Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

fourmilab.ch

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 186 posts

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#11

Post by wildmusings »

lr4444lr wrote: post #8

I love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#12

Post by cname »

wildmusings wrote: post #11
lr4444lr wrote: post #8

I love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production.

Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#13

Post by wildmusings »

cname wrote: post #12
wildmusings wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Socialism in the traditional sense of the word refers to what people today would more likely call communism. Socialism these days refers to social-democratic movements that want redistribution within an at least somewhat capitalist system. She was taking a swipe at the British Labour Party and their counterparts on the continent, all of whom used the label 'socialist' but were really social democrats. Words mean whatever people think they mean.

There's a similar phenomenon with the word liberal. Liberal once referred to, and in some contexts still does, politics that advocates for human freedom from all kinds of government coercion. At least in the US, it has taken on a different meaning over the last hundred years. Now it refers to social-democracy.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#14

Post by iagooar »

vlunkr wrote: post #9

Our credit card driven culture could certainly use his advice on avoiding debt.

I took a credit once, for buying a car, and will never do it again.

Although I never had problems with paying the money back, I was paying a lot more money back to the bank, so when I finished paying the credit off, the car was worth half of the price I bought it, almost having paid double the price because of the credit interests.

But the worst part was that it didn't feel right.

So now my policy is to never buy anything with money that I don't have (yet). It makes you feel so much better, you feel a truly free person. I don't own my apartment, true, and the money I spend each month on rent could bring me closer to owning one, but I just don't see the point of it. But buying stuff for money you actually have makes your decisions so much better and closer to what you can really afford.

Also, there is another component to buying stuff with money you actually have. Recently, I decided to buy a scooter. Not a big "deal", but I didn't want to just spend any savings on it that I have so far, so I put aside money from some freelancing outside my daily job, sold some unused furniture and electronics, and only had to pay around 25% of the price of the scooter from my account. It felt so good, it felt like I deserved it, because I planned for it in advance and didn't have to "compromise" my savings. On the other hand, when I took the loan for the car, I felt bad, I almost felt miserable, as if I was doing something wrong. I can't imagine buying a house for someone else's money. You must feel like a slave.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#15

Post by jfaucett »

cname wrote: post #12
wildmusings wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

"I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare."

Its one of the meanings that the word socialism has come to denote through quotidian usage in media and within Amercian society. Democratic Socialism would likely be a more precise term for these common usage scenarios.

see Usage Discussion of socialism at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#16

Post by dave_sullivan »

cname wrote: post #12
wildmusings wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Aren't the means of production pretty much people's minds at this point? I'd like to own and control mine.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#17

Post by ams6110 »

iagooar wrote: post #14
vlunkr wrote: post #9

Our credit card driven culture could certainly use his advice on avoiding debt.

I took a credit once, for buying a car, and will never do it again. Although I never had problems with paying the money back, I was paying a lot more money back to the bank, so when I finished paying the credit off, the car was worth half of the price I bought it, almost having paid double the price because of the credit interests. But the worst part was that it didn't feel right. So now my policy is to never buy any…

You can make some argument for paying for something over time if you are going to use it over time. A house, or a car, could fall into that category. However a big difference is that a house is an asset which normally appreciates in value, while a car is an expense which depreciates. Buying something on credit that will depreciate (or worse, is a consumable) is something to be very cautious about.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#18

Post by Spooky23 »

cname wrote: post #12
wildmusings wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Thatcher quotes: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare. Socialism is about who owns and controls the means of production. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Usually the first two socialist priorities are healthcare and housing. Together those things probably account for 35% of GDP.

Consider a trivial example -- the affect that the post ww2 public housing boom did to the US construction industry. Government procurement rules transformed and forced consolidation of the brick industry. On the east coast it went from hundreds of geographically diverse companies to 4-6, all in the south.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#20

Post by carlosnunez »

lr4444lr wrote: post #8

I love this part: The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man: "I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?" "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!"

Don't show that to the Universal Basic Income diehards...
Post reply on HN