http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/magazine/17charity.t.html?ref=magazine

This article is amazing, first because what it suggests (rich people give away a certain amount of their money) is both so logical and so constraversial and second because of this line:

"Finally, the remainder of the nation’s top 10 percent earn at least $92,000 annually, with an average of $132,000. There are nearly 13 million in this group. If they gave the traditional tithe — 10 percent of their income, or an average of $13,200 each — this would yield about $171 billion and leave them a minimum of $83,000."

That blows my mind. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am. A minimum of 92,000 a year puts you in the top 10 percent earners? I'm starting with close to 2/3rds of that and if I do well and work hard, I could easily be there before I'm 30. Hell, its technically possible for me to get there in 5 years, given a good economy and smart choices. And I'm not unusual at columbia, at least in my engineering friends. The people who want to be there will get there pretty quickly. When this author is talking about "the rich," he's talking about us. That's a generalization of course. People make their own choices, but stuff like that reminds me that I really am starting on 3rd base.