Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/tiger-woods-ex-wife-bulldozes-12-million-home-232405259.html" target="_blank">http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/...259.html</a> Tiger Woods' ex bulldozed a multi-million dollar mansion, I guess to build one more to her liking. When you think of all the people just struggling to get by contrasted with this excess, it kind of makes you feel a little sick, doesn't it?
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>When you think of all the people just struggling to get by contrasted with this excess, it kind of makes you feel a little sick, doesn't it?<<< Yep.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>No wonder Tiger cheated on her... she's a selfish idiot.<<< Well, that plus he was probably feeling a little bit "randie" at the time.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I try to picture myself in other people's circumstances. And I can't fathom being so completely out of touch as to do something that is basically so wasteful as tearing down what looked like a fairly new, quite lavish place. Maybe if I had an extra hundred million laying around, I could understand.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper This is going to sound cold...and I'm sure I'm ripe for being blasted...but watching the irresponsible rich waste money is no more or less sickening to me than watching the irresponsibl poor waste their lives. There are people out there doing irresponsible things in every part of the spectrum. It just so happens that right now it is popular to point out the big, bad rich. I know some rich people (at least by my definition) who earned every penny and I don't begrudge them anything. I know some rich people who eased their way into it but I don't give them much thought.
Originally Posted By Labuda "No wonder Tiger cheated on her... she's a selfish idiot." Wow, what a misogynistic comment, Trippy. I'm disappointed in you, man. It is not the wife's fault if her husband cheated on her.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>It just so happens that right now it is popular to point out the big, bad rich.<< This wasn't done out of attempting to be popular. It just struck me as an example of complete, stunning excess in every way imaginable. If she'd found land she liked and tore down some decrepit old structure, you know, fine. But this just seems, well, gross to me for lack of a better word.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Thing is, even though this type of excessiveness stands out as being tremendously selfish and wasteful, most of us participate in excessive living every day, even if it's just in small ways. Spending $4.00 at Starbucks, going to the movies, going on vacation, buying a more expensive car than we need....etc. We, as Americans, spend what we have on things we want; far beyond what we need. I know condemning her for what she has done is hypocritical on my part. I am a consumer, living in a consumer driven society, I don’t donate as much time or money as I could or should. I just got back from spending a couple of nights in Monterey on vacation. Not even a vacation that I needed, just something we wanted to do. The United States is a rich country, blessed with wealth and material goods beyond the wildest dreams of most people on this planet. Even the majority of the 99% are wealthier than most of the world. Yet there is so much need in the world which isn’t being met.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>irresponsibl poor waste their lives.<< Can we just put an end to this BS myth right now. Yes, there are lazy poor people out there. They are a tiny percentage of the poor in America, especially when you look at the statistics of just how many poor people there are. I served a mission among the poor...anyone who actually spent time with them instead of buying into right-wing notions of welfare queens would understand they are anything but wasteful or lazy. Upward mobility in America is largely a myth, and it has nothing to do with "wasting one's life." People cannot fathom how badly the deck is stacked against the poor from birth, then they use the minuscule percentages of those who do break out as evidence that anyone can do it. This has nothing to do with willpower, desire, or work ethic, and everything to do with opportunity and education. Stephen Colbert was right: We either need to admit that Jesus was just as selfish as us, or that he did tell us to help the poor but we are just too greedy to do it.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney I meant to add to this... I think people spend to make themselves happy. We spend what we have, what we make, sometimes in excess because we find joy (temporary) in it. When the happy feeling wears off, we spend again. Buying a new car or getting the latest i-phone makes us happy, but for how long. Tiger's ex is looking for happiness in a way that spells excess to us, but most Americans do the same thing on a smaller scale.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>Stephen Colbert was right: We either need to admit that Jesus was just as selfish as us, or that he did tell us to help the poor but we are just too greedy to do it.<<< Right on.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Jon Foreman has a great blog on Huffington Post. While I am of like mind, he is much more articulate than I... "I am not looking for a redistribution of wealth. No, this would require a significant amount of trust in the political system that, quite frankly I do not have. No, I am not looking for a redistribution of wealth I am looking for a redefining of wealth. A new understanding of fulfillment, of satisfaction, of satiation, of joy that transcends the consuming transaction. A definition of wealth that accounts for more than the individual and looks to the community at large. Maybe this season's celebration, (a commercial season that I can't believe is already here) could be a chance to be more than a consumer, more than an individual. Maybe we could partake in community. Maybe we could befriend the outsider, feed the hungry, and be wealthy in ways we've never known. We could spend time together instead of throwing money at the mall. I'm not saying to throw money at man on the corner. But I am saying that he is our brother. He is our father. He is our community. There is wealth hidden in his situation. It's not well lit or well advertised. There is wealth in giving him your respect. There is wealth in discovering his story. You might be able to trust him with your compassion. Yes, we are consumers. But we need not be consumed." <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-foreman/compassion-vs-consumption_b_369800.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...800.html</a>
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Thing is, even though this type of excessiveness stands out as being tremendously selfish and wasteful, most of us participate in excessive living every day, even if it's just in small ways. << That's true, but scale does matter. If someone tosses out half a perfectly good apple, that's needlessly wasteful and nothing to be proud of. But to dump out a whole barrel of apples merely because the mood strikes you (or because you can afford to do so) is obscene. The only good to come of this particular incident, I guess, is that she's a "job creator" in that she is paying crews to tear down then likely reconstruct the house. But it's still gross in my opinion.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Yeah, it is gross. But I saw a commercial for a special on Food Network talking about how 40% of produce on farms goes to waste, just sits in the field or in barrels and rots. I'm not defending her, I've just seen WAY too much of this type of excess on a smaller scale. It adds up. I am completely guilty of excess myself. Not on a large scale, but like I said, it adds up.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Not if you're in the construction business. Then it is terrific. Depends on ones perspective.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< But I saw a commercial for a special on Food Network talking about how 40% of produce on farms goes to waste, just sits in the field or in barrels and rots. >>> I seem to remember reading that some 50% of food produced is wasted and not consumed, and that this is relatively consistent even between the extremes of the very developed and very undeveloped worlds. In the developed world, most food is wasted close to the consumer: restaurant food that is served but not finished (often due to huge portions), food brought home from the store that spoils before use, or food that spoils at the store. In the undeveloped world, the waste occurs much closer to the point of production: food that rots unharvested because of lack of labor, shortages of equipment or diesel to transport food from point of production to market, and so on.
Originally Posted By hopemax > Not if you're in the construction business. Then it is terrific. Depends on ones perspective. < I did think about this. While I do think it is excessive. And if she wanted to do it, more good will could have been obtained by, as some of the article comments suggest, letting Habitat for Humanity or some other organization recover whatever usable materials from the site. The excesses of the upper class does result in jobs for the rest of us. On another board, I saw someone complain about the trends of children's birthday cakes looking more like wedding cakes since the explosion of cake shows. But wedding cakes for birthday cakes keeps a lot more cake decorators and bakeries employed and at higher rates than if everyone just bought a sheet cake at their grocery store or if Mom used a box of cake mix.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Regarding the ex wife, and bulldozing a perfect good modern home.......... I think the only words that drive my point the best are: SPOILED RICH B*TCH.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 I want to know what in the world she is planning to build if that house wasn't good enough. It is enormous and absolutely gorgeous...is she going to build a palace or something. I would love to have that house!
