From: Wim Nusselder (wim.nusselder@antenna.nl)
Date: Sat Sep 24 2005 - 06:46:22 BST
Dear Platt,
The attachment was a powerpoint presentation with the texts 'with money you
can buy a house but not a home', '... a clock but not time', '... a bed but
not sleep', '... a book but not knowledge', '... a doctor but not health',
'... a position but not respect', '... blood but not life' and '... sex but
not love' and ended with the usual admonitions to forward it in order to get
'luck'. Examples of people winning a lottery after forwarding it and losing
a job when not doing so suggested a materialistic interpretation of 'luck'
and .. a warning against NOT forwarding it unchanged, in time and to 20
people. I won't do so, so alas this will be the end of my luck. (-;
Neither the (subjectivity of the) attachment nor (that of) the UN Human
Development reports are essential to the (I hope) truth I pointed out to
you. You yourself also referred to it (subjectively...) when you stated that
results don't automatically follow money. Isn't that true for both public
and private spending?
The essence may be that money can only buy 3rd level value and not 4th level
value or DQ. You can't buy freedom, no matter how rich you are. Neither
individual nor collective freedom, neither with individual nor with
collective wealth and organization.
With friendly greetings,
Wim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Platt Holden" <pholden@sc.rr.com>
To: "Wim Nusselder" <wim.nusselder@antenna.nl>
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: MD what money can buy
Dear Wim,
Sorry to report that for some reason the attachment failed to come
through. So I can't comment on it other that to say I have doubts about
the objectivity of UN reports.
Best regards,
Platt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wim Nusselder" <wim.nusselder@antenna.nl>
To: "Platt Holden" <pholden@sc.rr.com>
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 8:22 AM
Subject: MD what money can buy
Dear Platt,
I'm sending this off-list because of the attachment which wouldn't come
through otherwise.
You wrote 15 Jun 9:26 -0400 in our discussion following the EU-elections:
"No doubt the rich have greater opportunities to get richer. But, I would be
the last person in the world to want to decide for my neighbor that he was
rich enough. As for education, more money doesn't necessarily translate into
better outcomes. The per student expenditure in the Washington, D.C.
educational system is the highest in the nation, yet student test scores are
among the lowest. Moneywise, the chances for school kids in Washington are
better than equal. But results fail to follow the money."
and
"Thanks for the reference to the UN reports. I guess we have to agree to
disagree on the relative importance of per capita income to the quality of
life. To me it's axiomatic that the more you earn the more you are free to
pursue happiness. "Equality" for me is not a high priority because to
achieve it requires loss of individual freedom which I hold the highest
value of all. The solution that I favor to increase the chances of a good
life is to teach kids at an early age to work hard at your studies, finish
college, get married, show up on time for work every day, give it your best
and never give up pursing your dream. Corny? Old fashioned? Sure. But it
works."
The attachment as well as the UN Human Development reports point us to the
fact that money cannot buy the values we really want. (And the attachment
then inconsistenly goes on to play on our fear for missing mainly financial
opportunities and for mainly financial risks if we don't forward it.)
Some of the opportunities open to the rich to get richer are to the
detriment of such opportunities for poorer people. Someone has to tell them
so. If you don't want to leave that to the government...
Money can buy education, but not quality education.
Happiness often fails to follow the money too.
Equal income usually doesn't result in equal happiness or equal Human
Development, sure. Neither does earning more result in more freedom usually.
Some religions even teach that you have to free yourself from (attachment
to) material things...
I teach my kids the same things you mention of course. It's a good basis for
a good life, but not enough and not if you translate 'good life' primarily
in material terms.
With friendly greetings,
Wim
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