The Five Senses and Money

[cacian]

I was just discussing money with a friend of mine. She is into expensive things , she is not herself wealthy, on a teacher salary,and most of the things she likes are pretty tatty or unattractive. It is not so much about the style but more about the name.
There are many stuff out there with big names but really distateful, rather unattractive shiny blingy, that I cannot see what the attraction is apart from the fact that it says Gucchi Rabanne or Channel on them.

So my thought is this:
Since money buys everything, apart happiness, can it actually by taste?
I feel money eventually alter someone senses to seeking style for a name instead and everything is rather distasteful because money does know the difference between beauty and non.

[Alexander III]

Money certainly doesn't buy taste, one need merely go to Dubai or Moscow to confirm it.

But it does buy some measure of happiness. I have my miserable and lonely days like everyone else, but were it not for money I am sure I would have shot myself buy now. But then again most people do not know the things money actually can do, so they cannot mourn what they never had.

[Emil Miller]

This question was answered most succinctly by Somerset Maugham who said:
"Money is like a sixth sense without which one can never fully appreciate the other five."

[Scheherazade]

but were it not for money I am sure I would have shot myself buy now.What an ironic slip.
But then again most people do not know the things money actually can do, so they cannot mourn what they never had. Yet once again it is proved that ignorance is bliss!

[Volya]

Why on earth would you shoot yourself just because you had less money...

[Alexander III]

Why on earth would you shoot yourself just because you had less money...

I find life already to be somewhat dull, If I were poor too and had no access to the multitude of pleasures which sustain me, what would be the point of continuing leading a life which not only did I find dull but also one where I had to live like a beast. There is a distinct pleasure in squandering an inheritance, which to my estimation is unrivaled as the supreme pleasure a man can posses.

[Clopin]

I was just discussing money with a friend of mine. She is into expensive things , she is not herself wealthy, on a teacher salary,and most of the things she likes are pretty tatty or unattractive. It is not so much about the style but more about the name.
There are many stuff out there with big names but made with distateful style rather unattractive shiny blings that I cannot see the attraction apart from the fact that it says Gucchi Rabanne or Channel on them.

So my thought are this:
Since money buys everything, apart happiness, can it actually by taste?


Surely from the example posted above you should have to come to the conclusion that money can not buy taste.

{edit}

[Buh4Bee]

I'm just stopping by to share an opinion.

I am a teacher and live with a teacher's salary as my household income is a modest one. My point is that we don't have much money, but I try to be tasteful despite lack of funds to buy quality products. I try to be a smart shopper. It can look nice, even if it cost half the price of the real thing. So I don't think you have to have money to have taste.

On the other hand, I have known several wealthy women that lacked any taste and were often dressed like women from the Sopranos. Their houses were just as gaudy as their hand bags. Money does not buy taste. Being shown what is tasteful teaches taste. Some people also just have a really good eye for such things.

[Desolation]

I used to mourn the fact that I never had any money, but now that I have a decent sum in the bank (which isn't exactly mine, because I have to pay it all back eventually), I find life so much more stressful.

Before, it was all so simple. I'd walk around, go into stores, and think "Do I want this? Well, I can't afford it, so it doesn't matter." Now, it's more like, "I have $20, I can afford this...But, wait, what if I need that money later for something else? How many $20's can I part with before I can't afford rent? But, it's only $20, it's not that big of a deal. Do I really need this, though? Yes! No! God damn it."

I'm a man of pretty meager desires to begin with...I really need very little. I'd rather have a cheap jacket from Goodwill than a nice name-brand jacket from anywhere else. Likewise, I don't mind drinking light beer or cheap scotch. But, money still stresses the living **** out of me.

[Shevek]

^ I can relate to that. Having money is fun for about a few days. Then I start regretting the purchases, especially when it's something as silly as overpriced drinks at a club. I'm usually broke so overspending is not really an issue, but I find being broke is, like you say, easier. Then again, I am only supporting myself...

And so long as I don't look slovenly and gross, I don't care much about whether I accord with somebody else's sense of taste. I'm certainly not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to do so.

[Paulclem]

I find life already to be somewhat dull, If I were poor too and had no access to the multitude of pleasures which sustain me, what would be the point of continuing leading a life which not only did I find dull but also one where I had to live like a beast. There is a distinct pleasure in squandering an inheritance, which to my estimation is unrivaled as the supreme pleasure a man can posses.

I hope you're saving all these in a scrapbook - embossed of course - for the future. They'll keep you chortling for years.

[Buh4Bee]

:nono:

[JuniperWoolf]

Money is stressing me out right now actually, I've been thinking about it all day. I've been working like a squirrel for the last year and have managed to save up quite a lot, but as a result I've had very little free time. So, I told myself that once I moved I'd "not work" for the first month (work on school, but otherwise just hang out and have fun). Even though I could probably survive all year without working, not working is driving me nuts, it feels like I'm hemorrhaging money and the wound isn't clotting.

Anywho, money doesn't buy taste and I know this because my friend's wealthy Lebanese father owns a life-sized ceramic giraffe.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Money certainly doesn't buy taste, one need merely go to Dubai or Moscow to confirm it.

But it does buy some measure of happiness. I have my miserable and lonely days like everyone else, but were it not for money I am sure I would have shot myself buy now. But then again most people do not know the things money actually can do, so they cannot mourn what they never had.

You'd shoot yourself if not for your money? Are you really that weak?

[Clopin]

Fame opens a lot of doors too, since Alex isn't famous he should probably just shoot himself xD.

[cacian]

Money is fame and fame is shooting one self in the foot because one must keep up that fame by spending money and a lot of it.
But money does eventually run out like everthing else in life.... unless money does grows on trees which in this case every one should have one the tree that is.

[Clopin]

Money is fame

Not really.

[cacian]

Not really.

I see what you mean at the same time I feel the fame can be money related more often then none.
There is a seedy side to fame too of course so in this sense fame is not always money but a mean to get to it.

[Gareth Heard]

Would it be wrong of me to suggest that Alexander III and his inheritance are works of fiction?

This is the internet after all.

[Clopin]

Does it matter though? His wealth doesn't act as a qualifier in a debate, it's no "I have a P.H.D in X field so I know more than you". I mean he has no reason to lie either, it's not as though making posts like those are winning him tons of friends and admirers.

[Alexander III]

Would it be wrong of me to suggest that Alexander III and his inheritance are works of fiction?

This is the internet after all.

The internet has bestowed on me the same right to say as I please as to you to believe as you please.

[RicMisc]

I think money is very important and it can make life a lot easier. One thing is certain though, money can't buy you taste. There are people who can make themselves look good and 'classy' without spending a lot of money but unfortunately there are more wealthy people who spend a lot of money and end up looking trashy and classless.

[cacian]

I think money is very important and it can make life a lot easier. One thing is certain though, money can't buy you taste. There are people who can make themselves look good and 'classy' without spending a lot of money but unfortunately there are more wealthy people who spend a lot of money and end up looking trashy and classless.

Hi RicMisc nice to see you back.
Money does not make sense when it cannot buy taste.
It buys everything else.
I guess it is not so much money but more the person. I could that it is undeserving to some because it is such a waste but that would be unfair of me. But sometimes just sometimes it is very tempting to say it.
I guess money is blind too.
I wonder if money would ever become an antique where people will deal an wheel in it?
After one has to make a cease to this ridiculous concept that is money because it is at the heart of the most troubles in the world.
I guess I would like tothink that in a hundred years time it will be nothing but a note behind a frame people will look and think.
Such is the price os sillyness if one cannot look after something they have created such as money one day has to take the piss at its own maker.
It has too or it would not be called money. It would propably make a snappy remark, if it could talk and it would propably say:
'you owned me once now back off you don't'. Just my sarky take on it.

[TurquoiseSunset]

Money oils the machine... I don't feel the need to be rich, but some days I think it would be nice to go into a supermarket without having to think about my budget.

[Delta40]

My mother always said if you've never had it you can't miss it. A poor man's comfort I know but it sure does have its moments when you do get it.

There is nothing like appreciating something which you have worked for and honestly earned.

I'm confident such moments will always hold more value for the working class than those wallowing in their own entitlement

[RicMisc]

Hi RicMisc nice to see you back.
Money does not make sense when it cannot buy taste.
It buys everything else.
I guess it is not so much money but more the person. I could that it is undeserving to some because it is such a waste but that would be unfair of me. But sometimes just sometimes it is very tempting to say it.
I guess money is blind too.


Glad to be back cacian.
Why would money not make sense when it cannot buy taste?
And you're right it buys everything else, but only material things. Taste however is not a material thing, it's something that you have or you don't have. It can be taught up to the extent that you can sort of keep up with what's fashionable but to be on top of your game or be fashion-forward you have to 'born' with a certain sense, that's hard (impossible) to learn.

And just because someone does not have taste does not mean they are undeserving of their wealth. It would be nice if everyone had taste but that's not the case so there will be rich people with taste and without taste just as there are poor people of both sorts. That's what a lot of people don't seem to get, you don't have to spend thousands of euros/dollars/whatever on your wardrobe. It helps if you can spend it, but it's definitely not a necessity. You can have a nice wardrobe without spending that much money.

[Sancho]

We's po' but we's happy.

And we got wicked badass taste in all kinda cultural type stuff.

[cacian]

We's po' but we's happy.

And we got wicked badass taste in all kinda cultural type stuff.

wicked is good bad not so much.
does that mean money is bad?

[Sancho]

Bah. I was just joking around. And I’m not a poor man anyway. It’d’ve been more accurate to say, “I was happiest when I was po’est.” But then that’s not true either. I was happy when I was poor, and I’m happy now. It’s my nature. Although one kinda cool thing about being poor is that it gives you a goal, a purpose, something to shoot for. Once you’re rich, now what? You’ve got to think of something else. So that transition from poor to rich can be ruinous for some people: Okay, so, I’ve got my millions. Now what? Uhh, I cain’t think of nothing - might as well hit the crack pipe. It’s not as ludicrous as it sounds. Going from riches to rags can be tough too, but I honestly think, with most people, their nature trumps their wallet. A happy poor man is going to be a happy rich man; a nervous rich man will be a nervous poor man; a selfish poor man will become a selfish rich man; and a rich prick is still going to be a prick when he’s a bum.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is whether or not the above theory holds for tragic life events as well. If an outgoing, active, optimistic person gets hit by a car and winds up in a wheelchair, does that person descend into pessimism and depression, or does he snap back after a period of adjustment? By and large, I’ll bet he snaps back. But I don’t know. I’m going to have to think about it some more.