To live, succeed carries high price in our world

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By Peijean Tsai

The best things in life may be free. But, if you ask me, I would
much rather live in a posh Bel Air mansion with a seven-figure bank
account than live off the “fat of the land” with barely
enough moolah for a decent existence.

In a world where people want the best of everything, I can
easily equate money with comfort, security and luxury. Having the
buck stop in my pocket means getting whatever I want, when I want
it, and how I want it.

Many of you are probably shaking your head as you read this
while wearing your fine terry cloth or silk robe over breakfast, or
while sitting in your $1,000 tuition college lecture. You cringe at
the idea that the world is superficial and that the buck is the
ticket to ride. Money is hardly just a medium of exchange, but a
necessary asset for those who not only want to live a decent
lifestyle but also want to have some social control.

If happiness means just living a normal life, then breathing the
fresh air here in Los Angeles carries a heavy price for existence.
According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, Los Angeles is ranked
at 147.7 with the nation’s average being 100, and Yahoo! Real
Estate states that the average 2000 square-foot house soars at
$320,000. True, every shelter has its price, but keeping up with
the mean cost of living in the City of Angels has become a sight
for sore wallets.

  Illustration by ZACH LOPEZ/Daily Bruin

Money also seems to be the key element in educating the young
ones, where expensive private schools shine as some of the best
primary and secondary educational institutions. President George W.
Bush let America know that he preferred parochial educations for
the nation’s future when he announced his school voucher
program. While he was stressing quality education, he failed to
recognize that the $4,000 vouchers he was offering to families that
applied for a voucher could not possibly fund the $20,000 yearly
average tuition for such a school.

He also ignored the fact that the program would strip funds from
less affluent public schools. That’s our Bush! Too bad for
those who cannot afford this expensive breed of education; a good
education never came cheap.

In the business world, money is just as influential a force. If
you do not have a lot of money to back your business, you will
become victim to those who do, namely the giant corporate
competitors who are ready to take you down immediately.

Just last fall, Westwood Video, a small store on Gayley Avenue,
fell victim to its neighborhood competitors, Blockbuster Video and
Hollywood Video, after being in business for 20 years. Money talks
in the business world, and so small businesses usually have too
small a voice to be heard.

Though unique venues still scatter Westwood, corporations
dominate. Coffee chains like The Coffee Bean and Starbucks have
monopolized the Westwood coffee market, setting two locations of
each store all within a half mile of each other so that you will
not be able to miss them on your next stroll in UCLA’s
backyard town.

Money definitely talks for corporations like Borders and Barnes
and Noble. These two businesses recently settled a lawsuit brought
on by the American Booksellers Association, who represented itself
and 20 independent booksellers. In the April hearings, evidence was
revealed that the two book giants received special discounts from
publishers, incentives, rebates, as well as preferential billing
deadlines over smaller venues.

Money played a big part in the success of these larger venues,
as well as in the settlement of this dispute. The corporate
defendants paid $4.7 million dollars to the ABA, silencing their
cries for justice and again using the power of their pocketbooks to
take charge.

Big movie budgets also seem to fuel the success of motion
pictures. The year 2000’s top five grossing box-office hits
were The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Cast Away, Mission Impossible
2, Gladiator and The Perfect Storm, all flicks with budgets well
over $100 million. Moviemakers know that they must spend hoards of
money in order to make profits.

Even looking at the all-time highest grossing movies, 20 out of
the top 30 were films made in the 1990s when the $100
million-and-over budget for movies was born (with 1994’s True
Lies). These recent big budget films have toppled the box office
records of 70 years of film, making you question the influence of a
film’s budget in successful ticket sales.

This financial trend of course bleeds into politics too. The
figures spent for the campaigns of the 2000 presidential election
candidates are almost sickening, showing that money is directly
linked with power or the pursuit of it.

Al Gore spent over $120 million for his campaign while his
opponent and victor, Bush used over $185 million, spending more
than any presidential candidate in history. Without the ability to
raise all the big bucks and thus build up their worth in dollars,
these presidential candidates would fail miserably. Money for
campaigning has become an out of control factor in elections,
suggesting that these excessive dollar sums are just as important
as the verbal promises these running mates offer to voters.

With that in mind, I would like to turn your attention to the
June 5th mayoral elections. Over the next few weeks, commercials
will fall in breaks of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes with
commands to vote for Hahn, Villaraigosa or Donald Duck for mayor.
Before you race off to class in the morning, the phone will ring,
and a so-called “friend” of so-and-so will kindly ask
you for a chunk of your time so that he can convince you to vote
for his wonderful runoff candidate. And be sure to puncture that
chad hole completely!

Then there are all those lovely signs and billboards”“25 to
be precise”“of Mr. James Hahn’s image so that you can
ponder what a good mayoral candidate he is while you are driving
around Los Angeles. All these campaign strategies cost money,
absurdly large amounts of money, when you total them.

Recently, the company Regency Outdoor Advertising donated
$250,000 in advertising space to Hahn, current city attorney and
prospective mayor of Los Angeles, leading to the elimination of
spending limits for candidates running in the June 5th
election.

While the city still prohibits political contributions larger
than $1000 to candidates, they can still “fundraise” as
much campaign dough as possible, so long as each donation by itself
does not exceed the limit. This political spending spree again
shows the power of the buck as a very influential medium with which
to achieve success and happiness.

Of course, if you disagree with me on any of this, send some
money my way ““ cash preferred ““ and I just might
reconsider.