Why Do You Keeping Making Them Rich? Overspending Consumer Indulgence & Debt

   
Economy and trade are of paramount importance and has improved society.  However...
     At many people's own detriment, they voluntarily surrender their monetary income for trivial desires and cheap thrills.  In doing so, they sabotage their own chance to get out of the "rat race", and they collectively make bloated-overpaid individuals famous/wealthy beyond belief.  Often for no reason.  Hence, some of the stupidest people are deca-millionaires.  Hence, some of the most arrogant people are in positions to swindle/harm society.  As if under a magic spell, people hand over their money to them… instead of pooling that money to improve their own community.  Instead of pooling that money for reform or lobbying.  Instead of accumulating/growing that money for their own investments.
     For example, it's amazing how many folks from poor neighborhoods spend thousands of dollars on concert tickets/merchandise to financially support a "music artist" (who can't really sing in public without digitalization back-up).  Meanwhile, that "artist" creates "public displays" and music videos that emphasize excessive wastes of money.  Rarely, does the "artist" give back to the community.  Same goes for investment brokers, "professional" athletes (not often Olympic ones), big business "food chains" (that peddle inferior health-hazardous food products), gambling organizations, pharmaceuticals, tobacco (which kills you), Hollywood pop stars, icon-status fashion houses (that still make their merchandise in underpaid workhouses), and car manufacturers (that still make overpriced undervalued gas-guzzling vehicles).  It's like watching people tie their own financial nooses around their necks.  And while they reach to credit cards and bank loans for "help", it's like watching them chain themselves up for "interest rate" indenture.

When you look at how many people live…

And how they spend their lives…

Even the inventor of the modern mall, Victor Gruen, said in 1978 that he disavowed shopping mall developments as having "bastardized" his ideas, for greed.  But people still go.

     Consumers just wander around, unsure of who's "pulling their strings", fatigued, stressed out, increasing their debt, voluntarily wasting their time on long lines, wasting money on finance charges, surcharges and interest rates.  Their purchases still leave them empty… just like the "empty calories" of the comfort food they eat.  Pills and caffeine fail to solve their problems.  Yet they continue.

And who reaps the benefits of that behavior… (if you didn't FOLLOW them, you wouldn't make them famous--at your expense)… and thusly who lives the life that you dream of…

[Above, the unapproachable, power-weilding Anna Wintour--who dictates what generations of people should wear/look like--yet hasn't changed her own "look" for 30 years!  (I think she's in a race with Karl Lagerfeld, Donal Trump and Woody Alan for NOT updating her appearance!  So much for a "creative type").  If people didn't follow like sheep, then they wouldn't waste money repeatedly refilling their closets.]

Consumers and viewers make insignificant individuals (leaches) famously wealthy.

People look at attractive individuals and spend their money towards them.  Without anything in return.

(Above, the Playboy empire was made by men literally "shooting away" their money.  Below, movie characters like Gordon Gekko illustrate how sightless investing allows your money to be taken away).

(Sadly, it can be argued by experts that amounts spent on higher education and certain donations could instead actually create independent wealth for their owners).

     Annually, millions of dollars are taken through betting, lotteries and gambling.  (But even gambling houses are ripped off by political lobbyists like Jack Abramoff).

     Below, performance ticket sales, royalties, music sale revenue, and merchandise profits for (overpriced) things like fragrances, sunglasses, handbags and footwear give consumers poor-quality, and give their creators/endorsers an extravagant lifestyle.  No retail expert will argue that neither Chanel No. 5 nor Jennifer Lopez's clothing line nor Martha Stewart's home-goods is worth the price tag.  Who benefits?

     And the funny thing is that consumers see how those profiting individuals are living… as they themselves drop deeper into debt and fall further from achieving their own dreams.  But it doesn't seem to bother them.  In fact, they cheer for those individuals.  Yet, they'd still agree that a wasteful/uncaring monarch should be beheaded.

     Oprah might accomplish many great things, but it does't mean that she's an expert on everything.  Yet, if she recommends a product, consumers behave as sheep and rush out to buy it.  Many friends of mine in retail have witnessed the phenomenon, and they indicated that often the consumer wasn't truly happy with the products.  But they don't care.  To her credit, Oprah endured the legal costs of trying to inform the public about America's beef industry… to no avail, as the public didn't "pick up the cause".

And it continues, like repeating history...

     Don't look to ridiculous endorsements (to buy something you don't need) to be a better person.  You won't be the "perfect spouse" because you use a certain insurance agency.  You won't be the "perfect athlete" because you use a brand of sneaker.  You won't be the "perfect parent" because you serve a certain brand of juice.  You won't resemble a celebrity because you wear a certain brand of clothing.  No educated person would say that.  

     It's always amazing to see how middle-class earners give their money to make people (who work less than them) so much richer than them.  A guy with an annual income of $50k will spend $850 for a mere ticket to an NBA All-Star game.  A football game ticket might cost $177.  In January, a ticket for the title game at AT&T Stadium in Dallas cost $1,681, and the cheapest seats were $540.  The same goes for certain overpriced coffeeshops, restaurant wine, cars, home gadgets, leather goods, luxury watches, luxury pens, restaurant steak, stereos, and hotels… even the $4 cupcake.

     Folks say that Snookie probably couldn't hold most jobs, but she's famous (and rich) because people gave her so much attention.  Individuals like her don't contribute to society (except to show what not to do).

     None of them want you to see what's "behind the curtain".  (Also like the plot of "Music Man").  This nation's recent federal "bailout" money to repeatedly failing industries should be an indicator that Darwin's theory of Survival of the Fittest doesn't work in a fraudulently-rigged system.

     Society is no longer in a Medieval milieu where you sightlessly give money to the ruling classes of bishops and magistrates.  You must make your own educated decisions.  (Then again, most college graduates begin life already indebted--and flooded with credit card applications and car loan offers).

     Or maybe people just learn their lessons well enough.  Even actor Nicholas Cage, who starred in the 1994 movie "It Could Happen to You" (about wasteful over-spending) is still notorious for his debts, near-bankruptcy, and over-spending.

Hence, lets remind again...

     It's very easy and clear to see what should be done to break the vicious cycle.  Even if they don't teach financial wisdom in schools, it's elementary common sense.

Society needs some improvement.  Then, you won't often hear the reply, "There isn't enough money".