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[viskaslietuvai]

My history teacher, when explaining Alexander the Great's conquests, said that all the treasures he stole from the Persians made him the richest man in the history of the world, with all the treasure being speculated to be worth trillions of dollars.

Not necessarily saying your history teacher was wrong, but if this is high school, you don't actually need a degree in history to teach high school history, unlike math or science. This is why a number of history teachers are also coaches and PE teachers.

Also, reading people like Herodotus they toss out some impressive treasure descriptions that may or may not be true. Massive golden bowls, a 4' tall solid gold statue of Croesus' baker (my personal favorite) so who knows what kind of stuff he had. It's difficult to adequately assess the holdings of ancient empires and peoples as so much of it seems to come from rumor. Also, did Alexander the Great's conquests belong to him or Macedon? Certainly some of that wealth found its way back home civic projects and paying soldiers. The United States GDP is currently 13.8 trillion for some comparison of trillions of dollars coming from nations. Another consideration is value beyond raw material. Papyrus was considered damn expensive back then. Now we get paper by the bushel. Just some thoughts.

Side question: do replies like the above come across as the ravings of a douche?

[umiman]

No. I think it's well constructed. It's logically sound as well. I agree with it too, though I won't doubt Alexander's greatness. Is there any real difference between being the richest and being one of the richest? It doesn't matter how much you accumulate, just how you earn and spend it.

[Yanlin]

"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it."

I forgot who said that.

[DJ]

I don't have any numbers to support me or anything, but I think Genghis Khan looted even more stuff than Alexander.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

Yeah, it's not God. Or a god or g-d. Depending on your beliefs. Maybe to certain people, but those people are certifiable. Even the extraordinarily greedy did not, before retiring for the night, say "Oh money, please make Rachel in accounting fall desperately in lust with me. And give me a new central air conditioning unit."

Money can actually do this, unlike god.
It all depends on how much you're speaking to.

[Yanlin]

Yeah. Money can buy ANYTHING. You just need enough of it.

[viskaslietuvai]

Yeah. Money can buy ANYTHING. You just need enough of it.

Oh definitely. Well not anything. Even Bill Gates hasn't yet bought a cure to AIDS, but not for lack of trying. (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) But my point was not the capability of money, but rather the act of worship and prayer towards it, with rare exception, does not exist.

[Yanlin]

Try reading my post again. Bill gates doesn't have enough money to buy a cure for AIDS? If he spent all his money on researching a cure, give him a year or two, he'd fucking have a cure for fucking AIDS.

If that fails, he did not use enough of it.

This argument can never fail. If anything fails, it needs more money.

[chaoticag]

According to the cia fact book, the gdp per capita worldwide for 2008 was 62.25 trillion dollars. If we assume for a second that the world population is 6.5 billion, then each person would recieve $9576.9 if this was distributed evenly.

[andrea]

62.25 trillions pro capita would mean we each would get that much. 9576 would be pro capita i think

[chaoticag]

It is per capita, pro capita means you are in favor of people, which is clearly not the case as you are a DF fan.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

It is per capita, pro capita means you are in favor of people, which is clearly not the case as you are a DF fan.

We'd use our money to pour magma on all the other people so we could have their money.

[Nilocy]

It is per capita, pro capita means you are in favor of people, which is clearly not the case as you are a DF fan.

We'd use our money to pour magma on all the other people so we could have their money.

Might accidently burn the stuff, imagine if hte ware houses of money caught fire. We'd be screwed for ever.

Oh btw, great way to fight inflation. Just burn as much money as you can find, don't spend it on anything, just go into a bank and burn every note. LEss money in circulation = bigger value of monies

And interesting point to make, as you may be unwares of it, Scotland acctually has its own currency. Called the Scottish pound or something. Its the same as English Sterling in EVERY SINGLE WAY, but the scottish are stupidly nationalistic and so want their own currency for the sake of having one.

[viskaslietuvai]

Oh btw, great way to fight inflation. Just burn as much money as you can find, don't spend it on anything, just go into a bank and burn every note. LEss money in circulation = bigger value of monies

And interesting point to make, as you may be unwares of it, Scotland acctually has its own currency. Called the Scottish pound or something. Its the same as English Sterling in EVERY SINGLE WAY, but the scottish are stupidly nationalistic and so want their own currency for the sake of having one.

That is a way to fight inflation, but A: possible property destruction requiring funds to get it repaired, plus cost of incendiary materials to begin your conflagration and B: deflation can be worse than inflation, so you don't want to go overboard. I remember being little hoping for deflation so my paltry savings would be able to buy all the legos my juvenile heart ever wanted.

There are a lot of those weird currencies, like there is a Connecticut dollar. Hell, technically tickets from those mini golf places are a currency they just aren't accepted widely. It's acceptance of something that makes it official tender of a location. In Cambodia there is the riel, but the American dollar is widely accepted, sometimes at a better price. The riel however is not accepted in the US.

[Gorjo MacGrymm]

Try reading my post again. Bill gates doesn't have enough money to buy a cure for AIDS? If he spent all his money on researching a cure, give him a year or two, he'd fucking have a cure for fucking AIDS.

If that fails, he did not use enough of it.

This argument can never fail. If anything fails, it needs more money.

Holy Crap!  Yanlin is really Barack Obama!     JUST KIDDING, PLEASE DONT HURT ME! 

According to the cia fact book, the gdp per capita worldwide for 2008 was 62.25 trillion dollars. If we assume for a second that the world population is 6.5 billion, then each person would recieve $9576.9 if this was distributed evenly.

I did the same math a few years ago and came up with about 11K for 5 billion.  If we redistribute the wealth, were screwed, since its not all cash.