All Men Are Created Equal, But Some More Equal Than Others

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   Ralph Deedsposted 13 years ago

   MUMBAI — The newest and most exclusive residential tower for this city’s superrich is a cantilevered sheath of steel and glass soaring 27 floors into the sky. The parking garage fills six levels. Three helipads are on the roof. There are terraces upon terraces, airborne swimming pools and hanging gardens in a Blade Runner-meets-Babylon edifice overlooking India’s most dynamic city.
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   Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times
   
   The 27-story house of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in Mumbai, India.
   
   There are nine elevators, a spa, a 50-seat theater and a grand ballroom. Hundreds of servants and staff are expected to work inside. And now, finally, after several years of planning and construction, the residents are about to move in.
   
   All five of them...
   
   “We are all sort of perplexed,” said Alyque Padamsee, a long-time advertising executive and actor in the city. “I think people see it as a bit show-offy.” ...
   
   “Whether it is a beggar or an Ambani, the desire to be rich is in everyone’s heart,” he said.
   
   
   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/world … ;ref=world

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      lady_love158posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Who gives a damn about what they do in India?

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         SiddSinghposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         We are eternally grateful for that!
         
         
         Anyway, as for the house, it IS indeed natural to see it in bad taste, specially when you consider the widespread poverty in the country.
         
         But then, Mukesh Ambani cannot own a 100 acre farm, or something like that in Mumbai.
         
         He is enjoying the fruits of free market - why should anyone envy if he owns a bigger basket? Just because he has chosen to flaunt it?
         
         What about consideration for fellow Indians - many of whom can't imagine how much of a bank balance he has?

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         psycheskinnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Indians, amongst others.  Not everyone here is, let me guess... American?

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      Evan G Rogersposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      if I had generated enough wealth for society that consumers would willingly give me enough money that I could willingly say that such extravagance is worth it to me.....
      
      
      .... Then what the hell do you care?

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         Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         As Wilson observed, a billion dollar house amidst the poverty of Mumbai strikes me as obscene.

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            Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            And CEO getting millions of dollars in bonuse while the unemployment lines are growing and people are losing their homes is not obscene?

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               Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Of course it is. We can agree on that.

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         Texasbetaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It is the mindset Ralph...one side thinks of others before themselves (liberals) and the others think "who the hell cares about _____." Oddly, and ironically, the side who cares about nobody but themselves call themselves the moral side and Christians. A conservative Christian is an oxymoron.

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   Reality Bytesposted 13 years ago

   Tha article does not mention how many jobs were created in the buildings construction.  Nor does it state how much materials were purchased and transported to the construction site.
   
   A $1 Billion dollar home must have trickled some wealth down to the workers?

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      William R. Wilsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Heh.  Hehe.

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      Evan G Rogersposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The trickle down theory is kind of nonsense. Wealth is created when two people agree to trade : I agree to give you x if you give me y.
      
      Yes yes yes "money" will trickle down, but will wealth? I could cram $5 trillion down the throats of some city, but will that money actually create wealth? Was it stolen money? Was the money causing inflation? Was the money created out of thin air? Or does it actually represent that two people are happier for the trade?

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         Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not sure that trade by itself can create wealth, either. Say Smith has an apple and Jones has an orange. They decide to trade. Now Smith has an orange, and Jones has an apple. The fact that they made this trade indicates that one apple is worth one orange. No wealth was created or destroyed in this scenario. If any wealth was created, it was when the apples and oranges grew on the tree, or when they were picked.

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            Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            ...but if you own the means to produce them, and can then trade them for more oranges than the amount of apples it costs to grow them, then you have a profit.
            
            And if you can outsource the growth and harvesting of these apples at a fraction of the cost by hiring migrant workers who will work for peanuts instead of apples, then you will be the top banana.
            
            that will allow you to squash the competition and beet to a pulp (farmer's) market expectations.

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               Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               That's a load of carp!

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               Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               But you have to somehow convince all those others to go along with the price you set. A person could refuse to trade more oranges in return for fewer apples. A person could refuse to work for peanuts rather than apples. How do you convince them to agree to do what you want?

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                  Rafiniposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Ensure they can't earn their own bananas by enforcing a law of an apple a day.

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         Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         My point is that the people assigned to construct this home must have received wages?  That in itself could improve an individuals life.
         
         Same goes for the materials required to complete the construction.  Many people were probably paid well for their efforts that would have not existed if the home was not built.
         
         Rockefeller built Rockefeller Center during the depression to provide jobs and help out the economy of New York.

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            pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            you have a point...this house would also have 100 people as staff..so it would create 100 more jobs and reliance already have 0.3 million people as staff and they are nicely paid too...it is one of most soughed after organization for work...and even if it wasn't the case..what a person does with his money , whether we like it or not is not our look out...it is private matter and right of person to use his money is way he/she wishes to...

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   habeeposted 13 years ago

   Shades of Animal Farm!!

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      Pearldiverposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Orrrr!!!
      
      O Well!
      
      Caste systems are great aren't they?

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      Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think that story is where I got my intense dislike of the concept of animals dressed like humans and given human traits!

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   tritrainposted 13 years ago

   I'm sure it has more square footage in one closet than I have in my entire home.

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   pisean282311posted 13 years ago

   to be fair with mukesh..his wealth is legal income and what he does with it is his problem..reliance is huge and it has 0.3 million employees...now this man has money which he is spending..that is his right..we cannot stop him..can we?

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6. 65

   Ralph Deedsposted 13 years ago

   Murkesh makes Larry Ellison and Donald Trump look like pikers, and Bill Gates and Warren Buffett look like angels. He brings to mind Ozymandias:
   
   I met a traveller from an antique land
   Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
   Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
   Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
   And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
   Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
   Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
   The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
   And on the pedestal these words appear:
   `My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
   Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
   Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
   Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
   The lone and level sands stretch far away".

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   William R. Wilsonposted 13 years ago

   It's just disgusting.  2 billion people on this planet live on less than a dollar a day.  His obscene wealth, even if it was gotten "legally", was earned on the backs of the poor, and now he is flaunting it.

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      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      well you have a point out here ..but 2 billion people living is less than dollar is product of system which was created ...mukesh is beneficiary of it...he could have opted to be like buffet or naryan murthy ...but he opted this...but main issue is system...which mukesh didnt create...if i would have that amount of wealth , i wont have built such a house..it is my personal thinking...but i can't blame a person who does either...that is his personal thinking....

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      thisisoliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      His spending money is sending money back down to the poor.  The one who cause problems are the people who hold on to their money.

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      Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Heh.  Hehe.

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   Rishy Richposted 13 years ago

   If the money is legal, than theres no point of blaming his personal ambitions & desires. Our social structure does not give us the right to interfere in such corners of life. A rich guy is allowed to do whatever he wants to do with his legally earned money, if you dont like it then Capitalism is not for you, you need to switch to Communism.
   
   
   Besides, there are plenty of Russian & European Mafias who are living more exotic lives with all their black money than Mukesh. So instead of point to a legal rich, you can talk against them if you want to.

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      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      exactly and he doesnot run government. nor he is building this with public money....charity is his choice which he does in his own way...other than that what he does is his personal matter...

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         Rishy Richposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Right...but some of us, given the fact - Cant achieve such success, are jealous of such life standards & chose to spread it in a negative way. Although I too would not support such exotic living but hey, if you want to live in a capitalist world get used to it, if you dont like it then why did you blamed Communism in the first place!

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9. 61

   Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years ago

   My house is very similar to the one described in the article.  Believe me it's more a curse than a blessing.

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      Home Girlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Poor rich people, how worrisome their life is, so many choises so little time!

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         Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Sure..make fun of my troubles.  Why don't YOU try keeping an army of illegal aliens around to manicure 20 acres of lawn and wash 147 windows?
         
         Some of them are demanding a second helping of gruel for dinner.

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            Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Don't give in. I hate it when the toothless teenage mothers hold up their emaciated brats and beg as though the gruel were for them. I know they will just sell it for drug money.
            
            It's called tough love, Ron. They won't learn anything if you coddle them.  It isn't easy being a compassionate conservative, but if we stand by each other, we can learn to make the appropriate emotions appear on our faces so that they know we have nothing but Jesus in our hearts as we draw the curtains.
            
            I find that practicing in front of a mirror helps.  I like looking at myself anyway, so it's a win-win.

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               Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I know, right?

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         kimberlyslyricsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         ouch!  man!  :

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    prettydarkhorseposted 13 years ago

    The worlds richest man according to Forbes - Helu is living in a not so rich country Mexico and he is very frugal, he just choose to live simply.

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    psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

    And, of course, there are choices other than hoarding money and using it to lead an ultra-luxury lifestyle.  One of them being charity.

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    Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

    I saw a picture of that building, and the only thing I could think of was "he has a billion bucks to make that place, and he puts it square in a crowded, polluted city"?
    
    I mean, when he gets up each day he only has a view of the slums and smoke from the factories and cars. Who the heck wants that!
    
    I'd take a 500,000 thousand house out in the country over a billion dollar view of India's slums any day. It really seems to be built solely to say "look at me".

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       Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Could this be the beginning of changing the slums.  How could you know what this man is feeling and thinking in his heart?

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          Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Could be but I doubt it. Bill Gates' anti-poverty approach is more direct.
          
          This guy is more akin to Ozymandias. "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'" or
          
          "Look at me! I'm the richest man in the world!"

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             Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             He is spending currency?  He is helping the local economy.
             
             I wish Warren Buffet would build a billion dollar home in my ghetto!

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                Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                You mean "doing the Lord's work" just like Lloyd Blankfein at Goldmine Sucks?

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                   Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I do not know who that is, but he could build a billion dollar home in my neighborhood too. 

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                      Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      Lloyd Blankfein is CEO of Goldman Sachs. When testifying before Congress he called Goldman's double dealing on mortgage derivatives "doing the Lord's work."

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                         Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                         
                         
                         I am sure he was "doing the Lord's work."
                         
                         His lord is Mammon.  Either that or he is one of the elites who performs mock human sacrifices at Bohemian Grove.  Then it would be Moloch that is the Lord he serves!

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          Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Yeah that's what most think when they want to help change slums.
          
          "I'll build a billion dollar home for myself next to the slums so they can all see it and aspire for greatness like me".
          
          Ummm no,,,,,,,

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             Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Well I  would be willing to see the hundreds if not thousands of jobs created by such a construction project.

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                Rafiniposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Sure, go ahead, go to India and see all the hope lost due to the construction project being over....the hundreds (or thousands) of jobs created are now gone, and the poor are once again, unemployed yet still poor.

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                   Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I maybe wrong but doesn't India use a caste system?
                   
                   So the poor would be of the lowest caste and be forced to remain there.  Is this wrong?

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                      Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      The caste system was made illegal in India some time ago. However, I believe a fair number of people still act as if it were still in place. The lowest caste were the "untouchables."

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    ahorsebackposted 13 years ago

    It was said that Samuel Colt made all men equal.......

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       Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       With help from Walker.  Without his help Colt would have been finished almost before he started.

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    uncorrectedvisionposted 13 years ago

    That's it?!?  That is the lesson you draw from George Orwell's masterful indictment of communism.  Did you read "Animal Farm?"

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