Small Things Add Up
Written by: Tom Sawyer
OK. We all know that our economy is in the dumps and we need to reverse this thing somehow. I have an idea: why don’t we band together and do away with small, meaningless, things that cost money?
Sometimes I notice some things that are meaningless, but I know somebody had to spend some money on it. Maybe Big Brother, I mean the government, should step in and give those businesses/individuals some kind of “you just spent some money on something that doesn’t matter tax.”
Look at this picture:
See that little star-looking thing on the top/left of Kevin Garnett’s uniform (he is the player in the green jersey)? That is where the NBA logo normally goes and on Christmas they had a snowflake on their uniforms and the logo was on the snowflake. Now, I know they had to spend money to get the snowflake logo and I would bet some money they didn’t put them on used uniforms. These jerseys were produced for 8 teams – on a side note, Cleveland and Washington didn’t wear the special jerseys because the Cavaliers wore uniforms that matched LeBron James’ new shoes…really.
What if the money used for this was put in a fund to help people who are struggling in today’s economy? Would those of us who watch basketball feel like something was missing from the Christmas games? I think not.
What other ways could money be saved by avoiding meaningless things?
December 27th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Tom,
I find it rather disheartening that people find any way imaginable to punish success. It makes no difference if we’re discussing a $2.00 patch or $1.50 plastic bottle of soda at a check out lane, which I buy on a regular basis. Who are you to say that patch has no meaning? Obviously someone thought it up and it more than likely has meaning to someone. What you’re basically saying is the government should be in charge of deciding what has meaning and what doesn’t and then you’re going one step further and implying the government should manage a large scale charity. The government is not there to manage charity.
Charity is a beautiful, wonderful thing and will remain that way as long as the charity is not forced. Robin Hood was a great movie but let me tell you if he came to my house trying to steal my hard earned money I’d be inclined to exercise my second amendment right. Forcing charity is not beautiful it is ugly and will create serious resentment. My wife and I are very passionate about animals and from the beginning of starting our website we both agreed that pending the success of our website we would regularly donate to organizations that helped animals. We haven’t been able to donate much as of yet but the bags of dog food, small sums of money, etc… that we have donated made us feel great.
Let’s also remember that there is surely a company that makes those patches for the celtics and if you start labeling their patches as meaningless then they may go out of business. Too many people blame the rich for their lack of success and I think it’s about time people start owning up to the mistakes they’ve made. One of the reasons we choose to donate to animal related organizations is because animals don’t have the ability to choose their circumstances, they are at the whim of their owners. People on the other hand get to make choices, some bad, some good. Everyone needs to take ownership of their poor choices as well as their good ones.
Ryan Kazinecs last blog post..12 iPhone Apps That Would Dominate (pt. 2)
December 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Ryan, thank you for your comment. After reading what you have to say I agree with you and have (at least) altered my opinion. You bring up some valid points.
What is your opinion on the price of sporting events, concerts, etc.? Don’t you think the average Joe is paying for these high salaries athletes receive?
December 27th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Tom,
No Problem, thank you for once again writing a thought provoking post. Sporting events, concerts, etc… are very high priced and yes the average joe is paying the salaries with there patronage. However, I once again go back to choice. For something that is so expensive to attend there are sure a lot of average people choosing to spend their money to do so. You earn it, you spend it, however you’d like. That’s my opinion. Some people think it’s silly to spend $50 to watch a college football game while others would spend more than that. It’s not about the meaning of an item its about the choice each person gets to make on how to spend their money. Like all other choices in life some are good and some are bad but again that will vary on who you ask.
Ryan Kazinecs last blog post..12 iPhone Apps That Would Dominate (pt. 2)
December 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I agree with you both. There are some things that, if you lined up 100 people, probably all 100 would say is meaningless but the bottom line is, we prioritize what we deem important to our lives, enjoyment, and to our entertainment. I might not pay $50.00 to watch a sporting event, to me that might be too much money; however, I would pay two or three times that amount for a pair of shoes! That same person that paid $50.00 for a sporting event might not pay that same $50.00 for a pair of shoes! It just depends on what matters to each of us in our lives. The snowflake patch means nothing to me one way or the other, but somebody deemed it necessary and vital for that team and those uniforms.