I kid you not! An article over at the Daily Beast written by senior columnist Lee Siegel titled: If Only Tiger Were a Socialist. The article goes on to explain in a few ways how a Capitalist society is to blame for infidelity, and Tiger’s mulitple affairs.
Here are the lovely words from the author himself:
Maybe capitalism itself is partly to blame for his sexual infidelities.
I’m not about to justify or defend any of Tiger’s actions, nor am I inclined to say that large sums of money do not corrupt individuals. Let me get biblical on y’all for a minute. The bible is clear on the ”love” of money: 1 Timothy 6:10 :
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
As far as I understand what the bible says about money, is that in and of its self, money is not evil, nor does it cause you to do evil things. If you hold money above God, and hold possessions and earthly treasures above God, then you run into trouble. God can, and I believe does bless people through money, and by blessing a person with money, gives that person an opportunity to bless others less fortunate with their financial ability. I believe that God blesses people(Christians) with wealth for the following reasons: to build His church and further His Kingdom, spread the gospel, and help the poor. Anyway, enough theology.
I will provide a few comments about the post from people with common sense and intelligent thinking. You can read the other comments at the Daily Beast site for the individuals who seem to have a screw loose. I also must forewarn you on many possible Socialism v.s. Capitalism tangents that may be evident in the post. Come on, you didn’t really think I could write a whole article on Tiger cheating because of Capitalism.
JackassJones: What you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent column were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who read this drivel is now dumber for having done so. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul
Wayfarin: you invalidated your wickedly stupid headline in your last few paragraphs. you presume the american poor don’t cheat, because ‘cheating for everyone’ is a socialist principle (have you ever watched jerry springer?) how was tigers money supposed to trickle out of gilette or buick to the average american? cheaper razors? how would you regulate the salaries of athletes? better question: who is going to bother publishing your articles once your country rebounds and unemployment drops? watch how fast you will be ditched by an america with better self esteem.
laDivaG: Lee Siegel should have done some homework on Sweden because he is wrong on a number of points. He’s not entirely to blame since his faulty information on this country consists of some pretty commonly held, and utterly false, prejudices.
First of all, there are poor people in Sweden. Maybe not as high a percentage as in the US, but they exist, as do homeless people.
Second, plenty of people suffer here because of that poverty. Sure, they have subsidized health care, but it’s not free, as Siegel states, neither are prescription drugs or dental care. Being poor here sucks just as much as anywhere else, I assume, though I am thankful every day that I don’t know for sure.
Also, regardless of what many Swedes might tell you, there is a very strict social hierarchy here and making a “journey to a higher social class,” as it is called, will earn you disdain from both your former and present socio-economic or academic equals. We don’t all get along in a classless mass, there are ghettos and exclusive neighborhoods here and the residents of each interact with those in their respective group. I daresay Elin doesn’t meet poor people in Sweden any more than she does in Florida, probably never has.
Finally, plenty of people here live in monogamous relationships and never cheat on their significant others. So his EF theory is full of it too. The myth of the oversexed Swedish bikini team is just that: a myth. People aren’t as hung up on sex as they are in the US, but that doesn’t mean that we all copulate like rabbits without regard to moral or medical standards.
At least he didn’t confuse Sweden with Switzerland; I’ll give him that.
These comments probably say it better than I can myself, but here goes anyway:
It’s a place where no one is allowed to enrich himself at the expense of other people, where everyone has access to free, quality health care, where no one lives in poverty, and where money does not play a decisive role in the social contract. No one suffers because he doesn’t have money, and no one is allowed to accumulate wealth without paying his fair share back into the social arrangement that permitted him to make a fortune in the first place.
Since when has Capitalism allowed people to enrich themselves at the expense of others? From what I know about Capitalism, people start businesses, and provide a service to others. If the business is run well, and provides a service that people need and want, you may in fact become very wealthy. There are numerous stories of individuals starting their own business, and becoming wealthy, all the while providing a service, and jobs to go with it. If you want to, you are more than able and welcome to do it too.
There is no such thing as “free” health care. Sweden pays plenty in taxes for this “free” health care. The payroll tax as of 2006 was 40%. No one lives in poverty? I think one of the comments above does an excellent job of addressing this. No one is allowed to accumulate wealth without paying their fair share? This entitlement syndrome is irritating on so many levels. Do you want to know what the top earners pay in taxes in the US- The top 1% of wage earners pay more income tax than the bottom 90%. That has got to be close to their fair share, right? Well, probably not, since they are wealthy and taking advantage of the less fortunate and supplying jobs, we should hike up the tax rate on them to 60 or 70 percent. That way all the couch potatoes and people who know how to work the system can have a free ride. They deserve to sit by and let their neighbor pay for their daily wants. Heck, lets even do some trickle down into the schools.
Tell your child that the “A” they earn is going to be brought down to a “C”, so the kids who sit and play video games when they get home can have their “F” brought up to a “C” just to make it more fair. Seriously, mention it to your kids. Tell me what their reaction is in the comment section.
Soon, in both cases, the rich (or even just those who are upper middle class business owners) who run business will hire less, they will raise the prices of their products to compensate for their higher taxes, do you think this might hurt the consumer? If the schools ever pulled the grade scenario, the “A” students would figure it out real soon that all of there hard work isn’t paying off, soon there would be no more “A” grades to help the academically challenged students. The Socialist system would collapse. That is just a small example of why socialism doesn’t work. I am sure we as the “annoyed” will continue to write more on this, Lord knows that this wasn’t even close to an exhaustive break down on Socialism v.s. Capitalism.
Just in case you want to read more on Socialism, read this. There is so much more I could say on this, but really, read the article and see it for your self. This guy isn’t the only american who thinks this way. I can’t even begin to put together how one can even contemplate and formulate the idea of infidelity of a rich person must be linked to Capitalism.
Except that everyone knows how evil Capitalism is, and being in a Nation that gives you the opportunity to achieve anything you want to do, is just not fair.
