The Greed Of Celebrities
Evelyn De Morgan’s 1909 painting The Worship of Mammon could be considered a portrait of a great number of today’s celebrities.
Excessive amounts of money, large vehicle collections, dresses that could go for a mortgage down payment, wrist watches that could feed an entire third-world country (well almost) and jewelry that cost as much as a 401K plan.
Celebrity greed has become accepted by our society to the extent that it is now the status quo for a couple to own seven cars, or a mansion with 19 rooms, even if they have no children. It has actually gone so far that if a certain famous person does not associate themselves with this type of lifestyle, they are considered a cheapskate or their career has tanked.
Is it wrong to enjoy life? Is it wrong to be successful at your career and generate exorbitant amounts of money? Is it wrong to buy the best “stuff” for yourself and your loved ones? This article will not even try to make such a statement. Most people would agree that good things in life are a blessing, especially if you work hard for them. But there are always extremes.
In 2006, the attention of all attendees of a wedding was not the bride or groom, not even the band, but the bride’s dress! The dress cost 8.5 million dollars. How about a car that costs 1.25 million dollars? Could somebody justify driving that Bugatti? Or how about a Blancpain’s Apotheosis Temporis wrist watch that was purchased for $489,000? Would you ask the owner for the time? Would they charge you for it? The list can go on and on.
Well-off celebrities, purchasing items they don’t really need, in a world where millions are going to bed hungry or naked. Can you see anything wrong with that picture? This pursuit after unlimited wealth, the worship of “stuff”, is unfortunately the picture we see when we look at many of today’s celebrities. It reflects an inner thirst for never enough, for always more and our desire to live vicariously through their obsessions.
Tags: buying, celebrities, excess, Greed, greedy, greedy people, GreedyPeople - Website, money
21. September 2008 at 19:30
No joke. I once worked for a celebrity who would allow their housekeepers to make chicken soup with an entire chicken, but then had to bag up the chicken for the employers’ family leaving the housekeepers with the broth & bones. I used to call it carcass soup & it was pathetic.
20. August 2009 at 13:15
First of all, no, it doesn’t work like that. Second of all, even if it did, it would likely cost you money, not save you money. 1) Until a few years ago, you used to be able to deduct the fair market value of a donated car. Then Congress changed the rules to eliminate a lot of the fraud that was taking place. Now, unless the charity you donate the car to intends to keep the car and use it for its charitable purpose (in which case you can still deduct the FMV), you can only deduct the amount the charity actually sells the car for (they have to provide you with a statement telling you this amount after they sell it). So, in the latter case, they obviously aren’t going to sell the car that you bought for $500 for $1000 — unless you got some amazing deal when you bought it. Since they will probably sell it at a wholesale auction, you’ll be lucky if they get $300 for it, which is all you could deduct. On the other hand, even if the charity intends to keep and use your donated car, you can only deduct the FMV. What is the FMV? It is the price a buyer would be willing to pay for the car on the open market. If you just bought the car for $500, that is a pretty good indication that the FMV is $500. And that would be your donation.
10. October 2009 at 13:50
Do you have a twitter page too?
10. October 2009 at 15:22
Yes, we do. http://twitter.com/chickc
16. April 2010 at 18:51
My friend told me about your blog, so I thought I’d come have a read. Very interesting insights, will be back for more!
29. April 2010 at 05:24
I will say it. Yes it is wrong. It is terribly, terribly wrong that I have debt because I cannot bear to put my sister into jail for identity theft, that my grandfather’s heart broke mining coal to build this country and I cannot afford college and any one of these celebrities could pay off many people’s debts and still live like sloppy greedy pigs and they don’t even think about it. It is so wrong. The last will be first and the first shall be last. Every culture knows those who go overboard now will go underboard later. IT IS WRONG, WRONG, CRIMINALLY WRONG and we had better get the ba11z to say it.