March 13, 2013

Being lectured by millionaires -

Oped in the NYT this weekend re "living with less": http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I had read the original article over the weekend so when Starry Messenger posted this critique yesterday I was thrilled: http://gawker.com/5989989/it-would-be-great-if-millionaires-would-not-lecture-us-on-living-with-less

It Would Be Great if Millionaires Would Not Lecture Us on ‘Living With Less’
Hamilton Nolan

There is something about achieving great financial success that seduces people into believing that they are life coaches. This problem seems particularly endemic to the tech millionaire set. You are not simply Some Fucking Guy Who Sold Your Internet Company For a Lot of Money; you are a lifestyle guru, with many important and penetrating insight about How to Live that must be shared with the common people.

We would humbly request that this stop.

Meet Graham Hill. Graham Hill became a multimillionaire at a very young age when he sold his internet company in 1998. Good for him. We would not be telling you about Graham Hill at all, except for the fact that he wrote a remarkable op-ed in the New York Times Sunday Review yesterday in which he instructs you, the common man, on the virtues of "Living With Less." He bases this prescription on the wisdom he has learned on his own personal journey, from millionaire with a big house and many material possessions to millionaire with a smaller house and fewer material possessions, but just as many liquid assets. And what did it take for this millionaire to learn that his 3,600-square-foot Seattle home, personal shopper, and cars and furniture and other expensive baubles just weren't worth it? ...

The interesting part for me was sharing it on my own Facebook wall to see the if anyone would read it and how they would respond. The "likes" I received were from folks who are in low-paying service jobs here, or live abroad. There is so much propaganda in this country that encourages everyone to idolize the rich (and not question the discrepancy) that I was thrilled to see any response at all.

March 5, 2013

Safe Passage, Comrade.

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EL UNIVERSAL
Tuesday March 05, 2013 06:29 PM
Hugo Chávez Frías, the President of Venezuela, died after waging a long battle against cancer, treated in Havana since the middle of 2011. The president had traveled to Cuba in the final stage on December 8, 2012, two months after his fourth re-election to undergo his fourth surgery.

In his last public appearance, he designated Nicolás Maduro, the current Vice-President, his heir apparent.

Chávez Frías disclosed his illness also from Cuba, in June 2011.