In our daily journey we notice some differences that for some are just not important, but we’ve found it interesting to talk about and maybe change some points of view.
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Some of those situations are only talked about by the people in charge, when it is useful for political campaigns, and why not say, for political achievements.
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Those differences can be seen basically in the people who live on the streets, in those who work hard and sometimes are exploited and even in those who spend their whole breathing time shopping and spending money in outrageous ways, buying apparently useless objects.
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These are some of the issues that our Portuguese society faces, differences among equals, for us concerns people who want to achieve stability in a future for us and our country; this is the main reason why we’ve chosen to develop the requested photography project according to this bases.
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When we talk about economic differences, most of the time nobody does a thing about it, unless it’s good for a politician’s image in campaign or someone comes down to this small yet hypocritical country and decides to put some effort into it.
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But, unfortunately in this country, those who are rich keep getting richer and those who are poor, and in some ways excluded from society’s eyes, are getting even worse.
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We can always say that money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can buy school education, access to better health care, food on the table; we are not materialistic people, but if money was better distributed, we wouldn’t see those accentuate differences in our daily life.
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For some reason the Nobel Peace Prize was given to the economist Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh and his Bank Grameen, for the efforts in developing the poor and needy both socially and economically, using projects of micro credit.
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This is the reason why we picked this theme, it wasn’t to specify the variety of ethnics and their conditions, or the different social levels that exist, but just to say once again that they exist.
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We hope we all keep that in mind, respecting all the differences and maybe try to do something about it.
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Our country is small, but full of ethnics, religions and lifestyles, this is our reality and just some of the many aspects that are part of Portuguese society, but we consider that a contribution for a much richer culture, and perhaps a window of opportunity for a better future if we learn how to make us all equals in our difference.
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And now we introduce the shots that we actually shot just for you!
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Some people have few money, but...
Do you need some?
You can just pick one!
The way to all extravagances!
With that we concluded that some people are addicted to the act of spending unnecessary money and others would love to have some of that to feed and educate their children because for some, money is just their only way to keep living, for others it is a stupid addiction!
Thanks for your time folks, it’s a pleasure to have an opportunity to express this matter!
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Elaborated by:
PATRICIA RAMOS
RUTE ALMEIDA
SUSANA ALMEIDA
7 comments:
"With that we concluded that some people are addicted to the act of spending unnecessary money"
When people spend "unnecessary money" what happens to that money? Let me see, could it be that that money goes to the people who provide the service/product that was bought with that unnecessary spending of money? Oh my God, it really is! So, is it right to say that that unnecessary spending of money is probably gonna put food on the table for the people who work on the stores where that money was spent and for the people who transport the items bought in those stores and for the people who produce/manufacture those products? Oh my god, again, it is!
Isn't it amazing how "spending unnecessary money" is actually helping the people who work and consequentially the economy?
Hi everyone... I'll read the text later, right now I only had time to take a quick look at the pictures and quick comments and I remembered something: Is it safe to have the cards with our names on online?!
Rogério,
Isn’t it amazing how innocent it look's to say that by "spending unnecessary money" we are putting food on the table on those who are poor?
Oh my God, it really is!
If you think what makes the economy spin is that, I kindly ask you to remember all the children that work in factories instead of going to school, in everybody that receive low pay checks by working in stores, in the couples that work all their life's both on the same factory that went bankruptcy and the transportations, how can I forget, silly me, do you think the money the workers receive is proportional to the money their boss receives?
Isn't it amazing that some people think that you should help people by buying expensive stuff and not by trying to diminish the gap between classes?
At the end, we were only talking about that, how can it be so different to have access to the same!
Do you know what Muhammad Yunus did? I suppose you do…
He put real money on the hands of the poor (especially women) and they invested their money in business and education for their children, creating a cycle of investments with high success, because what really helps people is education and access to the same fair conditions!
Maybe I have to apologise for the tone of the comment, but in the end I just followed you, isn’t it?
Oh my God, again it is! :)
See you in classes,
Susana
Nikki,
What was told to us in the beginning is that we have a blog that only can be accessed with invitation, but if you have your card in the photos and if you want the photo to be removed, feel free to say it! :)
See you in classes,
Susana
It is not the individual but the government's responsability to take care of the poor. The individual is free to spend money in any way he sees fit. It's a right that comes with the "free will" part of existence.
Public and private spending leads to short therm economical growth. So, when people spend "unnecessary money" they are contributing to an economical boost wether you believe it or not. You should also be aware that all luxury items pay a much higher tax than first need items. For example, when someone buys a sports car, that person pays a tax on the car of about 100%, money that will go to the government's pocket and that they can use for health care, education, social welfare, etc... Then that same guy is gonna pay a truckload of money for the insurance for the car, giving money to the pocket of an insurance company who (guess what?!) employ real people. Then that same guy is gonna spend a lot of money every month in gasoline, therefor increasing the profits of gas stations. Then, not happy with all the money he already spent with the car, that guy is gonna spend more money every six months having car reviews at the auto shop or the stand, which will be expensive because an expensive car has an expensive maintenance.
One of the basic principles of economics is that a country's standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. Consequentially that depends on having people buying those goods and services. With that said, keep in mind that policies that penalize the successful and reward the unsuccessful reduce the incentive to succeed.
Finally, I'm sure you're very well intended but it's like an uncle of mine often say: May God rid us of the good will of the amateurs. If you don't know what the hell you're talking about perhaps it's better not to open your mouth.
PS: The gap between rich and poor in Portugal is not raising. In the last years the gap has been slightly decreasing (and this is fact), but to know that you would need to know something about the subject and economics. Clearly you don't.
PS 2: To donate money is one of the best ways to launder money. Drug dealers, in particular, just love it.
Rogério,
For someone who says "It's a right that comes with the "free will" part of existence", it's a shame to say "If you don't know what the hell you're talking about perhaps its better not to open your mouth".
Our work expresses an opinion, a way to see our society and its goal never was to make an assessment about economy, because if it was, for sure I would be in the wrong University.
But I'm glad and amused that you know so much about the subject and came down to this post and give as us all "amateurs" your lesson, you can be certain that I respect it, but let me tell you that the way you choose to do it shows a total lack of respect for others opinions, but maybe that is something that you clearly don't know anything about it.
This discussion about our work is healthy and I would be more then happy to discuss this matter with you anytime, but for me is hard to discuss a subject with someone that is making such a big effort to be rude to his colleagues and because of that for me this conversation ends until you show the same respect for your colleagues and their work like they shown to yours.
Oh, I almost forgot, when you don't know how to express your opinion without offending others, "perhaps its better not to open your mouth".
Susana
You wrote a post openly criticizing people for spending their money in the way they want. Then you criticized me saying, and I quote, "If you think what makes the economy spin is that, I kindly ask you to remember(...)". And that's the point, you see I did study economics for two years in this very college under very good teachers, and if you want to tell me what's right or wrong in terms of "economy spin", you would better learn something about it before going on and saying this is wrong and this is right.
As for me, I was sarcastic, like I always am. Some people deal well with it, some don't. That's life.
As for this, it is not a discussion. You did a post literally trashing people for spending their (emphasis on "their") money how they please, calling them "stupid" and so on. And you know, I resent that because on one side I know a bit about economics to know that people spending money is not bad for other people and for the economy itself, and on the other side I think that people spending "unnecessary money" on unnecessary things like books, cd's, paintings is in fact a good thing. Last but not least, if I in any way offended your touchy sensibility, I apologize for the inconvenient.
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