Why are the rich so cheap?

[jamespowers]

In Chile, the rich hide their wealth from the eyes of those outside their class ... except for their maids and gardeners. Rich Chileans build very, very high walls in front of their homes, and it's not only to deter robbers.


A wealthy Chilean doesn't want you to see what he owns, so that you won't realize how much he has taken. For this reason, rich Chileans donate very little to philanthropies, museums, etc., let alone build them. One exception: they'll donate anonymously to the Catholic Church, since it helps to gain them admission to paradise ... or at least it protects them from hell.


You'll never, ever see a marble "wall of donors" with those donors' names at a Chilean museum or concert hall. Who wants 'the unwashed masses' to know that rich Chileans have money to give away? So they don't give it away. Through taxes, the middle class ends up paying for the maintenance of concert halls and museums that the upper class makes the most use of. (Rich Chileans pay relatively little in taxes, due to massive loopholes made for and by them.)


God bless the U.S.A. Seriously.

.

I see it more as a case of principle---as it is for me. I give anonymously because I believe as my grandmother told me:
"You give to charity anonymously. Anything else is advertising." I agree with that therefore you will never see me giving to anything publicly.
Nowadays it is more like---Look at me you fool. This organization I set up has allowed me to avoid taxes and pass money on to my heirs tax free. :eusa_doh:

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm with you, definitely. But I've noticed something about big fish in small ponds: they feel the need to compete with one another. If one big fish donates and makes it known, then another fish will feel that it must donate too. Bill Gates very publically founded a huge philanthropy ... and his pal Warren Buffett ended up donating serious money to it (and very publically too). Bless them both. Others in their pond will do the same.


The sad thing about Chile is that no one takes the first step. You have Ivy League/University of Chicago-educated economists whose families have had tons of money for generations, if not centuries ... yet they tend to put all of their education, contacts and know-how into increasing the family fortune. At least some of that power and knowledge could be used to try to improve opportunities for all Chileans.


We Americans may not be clannish, but we are community-oriented. This is one of our strengths.

.

 

[jamespowers]

I'm with you, definitely. But I've noticed something about big fish in small ponds: they feel the need to compete with one another. If one big fish donates and makes it known, then another fish will feel that it must donate too. Bill Gates very publically founded a huge philanthropy ... and his pal Warren Buffett ended up donating serious money to it (and very publically too). Bless them both. Others in their pond will do the same.


The sad thing about Chile is that no one takes the first step. You have Ivy League/University of Chicago-educated economists whose families have had tons of money for generations, if not centuries ... yet they tend to put all of their education, contacts and know-how into increasing the family fortune. At least some of that power and knowledge could be used to try to improve opportunities for all Chileans.


We Americans may not be clannish, but we are community-oriented. This is one of our strengths.

.

Buffett is the one that kills me. His foundation is like a front for family inheritance. I think his kids get jobs with the organization for life with big salaries and benes.
I think I'll start a foundation and be another ostentacious fool who is actually bilking the government and public. :eusa_doh: :rage:

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Heck, these guys are so unimagineably rich, they can lose (or give away) a billion and it won't affect their lifestyles one single bit. Only their egos can feel the 'loss'.


Most folks don't get rich by being generous, come to think of it. Maybe that's one reason why they are rich.

.

 

[jamespowers]

Heck, these guys are so unimagineably rich, they can lose (or give away) a billion and it won't affect their lifestyles one single bit. Only their egos can feel the 'loss'.

.

They could just give it to me and be done with it. I won't tell anyone.

 

[Phil]

Oh, haven't you heard of the rich prince from Nigeria who wants to give you some of his fortune?

 

[jamespowers]

Oh, haven't you heard of the rich prince from Nigeria who wants to give you some of his fortune?

Yeah I think I get that email every darned day. Can I forward them to you?

Regards,

J

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Oh, haven't you heard of the rich prince from Nigeria who wants to give you some of his fortune?

Was it bad for me to help out that unfortunate man?

BRS

 

[jamespowers]

Was it bad for me to help out that unfortunate man?

BRS

It depends on how much he stole from your bank account.

Regards,

J

 

[Roger]

I couldn't agree more. We cannot understand what people back in the Depression Era had to go through in retrospect. The fear of having nothing when you need it made them quite the savers. They have/had a phobia about being penniless---especially if they were once. The "never again" phrase applies to them for sure. Even when they have more than they could possibly spend---old habits die hard. [huh]

Regards,

J

Pure rationalization of being cheap. What gets me in the situation that K.D. described is that some people have a "well when I get old and sick I may need the money" then when they get old and sick it's "oh I want to leave something to my kids" let the truth be told; "they're cheap. no excuses or qualms about it."

These are the same type of people who, once they get old, place their childrens name on the houses in order to claim poverty and then apply for Medicaid so that the taxpayers are on the hook for their in-home care and or convalescent hospital care. I know people up in Boston and Long Island, NY who bought their homes in the '50s for about $13,000, the market value is $360,000-$400,000 plus and they want the government to pay for their in- home care because they are too cheap to sell the house and pay their own way. Charity is for the needy, not the greedy.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Was it bad for me to help out that unfortunate man?

BRS

I hope you all know I was kidding - though The New Yorker last year had an interesting article on a college professor who got taken by the scam not once - but twice! He tries to claim, because he is Christian, he wanted to help the less fortunate. His wife thought he was just a dumb sucker.

"Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me."

BRS

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Is there something wrong with being cheap now?

Good lord, it's nothing to do with any of us what someone decides to do with their money. I choose to buy vintage suits and rarely donate to charity. I really must go home and cut me a switch to beat myself to sleep.

bk

 

[jamespowers]

Is there something wrong with being cheap now?

Good lord, it's nothing to do with any of us what someone decides to do with their money. I choose to buy vintage suits and rarely donate to charity. I really must go home and cut me a switch to beat myself to sleep.

bk

lol lol lol lol lol You are right. It is nobody's business what you do with your money. Burn it. Spend it or give it away to charity it is all up to you. You only have to live up to your own standards not someone else's.
Remember the story of the squirrel and the grasshopper.

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Is there something wrong with being cheap now?

Spoken like a true Scotsman! lol

.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, i'm leaving tomorrow and will be taking all my loose change to deposit in my bank before i go. I must have, well maybe, 2 dollars in change which i cannot bear to part with.

bk

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Well, i'm leaving tomorrow and will be taking all my loose change to deposit in my bank before i go. I must have, well maybe, 2 dollars in change which i cannot bear to part with.

bk

Could ya loan me fiver 'til Tuesday, mate?

 

[jamespowers]

Well, i'm leaving tomorrow and will be taking all my loose change to deposit in my bank before i go. I must have, well maybe, 2 dollars in change which i cannot bear to part with.

bk

Geez. I'll bet its all in pennys too.
Are we going to get into the "so tight you squeak when you walk" thing?

Regards,

J

 

[Stinchcomb]

Today for lunch I got the Wendy's heart attack sack for $5.19. I gave the girl $5.20. I sat there at her drive through window waiting for my change. She opened the window back up and asked "Are you waiting on a penny?" “Yes I am” I said, she just shook her head and gave me the penny. Is that cheap of me? A penny saved is a penny earned.

 

[jamespowers]

Today for lunch I got the Wendy's heart attack sack for $5.19. I gave the girl $5.20. I sat there at her drive through window waiting for my change. She opened the window back up and asked "Are you waiting on a penny?" “Yes I am” I said, she just shook her head and gave me the penny. Is that cheap of me? A penny saved is a penny earned.

Now I know how the Grand Canyon was formed. :eusa_doh: Stinch dropped a penny down a crack in the ground. [huh]

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Then save your clothes dryer lint (and navel lint too). Makes good stuffing for cushions.

.