As IF Times

link http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/205126/20110828/global-warming-climate-change-fears-concern-decline-developed-nations-rise-developing-nations-poll-s.htm

This is what happens when you spend too much time watching the adventures of Snookie and The Situation; you lose track of the  things that are really important to other citizens of the world.  According to this article, the consciousness of global warming remains high on the minds of people in less developed countries despite a slight decline over the past few years.  Apparently in places like Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, citizens collectively fret about their carbon footprints on their daily commutes to their workplaces.  It remains the hot topic of cocktail conversations and that awareness is woven into every aspect of daily life.

Just the other day, while sitting in a bar, my friend pointed to an attractive gal across the room and mused, ” I wonder what her views are on sustainability of our fragile ecosystem”.  No doubt this scenario plays out hundreds of thousands of times every day in the world as people push aside their more pedestrian worries of mortgages, the quest for perfect abs and the best chai latte.  To be sure, this only happens in the enlightened enclaves of the world, or those that get CNN.  In other parts of the far flung planet, there are countless millions still living in ignorance of the impending catastrophe that’s looming just over the horizon.  They are still blissfully unaware of this and continue to pursue nonsensical things such as looking for food and staying alive.

This is perhaps a bit unfair, since many have been practising ‘earth friendly’ lifestyles long before Al Gore brought earth awareness to our collective consciousness.  In the Amazonian rain-forest for example, the residents there have eschewed modern frivolities such as True Religion Jeans or Columbia goretex sportswear, instead relying on the tried and true, environmentally friendly, loincloth.  Rather than waste money on things such as guns and bullets, their hunting and warfare is conducted using the eco-friendly blow tube.  This is much more sensible since any conflicts between tribes is considerably less bloody, less noisy and with almost no cases of misfiring weapons.

In China, to avoid the profligate use of resources observed in the west, it is common to see generations of families thoughtfully living in one simple house of only a few hundred square feet to reduce their carbon footprint.   Eschewing the family SUV, there is instead the family bicycle.  This is somewhat inconvenient when dropping the kids off at school, but they get used to it.  Their consumer habits are much more eco friendly as well.  For example, instead of owning iPads which consume electricity, they prefer to just go down to the community bulletin board where they can keep up on the Kardashians.   It’s not all perfect of course.  While their diet consists mainly of grains and vegetables, they do eat the occasional bear.  When chastised about this, the Chinese respond, ” If we aren’t supposed to eat them, why are they so delicious?”  Oh well, enlightenment will come eventually.

link Stop Coddling the Super-Rich – NYTimes.com.

The Sage of Omaha has spoken.  Mr. Buffet openly bemoans that his fellow billionaires don’t pay enough taxes.  You can’t make this up.  Considering that this guy is the most revered investor on Wall Street and his every utterance probed for nuggets of investment wisdom, it’s unclear to me why he doesn’t rectify this sad of affairs thusly….pay more voluntarily!  Just write a cheque in the amount in excess of that required to maintain his lifestyle and it’s likely any national deficiencies will be significantly drawn down within 10 years.  

As far as I know, there is no law restricting personal generosity to the various government tax regimes.  When you are in church and the collection plate comes around, you are allowed to put in as much as you want.  There is no maximum donation restriction.  It’s unlikely that people will whisper and point at you disapprovingly for donating $10,000 when everyone else puts in a twenty.   Is Mr. Buffet afraid that any excess largesse he confers will be rejected?  Is he concerned that IRS agents will come to his house returning bags of money excessively donated?  Memo to Warren: they take money; blankets and old clothing they can do without.

It’s admirable that Buffet has enough guilt to want to pay more.  But it’s a bit like the childhood scenario wherein your mother is cold and therefore you have to put on a sweater.  While few can argue with Buffet’s investment savvy, some of his notions of modern life are a little suspect.  The guy owns Coca Cola, railroads and insurance companies, great cash machines but not exactly the leading edge of American technology and commerce.  Despite the fact that his best pal Bill Gates was at the vanguard of the most revolutionary change in American,  if not human technology back in the 80’s, Buffet didn’t invest because he didn’t ‘understand’ the business. 

While many of his billionaire pals legitimately got to where they are, through risk taking and shrewd planning, he is correct in stating that many others who got there by manipulation of various political levers to take full advantage of arcane rules and laws which they themselves helped create.  Those guys should pay more.  If a guy like Al Gore beats the global warming drum and then causes laws to be created which benefit his business empire, they should tax it all away.  But Warren is living in some delusional world if he thinks that people would rather have their income capped at some arbitrary amount just because he never has to worry about his next meal or mortgage payment.  Good on him, but plenty of people aspire to be like him and they won’t get there by having  a ceiling on their earning potential.  The very characteristics of the companies he invests in are all about making profits and maximizing income. It would be like Hugh Hefner preaching fidelity.  

Of course, if  he was really conscientious he’d pay for a private foundation to run around cajoling his buddies to pay up rather than heap the cost of a bureaucratic tax state on the public.   I suppose he’s correct in assuming that once your net worth gets north of a billion, scanning the Wal Mart flyers gets superfluous.  His pals should be pushed to pay more.   Just keep bureaucrats out of it.  He may even get a tax deduction.

If he wanted to have some fun, rather than just mailing in cheques heavy with zeroes, why not go around giving money away to less fortunate people?  He could leave $1000 tips to waitresses and bellhops.  He could just leave his cars to the valet parker rather than tipping.  In fact, rather than leaving room tips, just leave the hotel to the maids.  He could start a reality show in which he can convince all of his well heeled buddies to leave the largest tips.  It’ll be entitled ” Who’s the Biggest Tipper?”.

For a different view of this, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/