From my post about the $155k dog, I got a lot of comments from people saying they would never pay to clone their dogs. I wouldn’t do it because I don’t think cloning is the right thing. But I certainly don’t think that it’s wrong to pay for it if you can afford it.
A couple of commentor’s said it was wrong for them to spend the money on cloning their dog though they could afford it. I have to ask? Why is it wrong? Is there categories of spending which are “right” and “wrong”? Why is wrong to clone a dog but okay to buy a Bentley? Or why is it okay to buy a luxury home but not a luxury dog?
Is there a scale which measures which purchases are okay for the rich to make and which are not? Why is it that our purchases themselves are judged rather than the cost? To me, I don’t think cloning is a great idea. But spending $155k is not a big deal when they are multi-millionaires many times over. The guy’s dad was a founder of NASCAR! Thus they aren’t even close to hurting for money.
And I see the point in not buying a luxury car if you can’t really afford it, see the sinking ship post. But if you can afford everything, are you morally obligated to give away your money to the less fortunate? Should everyone be like Warren Buffet? But isn’t Warren Buffet even waiting till he dies? For now he is living the life he wants, he has a private jet, which he said is truly luxury. But it wasn’t until he tried it, that he was sold. Now there is no other way to travel.
Why aren’t we harping on Buffet spending $1 million a year on private jetting? Would we criticize him if he bought a dog for $155k? Or is it okay because he’s buffet?
Do we not only categorize people’s purchases but people themselves as being able to “afford” it or not?
9 responses so far ↓
1 Fabulously Broke // Mar 3, 2009 at 9:38 am
For me, it’s definitely because I cannot imagine (or even have) $155k lying around to spend, let alone on a dog.
So it’s definitely relative to my income. If I had billions, why not?
2 Fabulously Broke // Mar 3, 2009 at 9:40 am
Am def. linking to this btw. Great topic for discussion.
3 Debtfree2009 // Mar 3, 2009 at 9:54 am
I think we all have to make decisions based on what we can afford. For me $155K on a dog would be rediculous as there is no way I could ever afford that. But I spend nearly $200 a month on my two dogs. I chose to adopt them and I can afford the $200 each month. There are lots of people who would think I was crazy and could figure out 100 better ways for me to spend the $200.
I have no problem with a person spending what they can afford. More power to them.
4 Barb1954 // Mar 3, 2009 at 10:21 am
Warren Buffet is not living the high life. He lives in the same tiny house in Omaha that he and his wife bought 30-40 years ago in Omaha. Don’t confuse him with the lifestyle that Bill Gates has.
5 frugal zeitgeist // Mar 3, 2009 at 10:51 am
Interesting post. I wouldn’t spend $155K that way, but if they can afford it, it’s not really anyone else’s business. Hopefully they donate a lot to charity as well.
6 LAL // Mar 3, 2009 at 11:51 am
Warren Buffet lives in the same house, drives a simple car. His ONE indulgence is flying a private jet. He said once he got addicted after someone else took him somewhere. He is NOT indulgent and I don’t mix him up with Bill Gates.
BUT he does have one luxury he loves. A private jet and flying in private jets. He called his gulfstream “indefensible”.
http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_27/b3636001.htm
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/08/31/buffett/
There is nothing wrong with it. I am pointing out that we certainly don’t critisize him for it.
7 JoeP // Mar 3, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Most big-ticket items support trades. Take a look at yachts and the number of people employed to build and maintain them. Same goes for jets and luxury homes. I am all in favor of this kind of consumption.
A cloned dog, on the other hand, is not what I would consider to be a wise use of my money.
8 fengshui // Mar 3, 2009 at 6:38 pm
True…. people will spend $1.5 million on a house and not think much of it.
I hope to have $150k someday… and not to spend it on a dog! It seems that with my shrinking pension/ IRA and having to dip into my EF lately, that I’ll be chasing my tail until I’m old…..
Carnival of Net Worth #15 - Mar 30, 2009
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