I'm with you Onhwy61. When a single Modigliani sells for $170+ million, to a former taxi driver turned billionaire, $50K for headphones seems par for the course. $50K headphones are like $100 hamburgers...pricey, and not something I'd spend my money on, but far from crazy in the grand scheme of today's world.
@B_limo - I think your math is off. If you think someone is only morally "justified" spending $50K on headphones if they've also donated $500K to charity, that means on an equivalent basis you have to give $2500 to charity, not $25 (if you spent $250 on your headphones). And unless we're hypocritical, we'd have to apply that standard across the board, and I'm not going to start asking people who proudly announce their new $1000 speakers if they also gave $10K to charity first. Unless we think affluent people have a greater moral imperative than less-affluent people, which I don't. Then again, who is John Galt?
@B_limo - I think your math is off. If you think someone is only morally "justified" spending $50K on headphones if they've also donated $500K to charity, that means on an equivalent basis you have to give $2500 to charity, not $25 (if you spent $250 on your headphones). And unless we're hypocritical, we'd have to apply that standard across the board, and I'm not going to start asking people who proudly announce their new $1000 speakers if they also gave $10K to charity first. Unless we think affluent people have a greater moral imperative than less-affluent people, which I don't. Then again, who is John Galt?