| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
 Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject: You and Bill Gates vs a serf and a King |
 |
|
People talk a lot about the disparity between the rich and the poor or the widening gap between the middle classed and the rich but step back and think a moment.
Aside from "more of it", is there anything Bill Gates enjoys that you can't enjoy? Bill Gates, of course, can own his own plane, his own boat, a sports car, has a big house, etc. But you can get on a plane too, you can enjoy boating. You can afford a car (technically you and bill gates both have to drive at the same speed so it hardly matters his car can go 100 mph faster than yours). You can afford a simple house. You can buy the clothes Bill Gates buys. You can eat the food he eats. You can play the games he plays. You can go to as qualified doctors as Bill Gates. The basic medicine and health care that lets most of us live until 80 is available to almost all: vaccines, antibiotics, clean water, parasite free food.
Now consider hundreds of years ago. The richest guys on the planet or even your country, enjoyed lives far beyond what the average person could enjoy. A king could travel to other countries. A king had access to better health care than the average person. A king had new clothes, clean clothes, meat that wasn't rotten. The list goes on.
Life really ain't that bad, even at the bottom. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
mistermasan
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| do you really believe this? you think bill gates will ever settle for the doctor his insurance insists upon? think he'd ever take greyhound or amtrak? think bill gates will ever have to call 911 to get a ride to the hospital for a non-emergency strictly because such is the only option available? think bill gates stands inline down at the DMV? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| mistermasan wrote: |
| do you really believe this? you think bill gates will ever settle for the doctor his insurance insists upon? think he'd ever take greyhound or amtrak? think bill gates will ever have to call 911 to get a ride to the hospital for a non-emergency strictly because such is the only option available? think bill gates stands inline down at the DMV? |
There are some small differences. See my comparison to the serf and king for an example of the real differences. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
hahahahhhaha you want to compare the life of BILL GATES to the average man!!! OHHHH PLEEEEEAAAAASSSEEEE!!!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHA
a king can get to point A
a pauper can get to point A ..
a king can eat a meal!
a pauper can eat too!
A king has clothes
a pauper wears clothes too..
A king sleeps with a roof over his head
A pauper also has a roof over his head!
DUDE! what is your point!!!
sorry but NAAA!
gates lives a life which we can only dream! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| itaewonguy wrote: |
a king can get to point A
a pauper can get to point A .. |
A king can get to any nation on the earth. A serf can't.
| Quote: |
a king can eat a meal!
a pauper can eat too! |
A king always has food. A serf doesn't. A king has access to an excess of calories. A serf doesn't.
My point is the disparity between the average person and the richest person is no longer a vastly qualitative difference. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:29 am Post subject: Re: You and Bill Gates vs a serf and a King |
|
|
Didn't Bill Gates once totally destroy a traffic cop who pulled him over? He wouldn't have to drive under the speed limit if he really wanted.
Also, he can go anywhere in the world and then go somewhere else in the same weekend, and still afford to give all his kids and grandkids PhDs from the fanciest university in the US. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
safeblad
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:32 am Post subject: Re: You and Bill Gates vs a serf and a King |
|
|
| mindmetoo wrote: |
People talk a lot about the disparity between the rich and the poor or the widening gap between the middle classed and the rich but step back and think a moment.
Aside from "more of it", is there anything Bill Gates enjoys that you can't enjoy? Bill Gates, of course, can own his own plane, his own boat, a sports car, has a big house, etc. But you can get on a plane too, you can enjoy boating. You can afford a car (technically you and bill gates both have to drive at the same speed so it hardly matters his car can go 100 mph faster than yours). You can afford a simple house. You can buy the clothes Bill Gates buys. You can eat the food he eats. You can play the games he plays. You can go to as qualified doctors as Bill Gates. The basic medicine and health care that lets most of us live until 80 is available to almost all: vaccines, antibiotics, clean water, parasite free food.
Now consider hundreds of years ago. The richest guys on the planet or even your country, enjoyed lives far beyond what the average person could enjoy. A king could travel to other countries. A king had access to better health care than the average person. A king had new clothes, clean clothes, meat that wasn't rotten. The list goes on.
Life really ain't that bad, even at the bottom. |
Bill Gates doesnt live in Korea
Last edited by safeblad on Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:33 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tiberious aka Sparkles
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: I'm one cool cat!
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Drinking on a weekday, right? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I would take mm2's assessment as reasonably accurate as far down as the middle of the middle class (or so). But not lower. I don't see Lower Class people today as significantly better off than serfs. Obviously, it's a smaller proportion of the overall population, but the conditions are not all that much better. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Oh yeah, and if this was about some sort of feat of strength, like a gladiatorial battle (as I originally envisioned), the king and the peasant would win against Bill Gates and any one of us. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| itaewonguy wrote: |
a king can get to point A
a pauper can get to point A .. |
A king can get to any nation on the earth. A serf can't.
| Quote: |
a king can eat a meal!
a pauper can eat too! |
A king always has food. A serf doesn't. A king has access to an excess of calories. A serf doesn't.
|
A SERF!! so you are talking about a slave basically!
so yeah the difference is huge!
but the average person is not a SERF!
there are serfs in the world today! actually probably close to a billion people.. half a billion people havent even seen a cell phone!
so bill gates and the serfs of today! are same as the KIng and the serf!
| Quote: |
| My point is the disparity between the average person and the richest person is no longer a vastly qualitative difference |
the average person is not a serf!
even in the past the average person and the king didnt have qualitative differences..
but if you are saying that the middle class and the super rich dont have much difference except "more" then I would agree.. and it was that way in the past too..
kinda obvious isnt it.. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| itaewonguy wrote: |
A SERF!! so you are talking about a slave basically! |
I'm talking about the average person of the middle ages.
| Quote: |
| there are serfs in the world today! |
I'm talking about your average North American. The middle classed.
| Quote: |
| the average person is not a serf! |
Why do you persist in following an english message board when it is clear to everyone you can't grasp english or basic ideas?
| Quote: |
but if you are saying that the middle class and the super rich dont have much difference except "more" then I would agree.. and it was that way in the past too..
kinda obvious isnt it.. |
Again. No. Which I clearly laid out at the top. The average person in the middle ages did not have access to ANY parasite free food or even a guaranteed food source. Even into the 19th century when France and England were the two richest nations in the world, there were still famines within those countries. You and Bill Gates can put get pepper cheaply. Think you could get pepper for your rotting meat if you were the average person in the middle ages?
The cornerstones of modern medicine that allow us all to live until 80 (to repeat, indoor plumbing, vaccines, antibiotics, and a safe food supply) were unavailable to the average person. A course in the middle ages even a king didn't have access to vaccines and antibiotics however the other two, clean water and better food are still relevant. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| mindmetoo wrote: |
The cornerstones of modern medicine that allow us all to live until 80 (to repeat, indoor plumbing, vaccines, antibiotics, and a safe food supply) were unavailable to the average person. A course in the middle ages even a king didn't have access to vaccines and antibiotics however the other two, clean water and better food are still relevant. |
It might have been cleaner water and better food, but it was still not as good as what we have now. I'd rather be a modern serf than an ancient king.
Bill Gates' lifestyle is still way beyond the average person's imagining. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| itaewonguy wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| itaewonguy wrote: |
a king can get to point A
a pauper can get to point A .. |
A king can get to any nation on the earth. A serf can't.
| Quote: |
a king can eat a meal!
a pauper can eat too! |
A king always has food. A serf doesn't. A king has access to an excess of calories. A serf doesn't.
|
A SERF!! so you are talking about a slave basically!
so yeah the difference is huge!
but the average person is not a SERF!
there are serfs in the world today! actually probably close to a billion people.. half a billion people havent even seen a cell phone!
so bill gates and the serfs of today! are same as the KIng and the serf!
| Quote: |
| My point is the disparity between the average person and the richest person is no longer a vastly qualitative difference |
the average person is not a serf!
even in the past the average person and the king didnt have qualitative differences..
but if you are saying that the middle class and the super rich dont have much difference except "more" then I would agree.. and it was that way in the past too..
kinda obvious isnt it.. |
A serf wasn't a slave, just a very poor commoner who was kept in check by Christianity. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pastis
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I agree with mindmetoo, from a material point of view, there is no comparison, unlike the masses in any other period of history, we live far in excess of what we need.
There is infinitely more social opportunity thesedays too (at least if you live in a western country). Back then social mobility was virtually non-existent, and the vast majority were bare-footed peasants with nary a pot to piss in and zero prospect of change. Basically it just would have sucked no matter what. To quote Hobbes (out of context), life back then was `nasty, brutish and short`.
Last edited by pastis on Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
