to find some people attitudes, such as "i work hard i deserve it" really sickening

[carriedababi]

was reading some magazine in the dentist, there was a woman from dragons den iin the mag.
saying how she had a wardrode worth 3 million.

and she went onto say well i work hard for it.
so ideserve it.
and something todo with she sees her expensive clothes as a symbol of how sucessful she is.

really made me feel sick, how a horrible nasty attitude to have in life.

i'm sure even if i was a millionaire, i would not be proud about spending that much on clothes.

i don't know its just the arrogant im entitled to this that got me.
and dont they think people how have less also work hard. probably alot of them work alot harder

what do you think

It's all relative isn't it? So she spends £3 million on clothes - if she can afford it, good for her.

Yes, inequality is rampant, but that's a separate issue. Yabu to be sickened by the attitude of "I worked hard for it, I deserve it" because that's the attitude that is taught everywhere - that people are rewarded for their efforts.

Whether it's a cleaner being able to afford a drink on a Friday night, or HD spending loads of money on clothes. And I agree, a man would never be questioned in the same way.

I seriously don't have a problem with people spending money they worked hard for. It's theirs, they earned it and why would I judge them for spending as they see fit unless it's nasty tat? I bet the journalist was just working an angle, the Dragon you're talking about has never struck me as the boastful-twat type.

However, I do admire people who do earn loads but try to live a more thoughtful life. The guy who plays Pete Campbell in Mad Men (Vincent Kartheiser) tries to live ascetically, and gives away pretty much everything he owns. One of the more extreme reactions to conspicuous consumption but way more admirable than John 'Two Jets' Travolta for example...

'I work hard therefore I deserve it' is the problem here, not the fact that she is a woman talking about clothes. Generally when I hear people saying that I do automatically think they are rather self-centred, and perhaps naive about the world works.
For the record, I personally would give away to deserving causes the majority of any winnings (as I am (no longer) an entrepreneur who stands a chance of getting rich another way!) over about £1m, and I could never imagine spending more than about £500 a year on clothes. But that's just me, clearly.

Only read a bout a third of the thread so apologies if I'm repeating others' posts:

carriedababi, what attitude would you prefer people to have - "I sit on my arse and do nothing, I deserve it"?

To describe this as "sickening" and "a horrible nasty attitude to have in life" says a lot more about you than about Hilary Devay. And it does not say good things. Do you feel that hard work should not be rewarded? Because that woman has worked bloody hard to get to where she is today.

So she spent £3m on clothes. So what? It was her £3m to spend, wasn't it? TBH I can't even imagine how that is possible, unless her entire wardrobe is couture Chanel at £20k per suit, but if that's her thing, good luck to her.

I know you then went off on a tangent on to say that this attitude has caused a lot of people to get into debt. Bollocks! If When DH said she deserved it, "it" was to enjoy the fruits of her labour, i.e. her earnings. Everyone deserves that. If their particular fruits don't amount to very much at all they still deserve to enjoy them, but if they insist on enjoying borrowed money as well then that is their choice and nothing to do with those spending freely but still within their means. Don't confuse two entirely separate issues.

You don't have to take 3am phonecalls if you don't want to, just sleep away while that CEO gets stressed and has an early heart attack. It's all about choices. Her choice was to risk everything, work incredibly hard, indulge herself a bit (so who wouldn't do that then) and do charity work.

I do agree though, that it is irritating them talking about her clothes, I'd love to know more about how she built her business up, as I appear clueless about how to start a business and am in awe of what she has achieved (which mysteriously doesn't also stop me being in awe of more unsung heroines such as carers).

But LeQueen there are obviously just as many (probably more) failed entrepreneurs who took the same risks, had the same drive and ambition but were in the wrong place at the wrong time, got ripped off by a partner or lawyers, ruined by bad debt, couldn't get the investment they needed, etc etc, so there is an enormous amount of luck involved.

I am v old-fashioned. I think it's vulgar to spend money conspicuously. Money should support you discretely in life and never make itself known. Like plumbing.

If you read about some of the Dragons backgrounds though they often failed too at first- I know Peter Jones did from a brief google on him.

Richard Branson too nearly lost it all too.

I suppose is they took the mantra "if at first you don't succeed"...

And while I'm in Frothing Berserker mode -

"something to do with she sees her expensive clothes as a symbol of how sucessful she is."
It has been ever thus. In Medieval days, you were only allowed BY LAW to wear fur if you were nobility. During the Roman Empire, only the emperor could wear purple. And I'll bet when we were cavemen, the best hunter wore the best skins. We have ALWAYS, as a species, used adornment to indicate status within the social groups. HD is just being human here FFS.

Roseflower exactly that is what makes them successful, because they will put their shirt, their car, their houses and probably their kidneys on the line, time after time, to make their business succeed. That's why so few entrepreneurs are as successful as that, because that's a very particular way of looking at the world - I could never do it, but good luck to those that can.

Exactly LeQueen! Dh owns his own company and has taken risks and made the most of opportunities that have come his way. He's taken exams every year for 21 years to ensure he's on top of his game in his profession and works bloody hard. If he makes a mistake he could be sued and we'd lose everything. So I won't apologise or explain how or why we spend our money.

Fair point LeQueen, I accept running a successful business and providing employment to others does require that kind of sacrifice sometimes. But most such business leaders reward themselves very handsomely for that kind of commitment, as does HD with her £3 million wardrobe, and that's fine - it's just this attitude that poor people doing useful, low paid jobs are lazy and deserve to struggle, whereas rich CEOs are utterly selflless, which I take issue with.

On the simple living billionaire spectrum, there is Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA) founder who still lives in the same house and drives a volvo - biggest expense is flowers for his wife.

But - it is alleged that he was a neo nazi in his youth, so someone who isn't extravagant may not necessarily be the nicest individual.

But - it is alleged that he was a neo nazi in his youth

could happen to anyone

was he friends with the nazi pope?

No, he was really good friends with a well known right wing nutcase (and then went "oh, I was aware my buddy was known as an extreme neo nazi nutcase. How careless of me" and attended meetings of the Swedish neo nazi group or something. There was a big hoo ha about it recently.

oh wait, he wasn't just a member he apparently recruited.

Nice

Can't trust those nordic blondes an inch

now, "there are no Nazi-sympathising thoughts in Ingvar's head whatsoever

Just silly names for chairs

Although that could be a whole new range

The Himmel Bookcase

The Goring Kitchen

I simply think that if I was hugely unimaginably wealthy I still wouldn't want to spend obscene amounts of money on myself. I can't think of a clearer way to put it. Its got nothing to do with jealousy - I would hate to be hugely rich, can hardly think of anything worse!

Otoh, I'd love to have plenty of money. Money for a really comfortable house, enough money to employ a cook, a new car, money for best seats at the theatre whenever I wanted and really lovely holidays about four times a year, money to help my mum out, money for us all to have really nice clothes - you know like Phase 8 prices or Whistles that kinda thing. I imagine that would be a household income of around the £300,000 a year mark, not entirely sure. Or a lump sum of about £5million perhaps. Anything beyond that I would try to share.

There's spending a lot and spending a ridiculous amount.