RogueExpat Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Driving along at a nice sedate pace the other day, following one of those overloaded pickups, full of large 8 to 10 inch long cucumbers stacked so high they were plainly visible over the top bars of the back tray. The pickup hit an uneven stretch in the road and after a few eratic maneouvers, managed to regain course. During these manouvers, one bulging sack of cucumbers slipped between the crack in the rails and hit the tarmac, rolling and slipping for about twenty metres, narrowly missing the front of my car. Looking in the rear vision mirror, I saw a late model high end Benz sports stop to rescue the bruised cucumbers. Driver stops, gets out, picks up the vegetables, gets back into the Benz, and takes off after the pickup. I think to myself, what a great person, taking the trouble to return lost property....... Until he blasts past the cucumber truck at 150 km/hour, waving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendix Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Petty theft? Picking up a sack of cucumbers that - literally - fell off the back of a lorry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebBangkok Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) Finders keepers Edited June 19, 2012 by WebBangkok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Petty theft? Picking up a sack of cucumbers that - literally - fell off the back of a lorry? Whats the old saying....."finders keepers" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YipYipYa123 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Did you think rich people got rich by giving away their money ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ). I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurwait Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 A nice story of bulging sacks and 8 to 10 inch cucumbers slipping between the cracks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 How do you think people get rich?? Not by being honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron19 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 A nice story of bulging sacks and 8 to 10 inch cucumbers slipping between the cracks. Youv'e got a filthy mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendix Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Stop it brit. You know full well that the rich are evil and a cancer on society. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Somehow I doubt that the average employee will get rich, unless it's as a money manipulator. People doing real jobs don't get paid enough to be classified as "rich". Not many entrepreneurs started with nothing. BTW, my previous post was "tongue in cheek"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendix Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Somehow I doubt that the average employee will get rich, unless it's as a money manipulator. People doing real jobs don't get paid enough to be classified as "rich". Not many entrepreneurs started with nothing. BTW, my previous post was "tongue in cheek"! Depends what you define as rich. A person earning a good salary - and I don't mean a hedge fund manager or banker salary - but something like six figures sterling for 30 years can easily become relatively wealthy by living prudently and saving a healthy proportion of their income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisinth Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Rescuing bruised cucumbers reinforces the path to riches...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payboy Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Surely the merc driver was a woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 From the OP: "Looking in the rear vision mirror, I saw a late model high end Benz sports stop to rescue the bruised cucumbers. Driver stops, gets out, picks up the vegetables, gets back into the Benz, and takes off after the pickup." I'm just amazed that you can catch all this in your rear view mirror, as you're driving away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules 555555 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSnapper Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Probably the Benz was also stolen... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Somehow I doubt that the average employee will get rich, unless it's as a money manipulator. People doing real jobs don't get paid enough to be classified as "rich". Not many entrepreneurs started with nothing. BTW, my previous post was "tongue in cheek"! Depends what you define as rich. A person earning a good salary - and I don't mean a hedge fund manager or banker salary - but something like six figures sterling for 30 years can easily become relatively wealthy by living prudently and saving a healthy proportion of their income. Hmmm. Had to think about it, but probably need a 7 figure sum in the bank to qualify as "evil" rich these days. Anyway, it always surprises me how many wealthy people trundle along to church regularly, when the man preached that you should "sell all that you have, and give it to the poor", etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Somehow I doubt that the average employee will get rich, unless it's as a money manipulator. People doing real jobs don't get paid enough to be classified as "rich". Not many entrepreneurs started with nothing. BTW, my previous post was "tongue in cheek"! Obviously the "average" employee is not rich because (by definition) they are average. I know many self-made rich people who all made their money as employees or entrepreneurs. None of these people would stop their car just to pick up some discarded cucumbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hmmm. Had to think about it, but probably need a 7 figure sum in the bank to qualify as "evil" rich these days. Anyway, it always surprises me how many wealthy people trundle along to church regularly, when the man preached that you should "sell all that you have, and give it to the poor", etc. Have you ever heard of the concept of taxation? All the rich people I know have paid several millions of pounds / dollars / euros in tax. A large share of this money has been spent, by their respective governments, on the poor. However, I do share your confusion as to why people go to church. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Self evident heading. How else did rich people make their money ( other than by inheritance or the lottery ).I liked the guy holding the sign at Wall St after the crash inviting the people that destroyed the lives of millions to "jump". People can get rich either as an employee (by diligently following the orders of their employer, after studying hard to enter a lucrative profession), or as an entrepreneur (by offering goods and services that fulfill other people's wants and needs). Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules Somehow I doubt that the average employee will get rich, unless it's as a money manipulator. People doing real jobs don't get paid enough to be classified as "rich". Not many entrepreneurs started with nothing. BTW, my previous post was "tongue in cheek"! Obviously the "average" employee is not rich because (by definition) they are average. I know many self-made rich people who all made their money as employees or entrepreneurs. None of these people would stop their car just to pick up some discarded cucumbers. I reckon they'd get the chauffeur to pick it up, 555555555! Philisophically, I'd think that the "evil" rich are those for whom the pursuit of money is more important than living life as a "good" person. Wall St is full of those crooks, if you consider selling dud securities and betting against your clients to be a criminal activity as I do, whatever the legalities of it. I have no problem with people that struggled for years doing a "real" job to be able to afford a nice house, car, send their kids to a good school and go on holiday in exotic places. Doctors come to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Probably the Benz was also stolen... It is more likely that the truck (and the cucumbers on the truck) were stolen, given the truck driver's evident and selfish total disregard for the safety (and lives) of other road users by carrying a load that is not properly secured. It is just lucky the rich person was not killed, which would have starved this world of the employment, taxation and boost to economic growth that they likely provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hmmm. Had to think about it, but probably need a 7 figure sum in the bank to qualify as "evil" rich these days. Anyway, it always surprises me how many wealthy people trundle along to church regularly, when the man preached that you should "sell all that you have, and give it to the poor", etc. Have you ever heard of the concept of taxation? All the rich people I know have paid several millions of pounds / dollars / euros in tax. A large share of this money has been spent, by their respective governments, on the poor. However, I do share your confusion as to why people go to church. I wouldn't complain if all really rich people did pay tax. However, many of them avoid paying tax by various means. Consider the millionaire that closed his factory in his own country and opened a factory in a poor country where he can pay the workers a pittance and become even wealthier- is he a "good" person, or just greedy? What about a CEO that awards himself a 30% pay rise, while the workers must do with 1%- there is a lot of uproar about that going on in shareholder meetings right now, if you follow the news? Or how about a certain politician that "gave" his servants millions of baht to avoid having to declare it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hmmm. Had to think about it, but probably need a 7 figure sum in the bank to qualify as "evil" rich these days. Anyway, it always surprises me how many wealthy people trundle along to church regularly, when the man preached that you should "sell all that you have, and give it to the poor", etc. Have you ever heard of the concept of taxation? All the rich people I know have paid several millions of pounds / dollars / euros in tax. A large share of this money has been spent, by their respective governments, on the poor. However, I do share your confusion as to why people go to church. I wouldn't complain if all really rich people did pay tax. However, many of them avoid paying tax by various means. Consider the millionaire that closed his factory in his own country and opened a factory in a poor country where he can pay the workers a pittance and become even wealthier- is he a "good" person, or just greedy? What about a CEO that awards himself a 30% pay rise, while the workers must do with 1%- there is a lot of uproar about that going on in shareholder meetings right now, if you follow the news? Or how about a certain politician that "gave" his servants millions of baht to avoid having to declare it? CEO pay is obviously a contentious issue but if their pay demands become unreasonable, the shareholders (the owners of the business who have provided the capital for its very existence), can replace the CEO. In reality, this rarely happens because it is important to have the best CEO, not the cheapest CEO. With regards to tax, of course, there are some rich people who avoid paying tax, or test the boundaries of tax law with various schemes to minimise their tax bill, but on average rich people obviously pay far more tax than poor people. Moreover, there is no shortage of poor people who do not pay tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Even leaving aside the huge taxation contribution made by the rich, making money is good for society. As Adam Smith explained in the Wealth of Nations (1776) greed and selfishness is actually good. In a market economy, entrepreneurs can only prosper by providing for the wants and needs of society. Equally, employees can only prosper by contributing to this positive objective of the entrepreneur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) Hmmm. Had to think about it, but probably need a 7 figure sum in the bank to qualify as "evil" rich these days. Anyway, it always surprises me how many wealthy people trundle along to church regularly, when the man preached that you should "sell all that you have, and give it to the poor", etc. Have you ever heard of the concept of taxation? All the rich people I know have paid several millions of pounds / dollars / euros in tax. A large share of this money has been spent, by their respective governments, on the poor. However, I do share your confusion as to why people go to church. I wouldn't complain if all really rich people did pay tax. However, many of them avoid paying tax by various means. Consider the millionaire that closed his factory in his own country and opened a factory in a poor country where he can pay the workers a pittance and become even wealthier- is he a "good" person, or just greedy? What about a CEO that awards himself a 30% pay rise, while the workers must do with 1%- there is a lot of uproar about that going on in shareholder meetings right now, if you follow the news? Or how about a certain politician that "gave" his servants millions of baht to avoid having to declare it? CEO pay is obviously a contentious issue but if their pay demands become unreasonable, the shareholders (the owners of the business who have provided the capital for its very existence), can replace the CEO. In reality, this rarely happens because it is important to have the best CEO, not the cheapest CEO. With regards to tax, of course, there are some rich people who avoid paying tax, or test the boundaries of tax law with various schemes to minimise their tax bill, but on average rich people obviously pay far more tax than poor people. Moreover, there is no shortage of poor people who do not pay tax. There are only people that don't pay tax because the bleeding heart incompetents in government decided to allow people to receive other people's money for nothing. Do what Singapore did and if people can't find a job, make them go and cut grass in exchange for a pittance, which is a good motivator to advance oneself. I'm not refering to people with GENUINE disabilities, and even they can usually do something. In the UK there are generations that have been on the dole, at the same time as they are bringing in labour from overseas to do jobs in the South East, because those in the North won't move to where the jobs are- it's insane! Edited June 19, 2012 by thaibeachlovers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTuner Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Cucumber business must be booming, seeing as the owner of the company has a Benz. No wonder, being diligent enough to pick up a bag his employees dropped. I do hope he didn't flip the poor workers a bird while passing, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Even leaving aside the huge taxation contribution made by the rich, making money is good for society. As Adam Smith explained in the Wealth of Nations (1776) greed and selfishness is actually good. In a market economy, entrepreneurs can only prosper by providing for the wants and needs of society. Equally, employees can only prosper by contributing to this positive objective of the entrepreneur. Well Adam Smith is obviously in hell for advocating sin! In the 1950's New Zealand was a decent society where no man was excessively rich, everyone had what they needed to live a good if not exciting life, and unemployment was virtually unknown. Since the greedies took over, there are people that live the life of Reilly, but many that are very poor, hundreds of thousands are on benefits, and gangs run amok. Which society is better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brit1984 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Philisophically, I'd think that the "evil" rich are those for whom the pursuit of money is more important than living life as a "good" person. Wall St is full of those crooks, if you consider selling dud securities and betting against your clients to be a criminal activity as I do, whatever the legalities of it. I have no problem with people that struggled for years doing a "real" job to be able to afford a nice house, car, send their kids to a good school and go on holiday in exotic places. Doctors come to mind. Having worked in the London equivalent of Wall Street, I can assure you the financial services is not "full of those crooks". In fact, more than 99% are honest hard-working people who just want to best provide for their family, just like the employees in any other industry. Only a very small share of these people are actually involved in trading securities, and only a tiny minority of that small group of people would engage themselves in the immoral (and actually illegal) activities that you refer to. Obviously, there are a tiny minority of bad people in all companies in all industries. The most relevant difference between the financial services industry and non-financial industries (which by the way could not exist without the former) is that mistakes or indiscretions by financial services industry employees can have significant economic consequences, given the large figures involved. That is why we have financial regulators. The financial crisis was caused by a failure on the part of these regulatory bodies to control the impact of the few "bad apples" among the hundreds of thousands of honest hard-working employees in the financial services industry. Don't forget that even with your example of doctors (with who you say you "have no problem") there are a minority whose evil or careless actions lead to suffering and even death. I am pleased that you don't assume all doctors are murderers but likewise you shouldn't assume that all financial services industry employees are rogue traders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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