Author Topic: Another "fuerdai" story  (Read 14869 times)

dude

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Another "fuerdai" story
« on: April 12, 2016, 12:43:35 PM »
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/world/americas/canada-vancouver-chinese-immigrant-wealth.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

I just can't help but thinking that these kids are going to one day be pulling the levers of power in China, and what that means for the rest of us.

9-Volt

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2016, 01:44:50 PM »
I work in Richmond and I have see Mr. Jin's Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, wrapped like outer space and just wondered "why?". I also witnessed the day the "I'm richer than you, car club" got arrested for racing down Hwy 99. The flashy wealth is just getting crazy around here and like the article says, most of who I see (99%) are I would say under 30. But being flashy can get you into trouble as you might know,http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/10k-hermes-handbags-stolen-in-b-c-home-invasion-1.1246270  maybe they should try stealth wealth.

slugline

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2016, 01:53:08 PM »
maybe they should try stealth wealth.

Stealth wealth is not valued by those that didn't earn it.

forummm

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2016, 01:59:58 PM »
Quote
Some Chinese immigrants think a supercar is a poor investment, because its value decreases over time. “Better to spend half a million dollars on two expensive watches or some diamonds,” said Diana Wang, 23, a University of British Columbia graduate student who said she owned more than 30 Chanel bags and a $200,000 diamond-encrusted Richard Mille watch.

Logic.

Quote
But in Canada, her parents gave her a strict car budget of 150,000 Canadian dollars ($115,000), so she drives the less-flashy Audi RS5.

Maybe something about that word got lost in translation.

bobechs

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2016, 02:47:48 PM »
[

Quote
But in Canada, her parents gave her a strict car budget of 150,000 Canadian dollars ($115,000), so she drives the less-flashy Audi RS5.

Maybe something about that word got lost in translation.

Not to mention all the Loonies that went up in smoke in the exchange rate rundown...

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2016, 04:33:17 PM »
maybe they should try stealth wealth.

Stealth wealth is not valued by those that didn't earn it.

Unless of course it's a statement of old money snobbery. Then the stealth part is overvalued.

forummm

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2016, 05:02:11 PM »
What is doubly sickening is that the money these kids are throwing around like it is confetti was earned through the hard labor -- and often lives, in the form of mine collapses and lung disease -- of miners in China who literally have NOTHING.  Chinese capitalism in the 21st century is one of the most brutal forms that has ever existed. 

Uh, I wouldn't go that far. It's brutal. But there's a lot of brutality around the world throughout history. Like in the US not so long ago. Slavery. Sharecropping. South Africa not so long ago. There are so many examples.

JustGettingStarted1980

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2016, 05:42:38 PM »
Reminds me of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Remains an excellent read. 1900 America was a very different time then USA today. I wonder if we are closer to that existence or to the 1960's and 70's blue collar ideal right now?

acepedro45

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2016, 07:57:33 AM »
Couple of interesting snippets from the article....

Quote
Many wealthy Chinese are increasingly eager to stow their families, and their riches, in the West, where rule of law, clean air and good schools offer peace of mind.

Tough indictment of a whole country there! It hurts to think that China struggles to provide clean air and rule of law to its citizens. Those things seems like they should be included in Country Management 101.

I had read about that Diana Wang girl elsewhere in the New Yorker, but I hadn't realized she did a voluntary stint as a street person. There is some aspect of cultural tourism that is a little disturbing, but at least it hints at a worldview that does include the less fortunate.

Quote
Four years ago, to learn the value of money after her friends criticized her spending habits, Ms. Wang spent three days on the streets of Vancouver, playing homeless. She said she had left her mansion with no phone, identification or wallet, wearing Victoria’s Secret pajamas and $1,000 Chanel shoes.

While in voluntary poverty, she lined up for donated food and felt the sting of humiliation after she was kicked out of a Tim Horton’s fast-food restaurant for falling asleep at a table. The experiment, she said, gave her a new appreciation for her parents’ financial support.

The Money Monk

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2016, 01:31:04 AM »
Quote
Some Chinese immigrants think a supercar is a poor investment, because its value decreases over time. “Better to spend half a million dollars on two expensive watches or some diamonds,” said Diana Wang, 23, a University of British Columbia graduate student who said she owned more than 30 Chanel bags and a $200,000 diamond-encrusted Richard Mille watch.

Logic.

Quote
But in Canada, her parents gave her a strict car budget of 150,000 Canadian dollars ($115,000), so she drives the less-flashy Audi RS5.

Maybe something about that word got lost in translation.

Not to be one of those grammar guys, but there's nothing wrong with that wording. Strict doesn't mean austere, it means total adherence to a rule. So "strict" in this context would refer to how likely they were to alter the budget, not to how "low" the budget might be (which is all relative anyway).

An Olympic powerlifter could have a very 'strict' diet of 5500 calories a day, for example.

expatartist

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2016, 01:48:33 AM »
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/world/americas/canada-vancouver-chinese-immigrant-wealth.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

I just can't help but thinking that these kids are going to one day be pulling the levers of power in China, and what that means for the rest of us.

They're well on their way to doing just that. Real estate is just the beginning.


Quote
Many wealthy Chinese are increasingly eager to stow their families, and their riches, in the West, where rule of law, clean air and good schools offer peace of mind.
Tough indictment of a whole country there! It hurts to think that China struggles to provide clean air and rule of law to its citizens. Those things seems like they should be included in Country Management 101.

You would hope so, but this hasn't been the case with the rise of first world quality of life, either (see ref. London's postwar toxic smog, the Industrial Revolution). China's messes are bigger, and its disasters are more visible immediately now due to social media.

Additionally, China's mess isn't just its own; it's taken on the first world's as well. Along with offshoring jobs, the US has offshored much of the pollution it requires to make the products you use every day. Chinese residents like myself consume it instead, every time we breathe. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1409983/rich-nations-outsourcing-pollution-china-says-un-report

obstinate

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2016, 06:12:51 PM »
Uh, I wouldn't go that far. It's brutal. But there's a lot of brutality around the world throughout history. Like in the US not so long ago. Slavery. Sharecropping. South Africa not so long ago. There are so many examples.
Just because you can think of something worse does not mean the situation as it stands is OK.

Chaplin

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2016, 07:24:52 PM »
I had posted this in a new thread not realizing that it was already here.

It's a 50-50 bet on whether any car over $150K here has an "N" tag on the back ("New driver"). It's mind boggling.

syednaeemul

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Paul der Krake

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2016, 06:01:10 AM »

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2016, 10:39:43 PM »
And the first bad news story has come out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gang-yuan-dismembered-millionaire-case-mothers-plead-for-anonymity-1.3213428

The tongs aren't dead by any stretch of the imagination. Also, the downside to being involved with robber barons is that sometimes you get splattered with whatever they used to make their living.

Kashmani

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2016, 06:17:51 AM »
And the first bad news story has come out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gang-yuan-dismembered-millionaire-case-mothers-plead-for-anonymity-1.3213428

Despite the violent ending, this is a interesting guy. It appears that he pursued wealth for the right reason. I have long thought that beyond meeting the basics, all wealth buys is status, which in turn buys only two things: (1) preferential eating privileges, and (2) preferential mating privileges. Since there is no shortage of food anymore, the only remaining rational reason to pursue wealth is the preferential mating privileges. And it looks like he used them liberally and ensured that his genes will live on. That is a level of pragmatism one does not see among many rich people.

Tabitha

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2016, 01:45:53 PM »
Uh, I wouldn't go that far. It's brutal. But there's a lot of brutality around the world throughout history. Like in the US not so long ago. Slavery. Sharecropping. South Africa not so long ago. There are so many examples.
Just because you can think of something worse does not mean the situation as it stands is OK.

Well, yes. But the quote that forummm was responding to, that your reply cut, was that it was the worst ever.  Context.

expatartist

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2016, 05:46:23 PM »
Despite the violent ending, this is a interesting guy. It appears that he pursued wealth for the right reason. I have long thought that beyond meeting the basics, all wealth buys is status, which in turn buys only two things: (1) preferential eating privileges, and (2) preferential mating privileges. Since there is no shortage of food anymore, the only remaining rational reason to pursue wealth is the preferential mating privileges. And it looks like he used them liberally and ensured that his genes will live on. That is a level of pragmatism one does not see among many rich people.

Eew. Not even going to stoop to that level.

As the oldest of 5 kids, though, I'll say his behavior has nothing to do with pragmatism; it doesn't take much $ - or 5 different women - to have a passel of good-looking, intelligent kids with strong genes. My great-greats all routinely had 13 children, bless'em - Irish & German catholics o.O

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2016, 11:37:17 PM »
And the first bad news story has come out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gang-yuan-dismembered-millionaire-case-mothers-plead-for-anonymity-1.3213428

Despite the violent ending, this is a interesting guy. It appears that he pursued wealth for the right reason. I have long thought that beyond meeting the basics, all wealth buys is status, which in turn buys only two things: (1) preferential eating privileges, and (2) preferential mating privileges. Since there is no shortage of food anymore, the only remaining rational reason to pursue wealth is the preferential mating privileges. And it looks like he used them liberally and ensured that his genes will live on. That is a level of pragmatism one does not see among many rich people.

I rather doubt that pragmatism was his motive at the time.

Generally, when someone's hacked into a hundred pieces by his sister's husband, either the person who did it is a total wingnut, or there's a sleazy back story of some kind that involves some extremely dangerous people.

shanghaiMMM

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Re: Another "fuerdai" story
« Reply #20 on: April 17, 2016, 11:47:03 PM »
And the first bad news story has come out:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gang-yuan-dismembered-millionaire-case-mothers-plead-for-anonymity-1.3213428

Interestingly, I was unable to access the linked article here in China, I needed my VPN to read it.

Staying anonymous in China at least!