Are these people dead inside? (It's parenthesis day!)
So I waste my share of money (whoever thought of putting TV shows on DVD and charging 50 bucks was a genius... an evil genius), but I find this story ridiculous.
At the Kentucky Derby, they will be serving $1,000 mint juleps. One. Thousand. Bucks. For a drink. One. drink.
Exactly how wasteful and indulgent can we be as a society when a frivolous (and super effeminate) drink is one thousand dollars?
If I had one thousand dollars to (almost literally) throw away on a (crappy) drink, I don't think I could drink without seeing the sad faces of starving children in Africa. I mean, that's a thousand dollars that could be used to feed people or help fund research or pay part of someone's (say... mine) college tuition. How are these people going to drink this without tasting the guilt and selfishness?
I have a theory, thanks for asking:
Clearly, if they are into horse racing and have a thousand dollars to piss away, they are pretty removed from the problems of the world. Therefore, they have no idea that if 5 people buy these, that's 5,000 that could feed a lot of people. They must be very insulated and sheltered from the real world.
(Are you ready for the twist: here it comes...)
That could just as easily describe me. I'm thinking about all the concerts I've been to lately and all the times I could have drank water instead of getting a drink. Also, do I need 50 dollar jeans? Probably not.
So the question is this: where is that line between acceptable wastefulness (the occasional CD or movie/concert? maybe?) and extreme cold-hearted indulgence. The other question is who gets to decide? Me? You? Or people dying of diseases that could be preventable?
Your thoughts are welcome.
posted by jMoney at 11:19 AM
6 comments:
That's a tough question, JM. I think it's important to be a "good steward" of your money - meaning that you should actually think about what you spend it on and not just throw it away, as you would be doing if you spent $5k on a drink that you could buy for $2 somewhere else. I think that spending money on yourself (generic yourself, not you, JM) is not a bad thing but that it's not something that you should be doing all the stinkin' time, with no regard to better ways you could be spending the cash. I think it's a matter of dividing your money up wisely; of course, you have to pay rent and bills, but generally we all have excess money that we actually decide what to do with. Of course you (talking to you now, JM) don't need the $50 jeans, but I don't think there's anything wrong with you because you bought them. If you are buying a pair of $50 jeans with every paycheck just so you can have more pairs of $50 jeans, then I think there might be a problem. I guess the question is whether you find the material belongings more important than the starving kids in Africa. I think the $5000 mint julep people might think just that, although I doubt they would ever admit it.
Another thing is that it's not all about the money. When I visited India last summer, our missionary told us that it means a lot more to these people for us to come and "invest" time in them than it would for us to just send a check. Because just sending a check really doesn't mean anything, does it? It's still (or at least can be) a way of avoiding the problem but making our consciences feel better.
So, I pose another question in response to your question: What's worse? The people that spend $5000 on a drink and have no idea what's going on in the world? Or the guilty-conscience people that are "helping" by sending money but really only want to make themselves feel a bit better?
Disclaimer: I'm not saying there's anything wrong with sending money. Just that a lot of people do it for the wrong reason. Hope my rambling makes some sort of sense...
Sorry, all the $5000s in my previous post should have been $1000s.
well darling, i didn't read all your words because i'm at work and i have to look busy-ish...but i will say that i do not have 1000 bones to pay for a drink...though i do want to try one...i have to give the united states and the state of alabama, collectively 1356 dollars...and i think that's excessive as well...goodness gracious...
and no, you don't need 50 dollar jeans...but nor do you buy 250 dollar jeans (I HOPE)
and i like how i appear as just anneliese...it's so Prince or Madonna or something like that!
anyways..i would like to request some of your time when you're not working sometime...i miss joshua
awww, thanks anna.... everyone miss joshua... even me. i'm hoping next week will be lighter...
"a thousand dollars to piss away,"
...literally! AHAHAHAHA! I kill me!
that is pretty freakin' funny, krs... you kill me too
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