Seeing & Reading About This Made Me Very Sad

Firstly please move this if if should be in the rant or general chit chat forums. I am placing it here because the trigger was a recent event this weekend.
There are no links, no pictures, nothing fancy, just my feelings.
This morning I was having my breakfast and browsing my facebook page when I came across a status posted by Jeremy Clarkson, or the person who represents and operates his page. It was on the subject of the Monaco Grand Prix. It showed a picture of the bay in Monaco, strewn with yachts and the like, people sipping champagne etc etc, you get the picture I am sure. Someone coined it "the billion dollar picture"
I just stared at it for ages, thinking that is this where we have arrived at? There are people in the world who yes because they have money, are prepared to flaunt it, just to be seen with the in crowd. This whole weekend was their focal point, and it seemed so important to them.
Don't get me wrong, yes, I am broke in a financial sense, but no, I am not bad mouthing those who are not, nor am I trying to say anything original. It is just that this whole event was plastered all over TV and the news, and glamorised as it always is. I used to love grand prix racing, but this is just a circus.
I suppose my point is that in such a small place where so many people in attendance were probably people of influence, be it financially, politically, socially etc it just seemed like an orgy of self indulgence when there is so much going on in the world which is wrong. There would be a portion of those there who are probably really good individuals, but the ego gets the better of them, and we are all guilty of that sometimes.
It would be cliché for me to say if the money spent on that event had been put to better use, maybe a small European country could have been freed of debt, or something like that. Well if it is a cliché, I just used it, but you get my meaning, hopefully. The whole event, and others like it around the world sit so awkwardly to me in times of austerity, misery, injustice and suffering. It just seems that people just don't give a ****. And that's wrong on so many levels.
It's all about consumerism, materialism, status, bank balance etc.
Someone once famously said "the truth will set you free but first it will piss you off" well I am pissed off.
I try really hard to operate on a love everyone basis, and principles of karma, "be the change you want to see in the world" etc, but bloody hell it's difficult sometimes.
Rant over, hopefully you get my point. Maybe a cup of tea will make me feel better, probably shouldn't have written this in such a bad mood.

reply to post by Mufcutcakeyumyum


On the lighter side, if someone feels compelled to load his home with stacks and stacks of newspapers (there ARE people like this), then that person is considered mentally damaged somehow. But, if someone is sitting on forty billion dollars, he's not mentally damaged, he's successful!

reply to post by Mufcutcakeyumyum


That kind of thing kind of blows me away, too. There is so much that we do that is downright stupid and knowing that there is such a disparity can be just heartbreaking. It's kind of like the Queen's diamond jubilee during "austerity cuts". Stuff like that just blisters the mind. I can't help but think that the distance between those who are sitting on a yacht and sipping champagne at some expensive diversion and those who are struggling to put food on the table is so vast that the struggling is little more than a speck in their vision. I promise you this: If I ever come into money, I won't be sipping champagne. I'll be doing whatever I can to ease suffering. Some things, once seen, can never go unseen.

reply to post by jiggerj


Good point, well made, thank you for the reply. I know someone like that... my dad!

reply to post by WhiteAlice


Thank you for your kind reply. I didn't mention it in the OP, but these adverts on TV asking for xxx per month for xxx charity really gets my goat too. I mean, if you stop and think about it, isn't the reason why the charity is resorting to TV begging from the masses as a result of the corporatocracy and / or the filthy rich who have turned their back on them? I am generalising hugely there, and do not with to disrespect anyone who is an active charity contributor, far from it; but hopefully you know what I mean.
Getting back to the whole grand prix scenario, it just made me really miserable, to acknowledge the fact that there are so many people out there who can make a difference, financially I mean, and maybe some do, but I bet most don't.
Some may say what gives me the right to expect that of another person? In answer I would say that only a psychopathic person could stand by and watch someone else suffer while they have the means to alleviate it, and yet choose not to. I suppose that the majority of the priveledged sheeple are simply unaware.
Thanks again.

reply to post by Mufcutcakeyumyum


I'm really not a fan of those charities either as a dollar donated never ends up being a dollar used for the purported cause. Most of the time, a dollar becomes a quarter by the time it gets to the recipient. Or the recipient may be forced into making other decisions or activities that they would not normally agree with for the purpose of receiving assistance. Overall, most major charities are ways to make people feel like they are doing something good in the world. There are plenty of philanthropists among the wealthy but a lot of times, they tend to focus on their pet interests. We all do really. A lot of corporations start creating their own charities or donating in an attempt at corporate social responsibility (CSR). I know that Nike, after it was found that their contracted factories in India were employing children, set up schools in the areas as a way of recompense or to improve their reputation. Could be either or a little bit of both. CSR is all too frequently used as a public relations vehicle instead of actual social responsibility.

I agree. I can't walk by a homeless man on the street without feeling a little heartbreak. Even when I have nothing to give, I at least acknowledge their existence and treat them like a human. Considering their frequent shock at being acknowledged in a non-hostile way, I'd say that most people probably just ignore them. I don't get that. I get accused of caring too much but honestly, we can do things differently. Solar/wind hybrid systems on homes of the poor so they can liberate themselves from that bill in a way that benefits society as well. We've got a ridiculous number of parks in my city. Why aren't some of these being used as food gardens to help feed the homeless and hungry? Seattle, btw, is doing one of those. I think that, overall, it's just too easy to look down one's nose at those that have fallen the farthest at the end of the day.