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For some reason, most rich people go down that same luxury path and I submit that it's not a good life. Really. Someone has to teach them that, and someone has to teach the middle class not to go broke trying to imitate the rich. Seriously. You can have way more fun sailing a dingy than you can drinking on a yacht. You can have as much fun playing a public golf course as you can playing Pebble Beach. I know, I've done both. If you go on a luxury cruise, you know who has the best parties? The crew.
Minimalism. Forget having stuff. Doing stuff is a hundred times more fun. It will bring you much more joy and fulfillment. Then, being human, you can also find the joy of sharing your largess with people who need it way more than you, and that will make you happier than owning a private jet.
So I think the rich should pay their fair share of taxes, but it's more important to teach them the emptiness of their lifestyles. I know, I spent most of twenty years entertaining on luxury cruise ships. I studied the lifestyle, and I sincerely liked mine better. I was doing a job I loved and hanging out with fellow entertainers. The downside? I had to dress up a lot. Rich people love to dress up and I will never understand that concept either. I can have way more fun in jeans and tee shirt than I can in a tuxedo. Basically, I would've had just as much fun singing in coffeehouses but it's hard to live on ten bucks a night. I worked the ships because it was a job, it paid well I could save money, and I wasn't as lonely as I was on the road in the U.S. Also I got to see the world and hang out with really interesting people. I've never been rich, and I don't miss it at all. I wouldn't trade my life for anything.
Oh wait, at the little bar down the road they're playing loud karaoke music. I might trade part of my life for a mute button.
Noise is a big part of Thai life. Sound trucks are normal, driving around advertising something very loudly. A Thai mall usually features a very loud show in the main floor, or loud music. When I took the family back to the states, we went into an American mall and it felt like a morgue. In Thailand also, poor people go to malls just for the air conditioning, so they're generally crowded, noisy and alive.
In villages, the head man generally makes announcements over a loudspeaker system at random times. It's part of life. And now we come to weddings, funerals and holidays. All are excuses for blasting out loud music and karaoke and setting off fireworks. I'm not talking ladyfingers here, I'm talking big Chinese skyrockets, bombs, whatever makes the most noise. One of my first memories of Thailand was being in a Bangkok bar on New Years when people were setting off skyrockets INSIDE the bar. That's right, rockets were bouncing off the walls and zipping between your legs. Duck and cover! Thai people love fireworks, so holidays sound like WWII. I also think that because they do it all the