is the luxury class basically parasitic in nature?
90463
The class alone is not merely parasitic. If not for the luxury class, who would start businesses? Not to mention that the service industry feeds off of this class, indeed depends on the luxury of others (the luxury of being able to afford restaurants, hotels, etc.) to support them. \n\nWe live too closely bound on this planet in every way to consider any part of our society parasitic. The institutions of welfare and the like are parasitic in nature, but the people on these services are not parasitic by nature either. They are merely taking advantage of a service which should not be offered in the first place.\n\nAnd I work full time, and live under the poverty line. This is not the elite speaking. This is a hard worker who believes in earning every dime. Don't blame the rich for being rich. That's a bellyaching waste of time. Worry about yourself, your work, your life. It'll all work out.\n\nGood Luck!
82529
Uh Yea, it exists. But its a different kind of racism than when we read about it in our textbooks from years before because today races discriminate against their own kind. Its not strictly racism, some of it is economics. Sometimes when people come up and earn alot more money than others, they think they are better than people who struggle day to day. I still feel discriminated against when I go into expensive store and the sales people look at me like... what is she doing in here? She can't afford nothing in here. Or when I get out of my car and someone goes out of their way or makes a huge effort after seeing me to lock their car door. I can't stand that! Just because someone may look like they don't have money, maybe they do and vice versa.
509590
Prestige and the adoration of beautiful women.\n\nWell, maybe just prestige.
60057
Absolutely. But it is not correct nor pleasant.  It is disrespectful to call anyone crazy.  The only thing that divides the rich and the poor is those that wish to talk about how they differ.  Some of the richest people in the world are the unhappiest.
203363
While the luxury car would probably be more immediate fun...the money I could make from a decent investment property would be a better investment.  Plus, the return on my investment would help me get that luxury car eventually.
462110
It's a rich and luxerous community. The richer you become, the more focused you would be on problems which less rich people would consider minor or not so significant(like acne, imperfect teath, blemished skin etc), besides, the culture promoted by the very strong and acive media is focused mainly on appearance, which gives it an unpreceded importance in the american society never before experienced in history. Fat or unsocial kids can get harrased and have real trouble at school and sometimes there are suicide attempts because of that, etc.\nYet this tendency of perectingone's looks is not a result of an asthetic sense or of developing  ahgher senstivity towards beuaty, but is mainly due to accumilating great sums of money, the proof to this is that it goes parallel to a very wide spreed symptoms of obessity. If you ever travel to the staes, you would be amazed by te precentage of fat people there!!\n\nThe same symptoms have been present in almost all society during eras or remarkable economic growth(The french used toeat and vomit so they can enjoy more food , the spanishused to make the beds of the nobility from pure gold, etc)\nIt is perfectly naural to act pampered when you can afford it:)\nThe drawback is , of course, is the possibility to become softer, or to be unable tounderstand how do poorer people think, or what types of life they could endure. and this could be a very serious drawback  sometimes.
31289
Having known people who are rich and some who are not so rich, I don't find the average rich person to be any sadder than the average poor person. Maybe even slightly happier as they don't have to worry every day  how they are going to feed their kids or pay the doctor bills. \n\nI find that the perception that rich people are sad to be largely in the wishful minds of those who covet their wealth.\n\nBy the way, why is this question in the Math section? Are you trolling?
484348
Spell work is a very private thing,  and being that you are not a "proper person" having not been intitated into the mysteries, I am not at liberty to discuss such a thing with you. But I can tell you  I don't ask for money, because I don't NEED to be "super rich. " I think the super-consumer lifestyle is a detriment to environment as well as to the human condition.  Materialism is an obsession that causes you to think only about yourself, what you wear, what you own, what you can buy.  You are so busy obsessing over the next fad or frenzy that you never take the time to look inward, to meditate, to experience true happiness drawn from the spiritual, not from the physical.  Power comes from within, all living beings possess it.  Witchcraft teaches you to direct that power to achieve goals. not everyone's goal is to be rich...You may think that is is hogwash, but I can assure you that it is not.  I haven't the folly to deny my own senses.
604794
The most important thing to note regarding social class is how it affects Pip. At the beginning of the novel, he is poor (lower-middle class) but happy. As he is introduced to the rich Miss Havisham and the lovely Estella (upper class) he becomes unhappy. He longs for nothing more than a change of fortune. When it comes, Pip's character changes drastically. He is not as good of a person as he once was. In the end, however, he redeems himself by helping Magwitch. A theme reltaing to social class would be "Money can't buy happiness."
1143219
not true at all... all the stuff that comps do for us are through the process of creativity of people that decided that that "thing" would be useful for others too... and comps cant make a decision... its just like a fancy car... its just a machine that does what its designed to do...
490486
Often, not always, welathy think their material wealth makes them inherently better people.  Often the opposite is true.  Many times wealthy demonstrate more character flaws than do middle class working individuals.  If your car ever breaks down it won't be a rich person who stops and helps--it will be a middle class or poor person.  I walked out of a shopping mall to find I had a dead battery late one night and I asked a nice BMW owner for a jump (i had cables in my trunk.)  He shook his head and said, "No."\n\nIn a poetic twist of fate that only O. Henry would appreciate, about two weeks later I drove past this guy while he was getting out of his car with a blown out tire.  It was late one evening and I was returning from a high school basketball game that had just ended.  I stopped to help him and I recognized him immediately.  He thanked me for stopping.  Once I saw him and laughed and reminded him of his refusal to help me with my dead battery.  He apologized and said he was in a hurry that day.  I smiled and said, "What do you know.  I'm in a hurry tonight.  Good luck, Pal."\n\nYes, I know I was just like him.  But perhaps for the first time in his life he understood how the shoe felt on HIS foot.  I may have helped him more by leaving him deserted on that lonely stretch of road than I could have ever helped him by changing his spare tire for him.
244975
its irrelevant dont ya think,but its nice to ponder and imagine a civilization like that.i feel that it would never work thats why they call it earning.you work you earn what you have,its just a natural system of things and its rewarding.
744776
... surely social Darwinism would suggest that the poor will elevate themselves through hard work to become the middle classes, while the current rich will either stay where they are (and breed with the expanded population), or become the landed gentry and breed among themselves!
652098
An entry luxury car could be viewed as a Diet Luxury car or maybe Luxury Lite (Think high end Acuras, low end BMWs and the MB Kompressor).  These should top off around $40000.\nA few examples of luxury cars are the BMW 5-series, Jaguar S-Type and a few Mercedes Benzes.  Generally more leather and wood trim, better features.\nThe ultra luxury cars are Maybachs, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, BMW 7s, etc.  It isn't strange for them to have champagne coolers and umbrella holders.  Gigantic engines are also par for the course.  They can cost more than a house.
317058
Rich looking.  But seriously, I would rather be disgustingly rich. Beauty can be nurtured, to be disgustingly rich is harder to attain.
358365
LOL! All that worldly stuff is just for the benefit of our worldly selves. Depending on how shallow somebody is, they'll acquire some of that just to impress others. \n\nNow, having said that, there's nothing wrong with a decent car, if you can afford it. Nothing wrong with a good (extended) education, if you can apply it and make a difference in someone's life. Nothing wrong with acquiring a little cash to cushion the estate, as long as you leave some for your grandkids and some for charity. \n\nI believe we will be judged by what we've done with what we've been given.
989754
No. The number of bathrooms a person has in one's home doesn't have anything to do with anything except it is an INDICATOR of wealth. \n\nIt isn't an odd question. It just tells the people what lifestyle is like and that lifestyles are changing. All the Census Bureau does is keep track of a few key INDICATORS of wealth to demonstrate comparatively where a part of the population is in terms of wealth. \n\nAn example. An Indian Reservation in Arizona. The unemployment rate for that reservation is 18%. The school on that reservation has 4 classrooms. In the wintertime, it is heated by a woodstove. The living conditions on that reservation are way below the poverty level. Homes have one bathroom.\n\nA member of that reservation has a masters degree in nursing. She is a nurse practitioner at a nearby hospital. She also teaches nursing at a nearby college. Her home on that reservation has 2 1/2 baths. It also has a family room, living room, 4 bedrooms and a big back yard. Her husband, a doctor at the nearby hospital makes about 3/5 of what she makes as a nurse practitioner/professor. \n\nCompared to the other people on that reservation, the nurse practitioner and her physician husband are wealthy. They have more than one income. They have more than one bathroom. They have forced air heating and air conditioning. They have upstanding incomes and are upstanding members of the community.\n\nIf you moved that family off the reservation and put them in Las Vegas, NV, which is about 250 miles north of them, they wouldn't look so wealthy. Compared to the rest of Las Vegas, their incomes would only be average.\n\nThe Census Bureau looks at whether or not people own their homes or not. how many bathrooms each home has, how many cars a family has and how many children a family has to learn about the trends of how a group of people acquire wealth. It is just an indicator of social mobility, poverty, wealth and a whole lot of other things. \n\nI don't think a major catastrophe has anything to do with it. I think they are measuring the distribution of wealth by keeping that statistic.