On wealth...
Nov. 28th, 2003 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silversolitaireIt's a thought that has been on my mind for a while now. I used to have a friend who said that nobody who's filthy rich managed that through honest means. I always thought that was a kinda Marxist approach. However, lately I've been thinking a lot about charity and about helping others. One of the things that bothers me the most about not having lots of money to spare is that I'm not able to give as much as I'd like to. It's absolutely certain for me that should I ever manage to get a larger amount of money, the first thing I'd do is give a substantial part of it to organisations such as Amnesty International, WWF, Sierra Club and others. It's important to me.
Like one thing I really want to do right now is take a patronage for a child in one of the poorer parts of the world. I've already been to the website. I'd take a girl. I'm not sure which part of the world I'd choose. I'm thinking Asia, or maybe just say "Wherever it's needed the most". I'm also not sure if I want her to write to me. I don't want her to feel like I expect her to show huge gratitude for me. But if I could, I would love to give some of my money to make it possible for her to go to school and have nice things. Thing is, I can't afford it right now. At all. It'd cost 30 EUR a month. It seems so little money. It IS so little money. 30 bucks to provide someone with a future. It seems so easy, and yet it's too much for me. I was thinking about asking for it for Christmas, but then I realized it was too much of a gift to ask for. 30 EUR times 12... that's 360 EUR a year. Nothing I can ask from my aunt or granny...
Anyway, I digress. What I was going to talk about it extremely wealthy people who live in wasteful luxury. I don't understand it. It's just not right to live in an abundance of luxury when there are people who could live for an entire month of something these people spend in a single day. People who live in extreme poverty. In a country where the rich-poor divide is one of the largest in the entire world. Countries like Russia or the United States. I've seen reports on people who've built themselves a replica of Versailles, with more gold stuck to the handrails than in the real castle. With a huge couch ensemble made of elephant leather and jackets made of suede where the owner doesn't even remember which kinds of animals it was. This person has spent 25 million dollars on this house. And it's just. not. right. With that money he probably could have fed every single starving person in his country. Or he could have built housing blocks, homes for the poor, given out clothes, food or firewood. Things that other people need to live.
People who are this rich should share it. There's nothing wrong with harvesting the fruits of your labor. There's nothing wrong with having a nice house with all the amenities you could think of and buying everything you'd like to have. But wasting your money like that just isn't right. You don't need to plaster your walls with gold and decorate your flowerbeds with real diamonds. Every single cent spent on this is sinful and makes you responsible for every person starving to death. Even if it's only indirectly. I know many people will disagree with this and find my opinion offensive, but I truly believe this. And I'll strive to live after this.
I promise, here and now, should I ever have this much money, or even a fraction of it, I will never waste it in such a fashion. I will try to help other people who aren't that well off and share it.
That's my good thought of the day.
Like one thing I really want to do right now is take a patronage for a child in one of the poorer parts of the world. I've already been to the website. I'd take a girl. I'm not sure which part of the world I'd choose. I'm thinking Asia, or maybe just say "Wherever it's needed the most". I'm also not sure if I want her to write to me. I don't want her to feel like I expect her to show huge gratitude for me. But if I could, I would love to give some of my money to make it possible for her to go to school and have nice things. Thing is, I can't afford it right now. At all. It'd cost 30 EUR a month. It seems so little money. It IS so little money. 30 bucks to provide someone with a future. It seems so easy, and yet it's too much for me. I was thinking about asking for it for Christmas, but then I realized it was too much of a gift to ask for. 30 EUR times 12... that's 360 EUR a year. Nothing I can ask from my aunt or granny...
Anyway, I digress. What I was going to talk about it extremely wealthy people who live in wasteful luxury. I don't understand it. It's just not right to live in an abundance of luxury when there are people who could live for an entire month of something these people spend in a single day. People who live in extreme poverty. In a country where the rich-poor divide is one of the largest in the entire world. Countries like Russia or the United States. I've seen reports on people who've built themselves a replica of Versailles, with more gold stuck to the handrails than in the real castle. With a huge couch ensemble made of elephant leather and jackets made of suede where the owner doesn't even remember which kinds of animals it was. This person has spent 25 million dollars on this house. And it's just. not. right. With that money he probably could have fed every single starving person in his country. Or he could have built housing blocks, homes for the poor, given out clothes, food or firewood. Things that other people need to live.
People who are this rich should share it. There's nothing wrong with harvesting the fruits of your labor. There's nothing wrong with having a nice house with all the amenities you could think of and buying everything you'd like to have. But wasting your money like that just isn't right. You don't need to plaster your walls with gold and decorate your flowerbeds with real diamonds. Every single cent spent on this is sinful and makes you responsible for every person starving to death. Even if it's only indirectly. I know many people will disagree with this and find my opinion offensive, but I truly believe this. And I'll strive to live after this.
I promise, here and now, should I ever have this much money, or even a fraction of it, I will never waste it in such a fashion. I will try to help other people who aren't that well off and share it.
That's my good thought of the day.
