Originally Posted by
Peterson
No offense Dr. Pete - that's not much of a case log over 6 yrs and, cynically, most docs don't pull the hours or fill their block time because they love to help people. Follow the money - where did all of the CT surgeons go?
This is an interesting topic, privilege and wealth. As someone who grew-up in the middle class and now has enough money to afford most material goods it is a nice position to be in - but rarely does anything have to do with "what someone deserves". I'm sure there are laborers that will forever toil and there are great minds that will never see a dime for their ideas.
Anyway, I just want to post that there is something obscene about opulence. Can I afford a 5K, 10K, 20K... bicycle - sure, but at some point it is obscene when the gap is so vast to an average person. We may not be able to come-up with a definition and the level varies from person to person but at some point it is ridiculous. (art vs porn defn)
Can Bill Gates afford a gold bicycle, sure. Is he free to buy one, sure. Is he an idiot if he buys one, definitely. If he pulled up next to me, and I was of minimal means, would I consider mugging him? - class warfare.
Another aside, of reported income in the US, the 100 highest salaries averaged ~>140 million/year and their tax burden was ~43 cents per dollar. The ultra wealthy don't support the tax load. The upper middle class do - those with money but not enough for a tax shelter.
It's not like money disappears when you spend it on a bike. It changes hands. Who are you to say that the bike manufacturer (and the people who eventually benefit from his spending money) isn't as equally "deserving?" Heck, from that perspective, I think it'd be far more productive to stop watching movies and sitcoms.
I highly doubt that purchases by any one person can change a company's production scheme, so purchasing a 10k bike isn't going to alter the distribution of real goods in any meaningful way.
Of course, you can try to convince the entire high-end bike market to stop altogether while simultaneously relegate those manufacturers and all their laborers to farms, boosting food production and feeding the poor..but you're not Mao.
That said..I think it's ridiculous for 10,000 dollar bikes to be in such high demand, but for another reason entirely.