And it would be great if we did that. I'm all for it, as it's essentially the only way we'll have actual rule of law. Unfortunately, the people are happy voting for anyone who promises to fix things, regardless of the constitutionality of their plan.
As a result, the Constitution is next-to-meaningless, useful only when the Supreme Court occasionally has the urge to check something against it -- and often not even then.
I don't understand how so many otherwise-darwin-minded slashdotters seem to miss the point of this behavior. It makes perfect sense that to ensure the success of your bloodline, you'll want to do more than just get a nice country estate and a few toys to play with.
You'll want to found a dynasty. You'll want to make sure that your offspring for generations to come are financially secure. You might want your family to become one of the public members of the new nobility, like the Rockefellers or the Warburgs, or much more private members, like the Rothschilds. Warren Buffet continues to get rich, and he's now on a first-name basis with Lord Rothschild.
Even if you're not reproduction-minded, most people want to leave a legacy in the world, and yes, getting fantastically rich is a great way to do that. Not necessarily by giving vast amounts to charity like Carnegie, but perhaps also by exerting your massive influence to make major social changes, as did the major backers of our current school system. They had some very interesting things to say about the role of the average citizen in the society they were trying to build.
Anyway, what it comes down to is that money is a tool to work one's will in the world, and if you have a vast amount of it and especially if you can find like-minded others that do as well, tremendous things can be accomplished, and often very discreetly if that's your will.
Add to that the fact that the ultra-rich get the first access to the most promising new medical treatments and we see that acquiring vast sums of wealth can also keep one alive longer and move one closer to potential immortality, should we ever figure that out.
...Or perhaps they're just mindlessly following the dogma of "He who dies with the most toys wins."
Slashdot Mirror
And it would be great if we did that. I'm all for it, as it's essentially the only way we'll have actual rule of law. Unfortunately, the people are happy voting for anyone who promises to fix things, regardless of the constitutionality of their plan.
As a result, the Constitution is next-to-meaningless, useful only when the Supreme Court occasionally has the urge to check something against it -- and often not even then.
I don't understand how so many otherwise-darwin-minded slashdotters seem to miss the point of this behavior. It makes perfect sense that to ensure the success of your bloodline, you'll want to do more than just get a nice country estate and a few toys to play with.
...Or perhaps they're just mindlessly following the dogma of "He who dies with the most toys wins."
You'll want to found a dynasty. You'll want to make sure that your offspring for generations to come are financially secure. You might want your family to become one of the public members of the new nobility, like the Rockefellers or the Warburgs, or much more private members, like the Rothschilds. Warren Buffet continues to get rich, and he's now on a first-name basis with Lord Rothschild.
Even if you're not reproduction-minded, most people want to leave a legacy in the world, and yes, getting fantastically rich is a great way to do that. Not necessarily by giving vast amounts to charity like Carnegie, but perhaps also by exerting your massive influence to make major social changes, as did the major backers of our current school system. They had some very interesting things to say about the role of the average citizen in the society they were trying to build.
Anyway, what it comes down to is that money is a tool to work one's will in the world, and if you have a vast amount of it and especially if you can find like-minded others that do as well, tremendous things can be accomplished, and often very discreetly if that's your will.
Add to that the fact that the ultra-rich get the first access to the most promising new medical treatments and we see that acquiring vast sums of wealth can also keep one alive longer and move one closer to potential immortality, should we ever figure that out.