[ExI] experiment regarding ethical behaviors vs status

[Kelly Anderson]

On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 10:38 AM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
>> Point: you can't tell a person's financial status by what she drives.
>
> Yes, you can. Rich people buy a) *new* b) *latest-model* c) *big* luxury
> model cars which will bankrupt poor people by fuel costs alone.
>
> (Some immigrants, particularly from Turkey tend to live over their means,
> but even then these are older models).
>
> The only time this doesn't apply is rentals.

I don't know how things work in Europe Eugen, so your mileage may
vary... But here in the good old US of A, the majority of new cars are
purchased by the poor. Yes, the Super Rich do buy the occasional
Ferrari, but new Toyota Camarys are by and large purchased by the poor
because $300 a month doesn't sound like much, and they qualify for
credit. Rich people, on the other hand, buy the used Camary until they
can afford to pay cash for the new Ferrari.

Deferred gratification is a key component to success. Rich have it
more than poor. Good math leads to rich people, another reason really
rich people buy used.

As both a rich person and as a poor person, I always buy used. I
always pay cash. That's because I'm smart, and not stuck on the status
issue. Then again, maybe if I had a better car in college, I would
have attracted a saner girl, and that would have helped an awful
lot... LOL...

-Kelly