Asked and Answered: Cerebrus

[TTinCO]

Don't get me stated blade-I don't want to have to dig out my books & papers from a painful two years in graduate institutional economics classes.

If you want pain, try to track down the "social fabric matrix" by Greg Hayden of the Univ. of Neb.

....my head is already starting to pound

[cerberus]

Lionking,

I understood your point of view perfectly clear.

You give good examples of how Bill Gates had a positive effect on the world.

Mother Teresa never had much money, or any material possessions for that matter, but she did have tremendous compassion. She made sacrifices that many people in this world would never dream of making.

What Mother Teresa did was touch the lives of the countless people she helped, and in doing so taught the world about sacrifice and compassion. It's just that the results of her work are not as tangible as the contributions of Bill Gates. But I believe that the her kindness has touched millions upon millions of lives all over the world, and even though she is gone, her legacy will live forever. Her contributions are far more reaching than those of Bill Gates.

I never said that wealth causes you to become morally corrupt. I said that it could lead to moral corruption. Is the USA the only capitalist country in the world? No. So why would you think I was taking another shot at the USA?

You only see what you want to see. If you dislike me, that's fine, but don't twist my words around.

[Lionking]

Let me use a ridiculously simple example to show you why I don't think I was "twisting your words around" as you put it.

If I tell you Jack and Jill were going up the hill to fetch a pale of water, and you stop me and tell me that, in general, young girls should not go up hills alone with boys, I can only assume you meant that Jill shouldn't go up the hill with Jack.

Likewise, if I say the United States has acquired great wealth and opportunities for its citizens through sound economic policy, and you counter by saying that wealth can make a country morally bankrupt, then I can only assume you meant the United States, since that's who I was talking about.

If that is twisting your words around, especially considering the tone you came onto this board with in the first place, then please accept my heartfelt apologies. I can tell you're a bit of a get-the-last-word kind of guy, so I'll let ya say your peace and then I suggest we just agree to disagree on this one...

By the way Jeff, how is it that I knew ahead of time that the first person to come on here in support of sound economics would be a fellow Nascar bettor??? I'm sure Markdel will love this one, but maybe, just maybe, the Nascar community really IS that much smarter than the normal bettor, and that's the reason for the books being so far in the red on it...

[MarkDel]

Lionking,

LOL...maybe...but from what I have seen, you and Jeff ARE intelligent, well rounded guys...even if Nascar is fixed...