Infinite money

A common "getting to know you" question is what would you do if you won the lottery? But a more interesting to think about is what you would do if you had literally infinite money. Anything you go to buy, you will have enough money. And you will never under any circumstance run out.

It's interesting because with the lottery question, there is the underlying question of not running out of money, or if you do spend it all spending it on something that you would enjoy/benefit from for a lifetime. But if you have infinite money, this just isn't an issue. So it's fascinating to see where different people would splurge, and where they wouldn't bother.

For example, I wouldn't replace perfectly good stuff just because better stuff is available. I'd continue to wear my mall store and thrift store clothes, watch my 20 inch CRT TV, and use my cheap monochrome camera-less cellphone. But when this stuff ran out, their replacements would be top-of-the-line within my needs. My new clothes would be custom-made, my new TV would be LCD (although not a ridiculous 40-something inch screen), and my new cellphone would have all the features in the world.

A lot of the places I'd splurge with infinite money are in the areas of habit. Right now, I'm hesitant to, say, buy expensive makeup or get my hair done in a way that requires regular maintenance, because I know it's hard to do these things just once - once you start, you don't ever want to go back, and that increases your operating expenses. But if money were infinite, Touche Eclat all the way, and a professionaly-designed regime to make the most of my hair. I'd get clothes and undergarments and shoes custom-made specifically to flatter my body, and I'd get my home professionally decorated and furnished.

But it's also interesting to think about what you wouldn't change if you had infinite money. With infinite money, I'd buy the same $400,000 condo I'd buy with a lottery win, because I simply have no use for anything more. I'd still shop at Dominion, because I do like having food of my own choosing in my kitchen. I'd still get books from the library if I only intend to read them once, I'd still borrow CDs from the library and rip them to my itunes, and I'd still take the subway if I'm going directly to another subway stop.

The other weird thing about the infinite money scenario is the opportunity it presents for donations. Any problem in the world that can be solved by throwing money at it, you could solve. Remember Hurricane Katrina? You could pay to have every single person rescued (insofar as money can get them rescued) and buy every single one of them a new home. You could pay for all the medical care everyone in the whole world requires. You could pay off the national debt and tell the politicos "Okay, now that that's dealt with, let's have a decent social safety net, shall we?" You could even sponsor a decent social safety net single-handedly! You could achieve world peace by paying every soldier in the world to NOT participate in the military. I think of all the aspects of the infinite money scenario, what I could do by giving the money to others makes me the biggest megalomaniac.