Hypocritical Extravagance

Not usually into celebrity news, but this galled me:

Several entertainment news sources have reported that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have acquired a $60 million 1,000-acre estate in the south of France. The joint is apparently called Chateau Miraval, located in a tiny village called Brignol in the Var.

The property allegedly has 35 bedrooms, swimming pool, billiards room, indoor pool, gyms, sauna and jacuzzi and a huge banquet hall, E! reports. The castle is very intimate, with a driveway three miles long. The place is surrounded by forest on all sides and is close to Aix en Provence.

Other celebrities such as Bono, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis also live in the French Riviera area. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spotted the estate from the air while house-hunting by helicopter. They asked the previous owner to name his price and agreed with the steep $65 million price tag demanded.

Given the lectures we get on poverty from the left, and the suggestion that money needs to be taken from taxpayers in order to address those problems. Bono is particularly noted for this. Yet, where do they live? Multi-million dollar homes that make John Edwards look like he really is in touch with the working people of America in his $6 million mansion.

Here’s an idea. If you really want to help solve world poverty, how about Brad and Angelina limit themselves to a $1 million home and put $64 million in rotating loans to Kiva which would allow tens of thousands of people to start up businesses in the third world, which is really more needed than more handouts to corrupt governments.

And if John Edwards wants to solve poverty, he could really sacrifice and settle for a dumpy $750,000 home and give $5.25 million towards building Habitat for Humanity houses. In poor areas, Edwards’ money could easily build 52 houses.

But leadership by example is out. The easy thing is to live in luxury and use government to try and solve the problems of poverty by taking money from your fellow taxpayers.