Sunday, December 18, 2011

Snow Leopards

Something to think about: When I took the kids to Como Zoo this summer, I figured out the price for one of their pelts compared to the average annual wage of a farmer. That farmer, his family, and three of his friends would be set for life -- no planting, no worrying about rain, no work ever again. Could you turn down that lopsided trade? Any of us could understand someone taking that risk, even if we don't agree. That's why jewel heist movies are so popular.

However, its not glamorous, and people who get rich quickly rarely hold onto it. Check out Freakonomics: the average drug dealer makes less than someone working at McDonalds and lives with his parents. But man, the chance that you'd be that one success story...

What I wonder about is the sort of rich person who puts a bounty like that on an animal and what they'd do with the pelt. Of course, I also wonder what a CEO could possibly do to deserve a 26 million dollar golden parachute. That's over 8 leopards' worth. What did *they* have to kill?

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