Does the inequality ever make you uncomfortable?

[mogandave]

8 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I think cutting back on some of the programs was a good idea, and I think doing an analysis on the program overall was necessary. I just think the way that Trump and Musk went about it was nasty, and pathetic. There are relatively small amounts of money that are helping to provide medicine to keep children alive, and helping to prevent disease that takes out tens of thousands of people in the poorest nations.

 

Those types of programs should not have been touched, and the fact that they were is testament to just how dark-hearted and malicious Trump and Musk truly are. 

 

Are you even willing to discuss these kind of issues or is it strictly forbidden within your party? 

Ano one of the programs that were cut would have been continued had even one member of Congress had stood up and defended it on the record. 

 

Why do suppose none of them did? 

[bunnydrops]

We need to remember how lucky we are. We made our money where we made more in an hour than some Thais make in a week. We can buy a mansion for the price of a tract house in our home countries. Like it is said, "There but for fortune, go you and I."

[captain_shane]

The economy here is pretty bad for a majority of people. A lot of them don't make it easier on themselves though by getting into debt and gambling. The one advantage they have though over the west is if you're a man and completely broke you can always become a monk, at least you won't be homeless and starving.

[short-Timer]

1 hour ago, Harrisfan said:

Blow up dolls dont spend

Do tell us more about your blow up doll. Male?

[Stanton681]

13 hours ago, NanLaew said:

….. schlepping around Big C, elbows on his shopping cart like the slothful locals. 

What a miserable statement and jaundiced view on Thais 😞

[Harrisfan]

1 minute ago, short-Timer said:

Do tell us more about your blow up doll. Male?

No gender

[short-Timer]

1 minute ago, Harrisfan said:

No gender

Never seen that. Post photos. Not of your gender thanks, but of your dolls'. 

[Harrisfan]

2 minutes ago, short-Timer said:

Never seen that. Post photos. Not of your gender thanks, but of your dolls'. 

 

[short-Timer]

3 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

 

That actually looks edible for a change. Usually your food post are awful. Not bad for AI. 

[Harrisfan]

1 minute ago, short-Timer said:

That actually looks edible for a change. Usually your food post are awful. Not bad for AI. 

Thats slop. Impressed you.

[Nick Carter icp]

7 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

 

 

   Thats not a 7-11 meal

[short-Timer]

4 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Thats slop. Impressed you.

Yes, compared to the inedible 40 Baht slop you usually post. 

[short-Timer]

3 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Thats not a 7-11 meal

He can't afford 7-11. 

[ikke1959]

As Westerens we can learn a lot of Thai people... I know my posts are not always in favor of the Thai people, but just as in every country there are good ones and others. I live in a rural area and I noticed that even if people don't have much, they still share.. It is not what they give but only the idea that they give even if they don't have money. It seems easy we get regular fruits, or vegetables of people who don't have money at all, and we live like kings, although I feel ashamed sometimes. But they don't care, but they changed my behavior many years ago. If people with a bit give you something, I feel obliged to do the same, but in a decent way, which means not to show that I have money. But sometimes we buy a package of coffee, cookies, fruit or things like that and with Christmas we make a package with things they can use for daily cooking and some luxury goods they hardly can afford. It is very appreciated, although they never say it. But We Westerns can learn about this behavior.

[Ralf001]

16 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

Spending more than 200 baht at 7/11 is a farang thing because to a Thai, it's just not appealing at all to actually "shop" there (farang concept), it's a convenience store where they grab one or two items, that's all.

 

Just returned from my local 7/11.

 

Thai girl being served at the register.

 

She purchased 6 bottles of soda water, bottle of Hong Tong, 3 packets of condoms, a bottle of lube and some mircowaved food.. total was Bt.1087.00... gotta love a Thai lass spending like a farnag !

 

 

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Sandboxer said:

I don't give it a thought until I go into Harrods and feel like dumb uneducated  blue collar trash when I see an Arab buying a million pound watch.

The Arab would probably still be scrubbing his backside with sand if it was not for oil.

 

Buying a million pound watch does not make him smart or educated, quite the opposite.

[jts-khorat]

6 hours ago, Walker88 said:

This topic strikes a chord in me, so this will be long. Feel free to tl:dr.

 

The Universe doesn't hand out things evenly, nor does anyone's deity. We all find our own way to come to terms with that harsh reality. Ideally, we understand the inherent unfairness of existence, and behave accordingly, which means never thinking we are better simply because we have more.

 

I'm the first person to admit what I have been able to acquire is dumb luck. Some who are "Haves" like to think they worked really hard for what they achieved. Even that I attribute to dumb luck, as I believe even intellect and ambition are certainly not handed out equally, nor are physical characteristics like body shape, height, and physical appearance.

 

You just have described the concept of Kamma in two easy to understand paragraphs.

 

What you infer from it and how you act after this self-reflection is what makes all the difference.

[bkknirvana]

Not me. The richer I get, the less I care about the poor.

 

I used to give money to charities, but then discovered the salaries of the CEOs running them and wasteful expenses of the charity workers.

[jts-khorat]

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

i went into a bar the other night. just played a game of pool with one of the girls and bought her a drink. and then asked her if she was hungry. thought i'd be a bit charitable and throw in a meal for the possibly struggling single mother. she orders street food, i pick up the tab, then she takes one bite and leaves the rest. i asked her why she didn't finish it. she said "too salty". yeah, like she's never eaten that food before. i just wasted 90 baht thinking i was doing someone in need a small favor. maybe she's not that broke. or maybe all they care about is getting that 2000 baht for the monkey dance.

 

Even here, (Theravda) Buddhism has something interesting to say.

 

You do meritious deeds not in the expectations of being thanked, or even of making a difference. You do the good deed because you acted in interpretation of the things you knew (she is a poor girl) -- therefore it was the right action -- and therefore it helps you to cultivate your own good volitions and have a better life through it.

 

What the other person makes of it in the end is really not your concern. In a perfect world, they would feel thankful, but it is their decision alone; as it is your decision alone how the perceived rejection (or not) of your action makes you feel in turn -- as you know you did the right thing, it should not be a negative emotion, but move towards equanimity.

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Just returned from my local 7/11.

 

Thai girl being served at the register.

 

She purchased 6 bottles of soda water, bottle of Hong Tong, 3 packets of condoms, a bottle of lube and some mircowaved food.. total was Bt.1087.00... gotta love a Thai lass spending like a farnag !

 

  Could you ask her to get me a bacon cheese burger as well, as I'm also feeling bit hungry

[Harrisfan]

45 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

 

Even here, (Theravda) Buddhism has something interesting to say.

 

You do meritious deeds not in the expectations of being thanked, or even of making a difference. You do the good deed because you acted in interpretation of the things you knew (she is a poor girl) -- therefore it was the right action -- and therefore it helps you to cultivate your own good volitions and have a better life through it.

 

What the other person makes of it in the end is really not your concern. In a perfect world, they would feel thankful, but it is their decision alone; as it is your decision alone how the perceived rejection (or not) of your action makes you feel in turn -- as you know you did the right thing, it should not be a negative emotion, but move towards equanimity.

But it does not bring anything good. You just gave away money for nothing.

[Liverpool Lou]

21 hours ago, RSD1 said:

But I think this is one everyday example that captures the stark inequality I encounter so often in this country.

What is "unequal" about some people having more than others?  You don't think that everyone, somehow, should  have exactly the same assets by taking from some and giving it to others, surely?

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

7-11 is cheap, what is the most expensive food item there? 50 baht? The 7-11 employees spe0llocks.nd more than that when they eat at the local moo kraBore than 200 baht at 7/11 is a farang thing because to a Thai, it's just not appealing at all to actually "shop" there (farang concept), it's a convenience store where they grab one or two items, that's all.

B0llocks.   You think that food is the only line 7-Elevens sell?

[Lacessit]

5 hours ago, mogandave said:

And it’s not like any of the virtue signalers moaning about the inequality are willing to actually do anything about it. 

 

All likely part of the “tax the rich” crowd. 

If you are saying it's a good thing for multi-billionaires to be paying less tax than a janitor, then you have rocks in your head.

[Screaming]

Who the heck shops at 7-Eleven? And daily even? What a life!

[blaze master]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

No. I have been visiting 3rd world, and poorer countries since I was 17. So, I accept the fact that this world has alot of poverty. 

 

648 million people in the world, about eight percent of the global population, live in extreme poverty, which means they subsist on less than US$2.15 per day.

 

Almost a quarter of the global population, 23 percent, lived below the US$3.65 poverty line, and almost half, 47 percent, lived below the US$6.85 poverty line, as reported in the 2022 Poverty and Shared Prosperity report. This also means that the global median income (US$7.60 per person per day) is very close to the UMIC line.

 

Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report.

 

About 3.4 bn people – just over 70% of the global adult population – have wealth of less than $10,000. 

 

The world is simply not working for a whole lot of people. 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l6tSqGCfoCI&t=136s&pp=ygUVSW1tb2dyYXRpb24gZ3VtIGJhbGxz

[rattlesnake]

35 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

B0llocks.   You think that food is the only line 7-Elevens sell?

 

The quote I replied to was:

 

Yet, I’m aware that the staff at 7-Eleven earn quite modest wages. Many of the food items I casually throw into my basket are things they’ve likely never tried themselves

 

If you have Thai friends, ask them if they like 7/11 food. Most of them will answer "mai aroi". They don't eat that sh*t, that's why you don't see them buying it.

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, Flyguy330 said:

Will it help?

How?

I don't live in Pattaya.

Doesn't matter, does it? There's farang traps and ghettos in many, many places in Thailand.

 

Where's yours?

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, Stanton681 said:

What a miserable statement and jaundiced view on Thais 😞

Isn't it just?

 

What's yours?

 

Asking for a friend.

[jts-khorat]

2 hours ago, jts-khorat said:

 

Even here, (Theravda) Buddhism has something interesting to say.

 

You do meritious deeds not in the expectations of being thanked, or even of making a difference. You do the good deed because you acted in interpretation of the things you knew (she is a poor girl) -- therefore it was the right action -- and therefore it helps you to cultivate your own good volitions and have a better life through it.

 

What the other person makes of it in the end is really not your concern. In a perfect world, they would feel thankful, but it is their decision alone; as it is your decision alone how the perceived rejection (or not) of your action makes you feel in turn -- as you know you did the right thing, it should not be a negative emotion, but move towards equanimity.

 

1 hour ago, Harrisfan said:

But it does not bring anything good. You just gave away money for nothing.

 

Then maybe go back and read what I wrote. Of course it brought something good.

 

You practiced volitional actions, acting out of proper reasons, loosening the fetters binding you to wordly things, cultivating your Sila (morals).

 

So a lot was gained, and only some (quite smallish) piece of paper invested in the learning process.  I call this a good investment for sure.

 

Even for those less inclined to see the spiritual side, it definitely was money well spent on a life lesson: I know people who have lost houses and life savings on qualitatively pretty much the same lesson.