Sherry Shaw wrote:
> I say again, wealth is the result of succeeding at getting wealth. 
> Aren't schoolteachers productive?  (The good ones, anyway?)

Depends how you count, I suppose. Just saying "wealth is the result of 
getting wealth" isn't a very useful statement. Wealth has to be measured 
by someone outside of you. Hence, it's what people will pay you for the 
value you give them.

Now, if you want to argue that the measurement is distorted, and that 
Buffet doesn't actually do very much to generate value (from what I can 
see), I'll agree. But I think what Gates did was pretty valuable.

> I say again, I am _not_ complaining that they're wealthy.  I'm 
> _observing_ that they're wealthy not only because they're good at what 
> they do (getting wealth, among other things), but because they had the 
> immense good fortune to be born in a location where it was possible for 
> them to exercise that ability.

I meant in the over-all screed.

> $364,657 is 1st percentile?  Does that seem likely to you?  Really?  And 
> does the organization that posted these figures have an agenda?

Did you actually look at where the numbers come from? Do you think a 
report from the IRS to the House Of Representatives has *less* reliable 
numbers on income and tax paying than you'll find elsewhere?

> Columns one and three, top two rows.  Column two is...dubious.  (Think 
> about the many, many businesses where the top guys make 100+ times what 
> the lowest-paid employees make.  Then review the figures.)

Where would you go, besides the IRS, to get less dubious numbers?

>> I think you can have more than you can *not waste* pretty easily. I 
>> think having more than you could actually *throw away* would be harder.

> Ah.  Define "waste."

Spending it without getting a fraction of the value?
You could pay $100K for a used honda civic and waste your money.
You could pay $100K for a new lotos lambergini and not waste your money.
You could pay $100K to a good teacher on the condition he stop teaching, 
and create negative value.
You could pay $100K for an Indy formula-1 race car and invest your money.

>> Clearly, if you had more than half the money in the world, you 
>> couldn't spend it all. Other than that...
> 
> Why not?

What would you buy with it?

> Amelia the Wonder Dog and I are the last two people in the world.  I 
> have $10.  She has $5 and the last bottle of Guinness in the world.  I 
> say, "Please sell me that bottle of Guinness."  She says, "I will, for 
> $10."  You can imagine the rest.

Then she has more wealth than you, because she has $5 plus $10 worth of 
beer, and you only have $10. If it's down to two people, you can't value 
"money" abstractly any more. Fiat currency doesn't work when there's 
only two people.

> There's a speed difference between "spending" and "investing"?

Uh, sure. Wait. I don't know. What's a "speed difference"?

>> I know several friends who got into serious grief with the IRS by 
>> getting stock grants at $2/share, exercising (but not selling) it when 
>> it was $50/share, and then selling it when it was back to $1/share, 
>> and nevertheless owing taxes on $48/share even tho they lost money in 
>> the whole thing.
>>
> 
> I think that's called "evolution at work."

It's called "not understanding the fuckage that is the USA tax system."

>>> I *like* arg-- erm, "discussing" with you--ye're rat smart.  ;)
>> I *think* that's a compliment? :-)
> Yep.

I'm glad. :-)

>> I think it's made clear he's just white, a plain old horse.  Magically 
>> enhanced, yes. But isn't Mort's first job to shovel up after Binky?
>>
> 
> It strikes me that the ability to fly, both in the world and between 
> realities (if you count Death's Place as an alternate reality), could 
> easily be enough to make your poop sparkle, at least as a side effect, 

... "And other sentences not often heard" ...

> but that's just a speculation.  And sure, Mort had to muck out the 
> stable, but did he follow Binky around with a pooper-scooper while he 
> (Binky, that is) was on duty?  I think not.

I will concede that perhaps Binky's poop was sparkly enough to attract 
ravens as well as sparrows.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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