Just watched a Frontline program on hedge-fund insider trading... and the immense corruption in that field...

Millions, 100's of millions, and billions, are lost and gained...
...and the line between legal and illegal is wide, and blurry...

And, the movers and shakers live lives we can't imagine...

Except... we can...
About 6 months or a year ago,... I stopped to help a fellow rider on a new Aprillia... He was broke down on the side of the road, on his $25k, 180mph, butt jewelry... and I on my $1500, 16yr old, Savage...
He, had been in to the dealer, on his third repair, when they apparently pinched a wire, reattaching the seat, and shorted out some essential circuit...  We did get it fixed, and he rode on... (but who had a better day?)...

Anyway,.. I was reminded of that irony, by the Frontline program...
The coincidental irony came near the conclusion of the show,.. when the corrupt traders were apprehended at a Subway sandwich shop...

They make their dirty millions... and drive their 200k cars, to the Subway for lunch...
...
The same Subway I get my 6" Cold cut combo from...
...

... 35,000sqft house... but, you can only occupy one chair or bed at a time....
... 200k car,... but it can only ride the same roads as the rest of us...
... and, Subway for lunch... (it also struck me when OJ described going to Jack-in-the-Box in his Bentley)...

What I'm saying is,... if I close my eyes... I will sleep the same in a 8 x 10 closet, as a 35,000sqft mansion...
...my bike feels the same as a Broughs Superior...
...my car seat is as comfy as a Bentley...
...and toilet paper is toilet paper...
Beyond being cold, sick, or hungry... (metaphorically speaking),...
More is just more... a thousand dollar suit, or jeans and a t-shirt... you're still the same man...

It just made my day, that they were busted in a Subway sandwich shop...
...

   

I love the 500 sq ft cottage I live in with 1 closet and you cant get to the toliet till you close the door

Serowbot wrote on 01/07/14 at 22:33:31:


The government blew over 1 trillion a year for the last 5 years, the poor are locked in ghetto concentration camps, 85 Billion per month in QE that sits in the vaults of O supporters, Wall Street and Big Pharma are O's biggest donors and benefactors of economic rents, Americans took a 10 billion hit on O's bailout out of Auto Unions, we all paid for Michelle O's extended vacation in Hawaii, the O adminstration is the most corrupt in history.

Throw in the murders of Border agents and diplomats and I think I will award hedge fund managers the high ground in every case. Did Rangle and Geithner and all the others pay those back taxes and penatlies yet? Not holding my breath.

I am not, and will never be wealthy.  But how much income is wealthy?  I don't know.
What I do know is that in my business, I do represent a few people who I consider to be wealthy, by whatever standard I use to define wealth.  One of them dropped dead at age 64 last week, just a few hours after spending 2 1/2 hours on the phone with me, in an absolute rage at his brother, who he thought was cheating him out of millions.

One other guy who is wealthy by most anyone's standards is the nicest guy in the world - humble, polite, considerate of others' time - you just couldn't image a nicer guy to be around or to deal with.  And, honest as the day is long.  He earned his money in manufacturing, after inventing a couple of processes to manufacture a very mundane product at considerable less cost than his competition.

Used wisely, wealth = freedom.  Freedom from real worry - you won't starve or be homeless, you can get the best medical care anywhere, you can have free time to travel and just enjoy life.
Used unwisely like my client who dropped dead last week, wealth can literally kill you.

Wealth is the difference between raw materials & a product made from them. Clay is nothing, ceramics made from clay are valuable.,harvesting clay, adding labor, selling the product equals an increase in wealth.