>Giving away stuff still remains the most important way of increasing
>status, even today. Charity foundations, public facilities and
>medical research, libraries, heaps of things. In that sense, you can
>see that actual accumulation is not the real point, the final aim is
>to give stuff away, to contribute to society. Even the ruling class
>in a capitalist society retain their humanity and so seek to achieve
>the status and prestige of contributing socially. Freely giving to
>society is the ultimate way of developing real social status as
>opposed to mere power over others, which is just a means to an end.
>
One of the very few times we disagree. Giving stuff away is about
becoming bigger. It's not about the people you give the stuff too; it's
about the giver who thus gets to expand into the infinite future. It's
about being remembered. It's about buying a stairway to heaven. It's
about fame, notoriety. If they had any humanity, they would not have
taken the money in the first place.
Joanna