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> Bill Gates rented a yacht for $5M/week. How is this not a clear waste?

Those $5M don't just get lit on fire. They transfer to some other set of people who can then decide what to do with it, and then onto some other set of people. Maybe the yacht's owner donates all proceeds to feed starving children.

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It is still a waste in the sense that productive people spent their time building and maintaining a boat for the benefit of a few rich guys. It would represent reduced waste if the money was instead spent to hire those productive people to build infrastructure for their own communities.

Not trying to argue that luxury goods are pure evil, but there is a degree of selfishness in having luxury goods for yourself when there are people who lack the basics.

So you advocate firing all the hard working folks who designed, built, maintain, repair, clean, and operate that boat, and take care of the passengers? They they too will lack the basics, and the money you just protected from "waste" will need to be used to provide for them.

Not advocating anything of the sort.

Only saying it would be /even better/ if the people currently spending fortunes on yachts spent the money building libraries and the like instead.

Somehow I don't think that's what she meant.

No, you pay them to do something else for someone else.

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