Lifestyles.

"There are diseases of poverty, such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. There are diseases of affluence, such as lung cancer, high blood pressure, and type-2 diabetes. And then there are the hazards of extreme affluence, such as being thrown off a polo pony, flipping your Cigarette boat, or succumbing to altitude sickness on a vanity expedition to the Himalayas.

This point was brought home this week with the presumed death by drowning of Philip Merrill, the mid-Atlantic press baron who owns Washingtonian magazine. The 72-year-old Merrill was sailing alone on his 41-foot boat, probably without a life jacket, when he fell into the Chesapeake Bay. I mean no disrespect to Merrill or his family when I say that the risk of meeting this sort of end goes into the small but poetic category of problems unique to the rich and famous. Members of the middle class do not have to worry about falling off $250,000 sailboats because they don't have $250,000 sailboats to fall off of." - taken from Jacob Weisberg's posting Wednesday June 14th, 2006 on Slate.com

Ah yes, makes me rethink buying that yacht. I think you all should stop buying those yachts as well. I mean, this article is evidence that yachts are dangerous. Perhaps we should start lobbying against yachting. Perhaps we should make a new law. Perhaps we should merely start wearing life-jackets. Common sense. Not that I mean any disrespect because such an untimely death is indeed tragic. However, I sometimes think that easy lifestyles have made us industrialized worlders forget the harder realities of life. Not that I'm advocating reverting back to the Stone Age.

I guess I don't have a stellar point to make. Perhaps we should be more thankful. Perhaps we should take a look around. Perhaps we should find a cure for HIV/AIDS before investing ridiculous amounts on updated safety features for affluent playthings. Perhaps ....