with their money. You still don’t seem to care - you still seem to think they should give more - you seem to say that no matter how hard they work, and how much they give away, it will never be enough until they give up their fishtank and spa and big house and cars and their total way of life. They shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy any of that money they earn - allow them just bread and water and the Sears’ catalogue for toilet paper. Am I exaggerating what you meant? Probably. But, then, where do you draw the line? What do you think they should be allowed to have?

I work hard for my money and I give plenty of it to charities. Do I buy things I don’t “need”? You bet I do. I treat myself pretty darn good, once all the bills are paid. I collect rare books. Spent over $100 on a dictionary not too long ago. Are you going to say I shouldn’t have it? Are you going to try to take it away from me? Do you want to lose some vital body part? I work very hard for my money (as I’m sure they do) and who are you to tell me (or anyone) what I can and can’t have just because you can’t have it or don’t want it?

75

And now for a little clean up!

To Pldennison the PEDANT, the chap who called me “subliterate” and a “doofus”, I say this: Tomorrow morning, bright and early, put on your mittens, overcoat, galoshes, and knit hat and march down to the Cleveland Public Library. When you get there, smile, go inside and look up the word “SIMILE”. Read the definition over and over…at least four times. Then, try to apply this new knowledge to the way in which I used the phrase “red badge of courage” in my last post.

If, after completing this task, you’re still confused, then get on your skate board and trundle on over to the stately mansion of of John D. Rockerfeller at 424 Euclid Avenue. When you arrive stand in front of his house and wait until he comes to the door. When he does, politely introduce yourself, show him my post and ask him to explain to you the context in which I used the simile. While you’re at it, you might ask him to tell you how he, himself, avoided conscription during the Civil War thereby losing his only opportunity for a genuine “red badge of courage”. If, by chance, by the end of the day, Mr. Rockerfeller fails to appear, then, I suggest you follow the sage advice of an English gentleman friend of mine and “piss off.”

Mullinator: Who said anything about legislating anything? I’m not advocating any government controls or legislative changes.

Yamo: I’m with Beatle on this one. I’d like to comment on your post, but unfortunately, I’m due back on planet earth by the early a.m.

Manhatten: Obviously you must be the primary target of a formal SEC investigation, launched by the D.C. office, and was being grilled in your 12 hour deposition, and therefore, had to have missed the ending of its a “Its a Wonderful Life”. At the risk of spoiling it for you, George was aquitted by a jury of his peers, the whole friggin town. I hope you fair as well, Good Luck!!!

terggie

76

Skel Is this the same Skel who killed his old girlfriend in “Did I cause her Demise”. I must say, I’m suprised that a man/or woman with your overdeveloped superego would take issue with my OP. In fact I’m shocked quite frankly.

You accuse me of “jelousy” and “envy”. I can assure you I am neither. Could you perhaps be “projecting” in the psychanalytic sense. Perhaps it is you who covets all of the gluttony I described in my OP. Could it be that you covet the piano, the acquarium, the two spas, the slot machines and more? Are you jealous? Are you envious?

Teacherchick68: Do I detect a kinder, softer, gentler, more lovable Tiggerchick in these latest posts?

Despite assertions to the contrary, I have never equated the wealthy with “evil”, not once, never. I dare you to show me where I have?

You asked for a personal disclosure and Skel’s mention of his friend, the baby doctor, reminded me of something that happened to a friend awhile back which had a profound affect on me and helped to shape the opinion I expressed in my OP. THIS IS A TRUE STORY.

I had an old friend of mine who lived in the same dorm as me, when we were both undergrads at UCLA. His name was Arnie. Arnie became a doctor. He excelled in his studies and would have made a compassionate and caring doctor. Trouble was he was pitifully unhappy and during his internship, he committed suicide. Arnie’s mother, a lawyer, died of cancer when Arnie was in high school. That obviously had something to do with his depression. But more telling was Arnie’s relationship with his father was a prominent Rabbi. At a large testimonial dinner given to honor his father, Arnie gave the following toast: “TO MY FATHER, WHO HAS GIVEN ME ALL THE MATERIAL THINGS I EVER WANTED…AND NONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALL COUNT.” Six months later, Arnie was dead of a drug overdose. He was 26.

terggie

77

And the point is…? Are you now suggesting that people who have opulent possessions somehow automatically are soulless? What?

If the friends you mentioned in the OP were the kind of people that were trying to “buy” happiness, rather than cultivate emotional well-being and happiness, that should have been the focus of your OP - their attitude, not a list of the “stuff” they have. They could have a fraction of the possessions you listed and still be emotionally bankrupt - so a detailed list of the stuff they own is neither here nor there.

And if I am not mistaken, you don’t even know these people very well. Not well enough to know if they are contributed to charities. So I suppose you don’t know much about their personal relationships either. So the point is…what? What does this have to specifically about the OP? And why the list of possessions, if what you are really trying to get at is their emotional staus (which you know nothing about?)

78

If you were trying to use “red badge of courage” as a simile for “conspicuously displayed big-ticket consumer items,” you are, indeed, a subliterate doofus. If I were your editor, you’d be fired, posthaste.

I reiterate, a “red badge of courage” is a war wound, blood being red. Get it? It pretty much restricts its own usage. Cripes, read the frigging book.

“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather

79

Tergi,

That is sad that your friend committed suicide, this is never a good thing in life.

However, you stated "At a large testimonial dinner given to honor his father, Arnie gave the following toast: “TO MY FATHER, WHO HAS GIVEN ME ALL THE MATERIAL THINGS I EVER WANTED…AND NONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALL COUNT.” Six months later, Arnie was dead of a drug overdose. He was 26.

This is a sad state that your friend was obviously hurt and pained by the lack of love his father never showed. But these sorts of things happen in all kinds of parent/child relationships. I know first hand.

Here’s a story about me that somewhat mirrors the above but does have major differences, and still clouds my thinking today.

My mother and father divorced when I was 8 or 9, nothing miraculous about that. My father, very much a business man had visitation rights on the weekends and other such days that they agreed to. He was fun on the weekends, there was always something fun to do with him. My mother on the other hand was a bitter woman who hated my father and my step-mom, I found out just a couple of years ago they had been having an affair before the divorce.

With that bitterness my mother carried, she began to drink heavily. Also, from the time I was 9 to the time I was 15 she verbally and physically abused me. My mother recieved $4,000 a month in alimony and child support, remember this is in the late 70s and late 80s lots of money for then. I never had new clothes, my step-mom even purchased my underwear and some clothes once in a while. If I did have new clothes from my mother, it was KMart, not the quality stuff she could afford. (KMart back then was really cheapo shit, much better quality today.) I mostly wore hand-me-downs from my best friend down the street. We didn’t have brand name stuff, she would go to the grocery store at 5:00 in the morning and buy literally cases of generic shit. You name it, toilet paper, cookies, cereal, raviolis, spagettio type stuff, etc.

My mother died when I was 15 three days after my birthday. To this day I resent her for #1 the abuse she inflicted upon me, but also for not providing for me with new clothes that were of quality, and shit, even the basics of underwear.

My best friend from way back when still feels sorry for what I had to go through with that woman that was called my mother. Her mother was more a mother to me than my own.

As for my father, it took him a lot of years to have any comprehension over what my mother did to me. He was so involved in his business he was oblivious, but then again any conversation he had with my mother always ended in a heated arguement so he avoided her like the plague.

I honestly don’t know what pulled me through the pain of enduring all those years of pain and sadness, and I hate my mother for dying so I could inflict some of the emotional pain back on her, seriously. She cheated me out of that.

My mother denied me a lot of material things and I spose that’s okay, what she lacked in that department my father tried to compensate for it. It’s not so much that she understood the value of a dollar (however she had the biggest damn wardrobe and jewelry collection, fine stuff not dimestore jewelry) but she negeleted me and my brother and indulged in herself instead.

I don’t expect any “sympathy” for what I went through and probably doesn’t even make a point, but I do understand what it’s like to not get love from a parent.

That aside, no, I am not taking a softer stand on this issue, I am trying to point out that in a land of free people, what you do with your money is your business.

As for my mother, my father knew what was happening, I am still angry with him today from not protecting me from her. I didn’t expect to have all the latest and greatest material things, what I wanted was for him to take me away from her abuse. He could have started with taking her back to court to prove that she was not spending that child support on their children. His payments were court ordered, so I believe in this instance he should be able to have some say as to where the money went, this is the only exception I can think of right now.

80

I dunno tergivesater1, you appear petty and jealous to me too.

Where do you draw the line? There are some parts of the world where indoor toilets are a luxury, do you use a piss-pot or outhouse? There people who can’t afford a telephone, are you willing to disconnect your phone?

What about your car, your air conditioner, your refrigerator, vacations, your washer and dryer, your electric can opener, your television, your stereo, Friday night movies, the food in your fridge, your indoor plumbing, your built-in dishwasher, the roof over your head, your medical and dental care, your heater, your weekly trip to McDonalds, your shoes and coat, your freaking COMPUTER, fercryingoutloud?

All of these things could be considered luxuries to those impoverished.

I never could understand the need to own a $100,000+ car that one wouldn’t dare put on the road. Why eat high quality cavier when you can eat tuna? Who am I (or you) to say someone else shouldn’t?

My question to you again - Where do you draw the line and who gets to decide where it is drawn?

>^,^<
KITTEN
Fluff yer hair Beula, I’s feelin frisky - M.S.