From: Dave Long (dl@silcom.com)
Date: Thu Aug 17 2000 - 11:38:57 PDT
> The proper formulation of my position (for the purposes of this
> discussion) is as follows. The only obvious way to disprove the
> assertion "there's nothing in life that money can't buy" is to be
> offered a counterexample by someone who was for all intents and
> purposes financially unconstrained.
Juggling.
Most people on earth can find or make objects suitable for
juggling, so none of us is financially constrained.
Sure, a little money can grease the skids initially -- it
probably wouldn't hurt to drop a $10 on a book or tipping
someone who helps one to get started, (if they'd accept it)
but until someone makes Cherryhian Tape, there's negligible
leverage for money past that.
If one really needs to use the piles of the ready, one can
just hire a juggler (as in "gentlemen only sail downwind"),
but where's the fun in that?
> IMO, money buys time. ... Ever notice that senior execs
> spend a lot of time on the golf course? ...
Ah, yes, the poor. They're always with us, aren't they?
Money buys them time because they're renting it, and
because payroll taxation oppresses them so, they're
doing it at retail instead of wholesale.
(Golf is probably like juggling -- a little larger minimum
outlay, but still a game where spending large amounts of
money instead of large amounts of attention will make you
a well turned-out duffer, not a scratch golfer)
> I'm not claiming anybody here is "totally ignorant;" I'm
> claiming that *everybody* here, myself included, is totally
> ignorant of specifically what it's like to be a billionaire.
Can you argue that Mr. Marcus Aurelius wasn't able to buy
what could be bought? If the Meditations were written by
someone else, I'd concede that point, but it seems likely
he was not afraid to back up his writing with his belief.
Quick summary of the Meditations' premise:
(thanks to Mr. Winer)
| We're all barking farting chihuauhuas here. If we manage
| to get any work done here, no one will ever give anyone
| any credit at all.
-Dave
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