Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by bluebarbet 40 days ago
So $76,100 for a suit and a calculator. Imagine how many lives could be changed if that cash were used to, say, install toilets in rural India.
3 comments

Imagine donating all your money to charity too, do you do that? The thing about comparing spending is that there is always more one can spend, and there is always more one can give away.
Sure. And there is always a better way to spend seventy-six thousand dollars. I suggested what I consider to be a better way. If you think carefully about it, you might even agree.
The point is not everyone agrees with you, that's why one shouldn't try to dictate what others do with their money.
To be clear, I am claiming that it is objectively better to spend a vast amount of money on charity rather than on a suit. I am not "dictating" anything, I am stating an opinion.
Many people disagree with that opinion of yours stating that it's an objective fact.
Many people disagree with many opinions. This contribution added nothing.
I was also thinking this, but I think shaming people for spending money the way they want is counterproductive. Same as with veganism, claiming the moral high ground (even implicitly) can be very galling, even to people who would otherwise agree. I think it's cool if people want to spend their money to help others. If they want to spend it on a nice suit instead, it's not my cup of tea but there are much more harmful ways to spend it.
The "shame" is all interpretation.
So $76,100 for a suit and a calculator. Imagine how many lives could be changed if that cash were used to, say, install toilets in rural India.

Elon Musk could, quite literally, feed the world with his net worth. But he chooses not to. I'm not sure what your point is. I don't what it's like to own a $75,000 suit, but I do know the tailor.

If you want to walk your talk, sell the computer you're using right now and give the money to the poor. Then surf HN from the public library.

"Put up, or shut up" as they say.

What a lot of assumptions this makes about my personal life and choices, which I need hardly point out you know nothing about.