Aizle wrote:
Rafael wrote:
How about this LK:
The President's indictment of irresponsible spending is generally wise. However, by refering to it as "blow[ing] a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college", he effectively reduced what is also a central meeting place of commerce and business, and home to many upstanding Americans, to nothing more than an irresponsible haven that is to be loathed and chastised.
Sure, except the fact that WHY Vegas has developed into a central meeting place for companies is because of the prestige of holding the meeting in vegas for the after hours entertainment it provides. Not saying that it's a bad decision necessarily, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Aizle, sorry missed your post, I'll respond:
Is there a way to substantiate Vegas developed into an entertainment capital because it was a central meeting place rather than the other way around?
Farsky:
Fair enough. However, I think we need to look at the image of Vegas specifically. It's first and foremost about entertainment. Everyone knows there are casinos there, sure. But this alleged image seems to be first and foremost about entertainment and perhaps decadence and gluttony. Obama's words specifically addressed wasting money. Vegas is actually a very economic vacation spot if you don't gamble: the hotels and restaraunts are reasonably priced, and the cost of entertainment wouldn't be any more expensive then the money I spent while in Mexico, NYC or anywhere else.
The super-rich of course will gamble, but they aren't really the ones needing to curtail their budgets, either.
Also, more to the point, Obama's message about spending is highly ironic, given a) his administration and Congress's attitude that consumerism somehow drives the economy (maybe they aren't as ignorant as they act?) and b) since consumers are curtailing spending, the federal government is picking up the slack by expanding the budget.