Is Money A Terrible Thing

I kindly disagree; lots of cultures value status over material possessions.

It just so happens in our culture, material possessions roughly converts into status.

 

money is a product of the culture we live in, not the toher way around.

 

just for the sake of argument, that statement could be true the other way around.

"Culture is a product of the money we earn and spend."

not always true, but certainly true in cultures where materialism and consumerism are a regular part of life.

 

well the culture had to fill certain conditions to necessitate (create an environment for) currency to begin with. but i guess it is a chicken and egg thing.

 

"Rich people are more greedy" is something people say all the time and I've never really understood why.
It isn't just people that have money who want more, virtually everyone wants more money.
I think the rich are singled out, often because they use their money to make money, so they are very financially invested, and also because of the income tax argument. I'm not going to argue that the super wealthy are assholes who are keeping other people down because they take up such a large portion of the pie and just let the money sit in a bank account somewhere instead of being circulated, but I'm also not going to fault them for being successful capitalistically. I don't think rich people are any more greedy than other people though, it's just that the rich have the means to satisfy their every whim, so they go through stuff more quickly.

 

It could also be said that rich people don't become rich without a certain drive and hunger that a lot of us don't possess. Sometimes that drive can be chalked up to greed, so while it would appear that rich people are greedier, in fact greedy people are just more likely to become rich.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm just not presumptuous and bitter enough to label success as greed.
If you want to go that route, on the other hand we could say that poor people are only that way because they are lazy and stupid.
See what's wrong with that kind of thinking?

 

greed
noun \ˈgrēd\
Definition of GREED
: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed

Success should not be labeled as greed. Many people possess the drive to succeed because they want to make the world a better place in some way.

Others possess the same drive because they want to sit on piles of money and not do anything constructive with it. This falls under the category of desiring more than is needed.

Of course, by the strict definition of greed, we're all pretty guilty of it. The only people that don't desire what they don't need are people who are on some kind of spiritual journey and people that live in conditions in which they are completely unaware that there is anything out there besides basic needs to desire in the first place.

so can we all agree that greed is an inherent part of the human condition?

 

I'm quite aware of what the word "greed" means, but "more than what is needed" is entirely subjective. Your hipforums account is not integral to survival, are you greedy for having one?

 

Perhaps. Someone who never has hopes of owning a computer might label you as greedy in that case.

its a double sided coin, greed is. its usually coupled with a desire for beauty or advancement of some kind.

 

Now we're just arguing over technicalities and definitions. I do agree with you about what you said in your post (#85), and think that you are very much correct.

I do think that a lot of the rich lose their regard for the middle & lower classes once they advance to high-class living.

I'm not trying to make a point or anything. I'm just wondering your opinion out of pure curiousity. What do you think about the fact that many of the rich are out there staying in five star hotels and eating meals priced at hundreds of dollars, living lives of complete luxury? In a lot of cases, yes, they've earned the right to do so. They worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to where they are. However, when there are so many people that are starving to death in this world, I think they should be a bit more conservative about how they're spending their money.

 

How do you feel about the fact Americans have enough free time to sit around and argue about things on the internet, on devices that use a substantial amount of electricity, combined with the fact western people throw out almost 20% of the food they buy every year. I think first worlders need to be a bit more conservative about how they spend their money.

See my point? You're complaining about the super rich spending their money, but to 1/2 the world you are the super rich needlessly flaunting money, buying things like video games and going bowling.

*edit*
In fact here's a list of countries by GDP per capita to show how in comparison how rich the standard first worlder is in world wide comparison:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

 

Exchange is better, trade is fun, social and adventurous!

Is money bad nahh its the people who spend it and what they spend it on-

Believing something has status over individual assessment now that is bad!

 

qft

 

Yeah, I think it's wrong that things are this way. However, I am glad that things are how they are.

It's not fair that some people are less fortunate. Just how it goes.

If you want me to admit that I'm a piece of crap, I will. I am.

 

I agree, you are piece of crap

 

Thanks. You're a sweetheart.

 

Gold is money- forums
http://goldismoney2.com/forum.php

Gold price (or Dollar- decay)

 

Yea except when the bubble bursts and a lot of people are left with gold that's worth 1/2 it's value(which for people buying gold coins from goldline which Glenn Beck constantly promotes is already true). But anyways, my oh my how quickly we forget something that already happened 30 years ago.



Gold is a commodity, not money. A gold standard requires fixing gold at an arbitrary and non market price.

 

Gold was never worthless but every paper money decays one day. Now our FIAT money is inevitabely decaying thanx to QE no way to stop it. Gold has never ever been worthless its the currencies fluctuating against gold. But never mind, you will see how things developp with FIAT money and QE.