Wtf Is Wrong With Us!

[OlRedEyes]

My wife is giggling her backside off about a handbag shown on some TV channel selling for B1,1m

Big face.

How empty must one be to need to spend so much on so little. To 'spoil' oneself like that, no matter how much ###### money you have, is more than pathetic, it's downright disgusting. How many lives could be changed with the money for one lousy handbag.

So you give millions to 'charity'. No fckin excuse. Walk out your door and help educate a few kids.

Having some reward and luxury for your maybe hard efforts is one thing, but waste like that in the face of so much suffering and hopelessness on this planet should be at least loudly condemned by society.

Instead everybody aspires to the brands. Where did this arse-about-face attitude come from. That is exactly why labels sell, because society admires the idiots who buy this shit. Marketing? Partly. But we cannot just blame it on that. Society propagates the idea, instead of making it the shameful thing it should be.

It is up to us to take our lives back from big business. We are to blame for it getting to this point.

Communism? No. Just a societal value that finds excess disgusting will do the trick.

Wish I was religious, then I could relax and 'know' they're all going to h_ell.

[GuestHouse]

I'd better not wear my watch then, and I'll ask the Mrs not to wear the ring I bought her... or the pearls.

[Donz]

Humans just havent evolved yet, we are mostly selfish and look after our own families first.

In the perfect world there should be no hunger anywhere in the world, but we arent perfect i guess

[sadman]

How empty must one be to need to spend so much on so little.

Most of us in the west (US and now UK) buy into that at some time or another. Me, I'm only just getting out of it (I think), but look at all the billboards and the TV commercials and so on. They show us something we don't need, never wanted until shown it and probably can't really afford - and we LAP it up.

[bkkmadness]

How someone spends there money is there own business. So what that money could have been spent more usefully elsewhere, do you always spend money in the way that benefits society most without thinking of yourself first?

I'm sure with the money saved with a 'night in' instead of a 'night out' could give a few African kids their eyesight back or protect them from deadly diseases. Is that something you will do? Or do you consider yourself just as selfish as the handbag buyer?

[GuestHouse]

I've been asked by my boss if I'll go work in Saudi for a year.... I don't see many people queuing up for a share of the sh1t.

Why should they get the candy?

[bkkjosh]

I've been asked by my boss if I'll go work in Saudi for a year.... I don't see many people queuing up for a share of the sh1t.

Why should they get the candy?

Can't argue with that

[khall64au]

I've been asked by my boss if I'll go work in Saudi for a year.... I don't see many people queuing up for a share of the sh1t.

Why should they get the candy?

Can't argue with that

Oh c'mon GuestHouse.... you're going off to Saudi to spend your hard -earned "danger-money" on handbags?

Capitalist societies thrive on marketing products - whether it is Chinese-trash goods that now flood the western markets or oil products, uranium by-products, hill tribe handicrafts.... whatever! The world thrives on buying and selling products. If "rich-bitches" choose to spend a billion baht on a handbag rather than donate that money to the needy.... che sera! The world will still go round as much as you and I may think they are superficial, greedy & soul-less.

[kayo]

OP: <deleted> is wrong with us.

Answer:

We´re alive.

I´m off for another drink, now.

[crocodilexp]

While it's outrageous that someone buys a bag for 1.1m baht, it doesn't mean the money just disappeared down the drain. You see, the *seller* might as well now decide to spend the profit (1.09m baht, I presume) to feed the hungry in Africa, or educate a few Isaan kids. Nobody's much worse of IMHO, unless some rare alligators were harmed.

Of course, due to my personal ethics, I'd not really want much to do with anyone who squanders money like that (except that I'd happily have them as a customer).

[LaoPo]

My wife is giggling her backside off about a handbag shown on some TV channel selling for B1,1m

Find out the company selling these handbags and buy shares; they're probably still cheap to buy

LaoPo

[The Skipper]

I guess I could give up my apartment, car, bank account, go on a diet and support a few families for a while.

Then what?

[BangnaBound]

1.1m baht for a bag! Who is it made of?

[Gary A]

It's simply different strokes for different folks. Everyone has different priorities. Some people like to drive a Mercedes Benz. I actually prefer my pick up truck. Some people enjoy round the world trips. I'm satisfied traveling around Thailand in my pick up truck. Some people like fancy clothes and enjoy being dressed up. My standard uniform is shorts, T shirt and sandals. No watch, no jewelry and no fancy cell phone on display. Some people like 5 star hotels. I simply don't feel comfortable in those places. A clean air conditioned room with hot water suits me fine. My Thai wife doesn't own a dress or even a tube of lipstick and that suits me fine.

[Soju]

Look at it from a different angle. Let's say that you have a handbag for sale for 1.1M Baht which costs you 5,000 Baht to manufacture. I have a widget for sale for 1.1M Baht which costs me 5,000 Baht to manufacture. We decide to barter and I exchange one of my widgets for one of your handbags. Now I've just purchased a 5,000 Baht handbag. Would you call that outrageous? Probably not. The people who are buying these 1.1M Baht handbags have likely already sold many 1.1M Baht widgets which were terribly overpriced, so they aren't really doing much more than the person who barters and pays in effect 5,000 Baht for the handbag.

I, myself would never consider making such a vain purchase, but I would be slow to criticize someone who does unless first knowing a lot about their business and financial situation and how they will use the purchase.

I would be much more quick to criticize someone who had a collection of hundreds of 5,000 Baht handbags, most of which were never used, than someone who had only one single handbag worth 1.1M but who used it everyday. To me, having hundreds of handbags, shoes, or whatever, that you couldn't possibly use is being excessive in the worst possible way. Buying something terribly overpriced, but using it, is foolish and a waste of money, but it is not being so excessive with respect to the overall economy because that excess money is being put back into the economy. Having hundreds of handbags that will never be used is a waste of human and natural resources.

I enjoy eating out at fine restaurants often. It doesn't bother my conscience to do so. But to some starving child in Africa, they may think how wasteful I am by spending on one meal enough to feed them for many months. But I do not order excessive food which I cannot consume, so I don't consider it wasteful. If I went to McDonalds and ordered 50 hamburgers and took one small bite out of each and threw the rest away, that would be wasteful and that would bother my conscience even if the bill was less than what I spend for a nice fancy dinner.

Back to the handbags...more than likely the people buying these handbags already have numerous handbags and don't really need another one, so yes, they're being extremely wasteful if this is the case. The point is, I don't know for certain that it is the case, so I cannot criticize them before knowing all the facts.

[Totster]

1.1m baht for a bag! Who is it made of?

I'm guessing diamonds are involved..

totster

[monochaser]

I've never owned a piece of jewelry in my life other than a wedding band. I've never even owned a watch. I think the main reason for this is because I'm just not into time.

[Gary A]

This reminds me of a horrible experience I once had. I went on a business trip to Paris with my former Thai boss. He went into a Louis Vituon shop with a shopping list. He was amazed that I preferred to sit in a restaurant to wait for him. After about an hour and a half he came out of the shop and he was a little upset. It seems that they only allowed him five items. He asked me to go in the shop to buy the rest. Of course I did but it was a horrible experience to buy those things at horribly inflated prices. It was like they were doing me a favor by selling them to me.

[monochaser]

I don't own a vehicle anymore either cause I'm not into travel

[BangnaBound]

1.1m baht for a bag! Who is it made of?

I'm guessing diamonds are involved..

totster

I can accept that people will value things differently than me, but I just can’t quite accept the VL or Prada bags. They’re just bags. Some aren’t even leather, and don’t have any precious stones or metal. When ever some shows me there ‘great’ ridiculously priced bag, or coos at one through a store window, I just have ask, “At that price, can you tell me the name of the person they made that bag out of?”

[phibunmike]

It's simply different strokes for different folks. Everyone has different priorities. Some people like to drive a Mercedes Benz. I actually prefer my pick up truck. Some people enjoy round the world trips. I'm satisfied traveling around Thailand in my pick up truck. Some people like fancy clothes and enjoy being dressed up. My standard uniform is shorts, T shirt and sandals. No watch, no jewelry and no fancy cell phone on display. Some people like 5 star hotels. I simply don't feel comfortable in those places. A clean air conditioned room with hot water suits me fine. My Thai wife doesn't own a dress or even a tube of lipstick and that suits me fine.

I can understand why you don't want to travel much if your wife has no clothes - more fun to stay at home

[Scott]

I'm sure glad I don't have to worry about having that much money or a bag like that. Imagine if you got your purse snatched!

[simcity]

1.1m baht for a bag! Who is it made of?

was a hermes / crocodile

[The Coder]

In the USA they came up with a so called "luxury tax". If you bought expensive cars, yachts, jets, or what have you, then you had to pay a huge amount of extra tax on it. It was a way to tax the ravishly spending rich. Guess what happened? It hurt the poor. Many rich people decided not to buy in protest. Many aspiring people in the middle class no longer could afford to buy and sales went way down. Factories closed, the working class lost jobs. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. It was a total failure and phased out.

I don't see any problem of someone buying a million baht handbag. It makes them happy and at the same time passes a bundle of money along to where it can eventually find its way to greater uses.

[Gary A]

When I was a kid, YES! I remember that far back, the old guys always told me to keep the wife bare foot and pregnant. Fortunately I'm not able to try the pregnant part (thanks Doc) but bare foot doesn't work here. I think the only place to see naked women is in a GO GO. My wife can get completely dressed under a towel and even watching closely I see NOTHING! If she were naked I WOULD stay home even more.

It's simply different strokes for different folks. Everyone has different priorities. Some people like to drive a Mercedes Benz. I actually prefer my pick up truck. Some people enjoy round the world trips. I'm satisfied traveling around Thailand in my pick up truck. Some people like fancy clothes and enjoy being dressed up. My standard uniform is shorts, T shirt and sandals. No watch, no jewelry and no fancy cell phone on display. Some people like 5 star hotels. I simply don't feel comfortable in those places. A clean air conditioned room with hot water suits me fine. My Thai wife doesn't own a dress or even a tube of lipstick and that suits me fine.

I can understand why you don't want to travel much if your wife has no clothes - more fun to stay at home

[Heng]

I think those who are so anxious to allocate other people's 'excess funds' to charity would be just as annoyed if someone at random started 'suggesting' to them what to buy at the supermarket. To each his own. You can donate whatever you wish, ...if you have the means.

[tourleadersi]

I think the point here is not the fact that people should cast off all material wealth and live like monks.

The fact is that you could buy a perfectly good handbag for 1000 Baht that will do the job and look snappy at the same time. No one should feel guilty about having a night out, or having a mobile that works, a watch that keeps time or clothes that meet their requirements.

The whole problem is that we have moved over towards excess. There are a lot of problems in this world that could be solved if we all lived within our means and remembered those less fortunate. Is it wrong to buy a handbag for so much? Yes, IMHO it is. What happiness can be gained by owning such a thing? Could it match the happiness gained by buying a bag for a tenth of the price matched with the knowleadge that you put two kids through school and gave them a future? I think not. Nothing could make me feel better about myself. Everytime I saw that handbag I would remember the good that I had done.

When I see people touting excess wealth, I don't feel envy. More I feel sorry for them that they feel the need to be measured by what they have as opposed to what they are. Sure people get rich, and they often deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labours. Its just a sad reflection on todays world that it means helping yourself with all your money as opposed to helping others.

As for saying that the hadbag company might use that money to help others, well that is most unlikely. All large companies give to charity. Is that because they are morally sound or is it because it is tax deductable and good for PR? Charity like this is based on 'what can I get from doing this?' as opposed to some instinctive goodness. Question is, would you want to be remembered as the rich man 'who gave it all away helping others' or 'who died with a shedload in the back whilst people around him suffered?' Companies first concern is always their shareholders.

So don't feel bad about buying things you need. We all have to survive so that we can help others. But just think before you buy. Try this out: Go out and buy something you don't need, and then give it to someone who does need it. Example. Buy some Pad thai on your way home from work and give it to someone living on the street. Thats only 20 baht we are talking about, imagine what you could do with 1,099,000?

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

-- Gandhi.

[thaibebop]

I am always amazed at how people are so willing to condemn others over such petty issues. Calling someone soulless over a hand bag is just going to far. The Holocaust was soulless, the Rape of Nanking was soulless, this is a handbag people. Get a grip.

If a person has the means it's not anybodies business or concern how they choose to spend it. The only time I would feel the need to comment on such a purchase is if that person has kids that aren't being fed and clothed yet they are buying LV and Gold watches. If the person has six million in the bank and the family's needs and desires are taking care of, it's there business, f off.

I would now question why a person would wish to abuse the consumer in this case. Jealous, what? To be bitter over a handbag speaks of little else.

[tourleadersi]

I am always amazed at how people are so willing to condemn others over such petty issues. Calling someone soulless over a hand bag is just going to far. The Holocaust was soulless, the Rape of Nanking was soulless, this is a handbag people. Get a grip.

If a person has the means it's not anybodies business or concern how they choose to spend it. The only time I would feel the need to comment on such a purchase is if that person has kids that aren't being fed and clothed yet they are buying LV and Gold watches. If the person has six million in the bank and the family's needs and desires are taking care of, it's there business, f off.

I would now question why a person would wish to abuse the consumer in this case. Jealous, what? To be bitter over a handbag speaks of little else.

So let me get this straight. If you had 6 million in the bank and all your families needs were taken care of then the rest of the world can just, quote 'f off'? The holocaust and Nanking were more than soulless, they were evil.

Soulless is where someone is lacking in warmth, sensitivity, or feeling for others. Murdering 6 million people doesn't quite fit into that category. Ignoring the plight of others whilst you are in a position greater than 'secure' is pretty soulless if you ask me.

Maybe some here are jealous, and they need to look again at themselves.

[toptuan]

I have to admit that living in Thailand has forced me to rethink this whole issue.

In three years of living here, I "splurged" once for a skyscraper-top dinner in a big city (about 6,000 baht for two). Then I come back to my Isaan village where one of my very good farmer friends works his tail off for 150 baht a day, and struggles to keep his two high school kids in books and shoes.

The inequity does bother me, and I can't really enjoy my splurges like I used to. I think this must be one of the big motives for philanthropy at the Bill Gates level. Guilt. Bill gates feels better about his 20,000 square-foot mansion and $300 million dollars of waterfront property when he's saving thousands of children from cholera. Similarly, I feel better about my big-city restaurant splurge when I treat my farmer friend and his family to a 500-baht meal at the local fish restaurant. Honestly, I mainly do it because he's my friend, but the assuaging of guilt is a nice by-product. To keep guilt at bay, I also fund the university tuition costs of two students and keep several other friends' phones charged with plenty of minutes for necessary calls. My guilt, their boon. Maybe my motives aren't pure, but I'm better off, and so are a half-dozen other people. From a pragmitist viewpoint, that's not all so bad.

Part of coming to Thailand was to simplify my life. Even with that goal and self-awareness before I left my home country, when I came here I was still struck by the obscenely easy and wasteful lifestyle I led back home (and it wasn't near that, by normal standards in my country). Bottom line: this is another reason why came to Thailand--to shake me out of a complacent western mindset. Admittedly, I've got a lot more shakin' yet to do.