Philadelphia Inquirer — Hal Taussig wears baggy jeans and fraying work shirts that Goodwill might reject. His shoes have been resoled three times. He bought his one suit from a thrift shop for $14. At age 81, he doesn’t own a car. He performs errands and commutes to the office by bicycle.
He lives on the outskirts of Media in a narrow wood-frame house that was built for mill and factory workers.
And he has given away millions.
Given the fortune that Taussig has made through Untours, his unique travel business, and has given away through the Untours Foundation, you could call him the Un-millionaire. If he so chose, he could be living in a Main Line mansion and driving a Mercedes. But he considers money and what he calls “stuff,” beyond what he needs to survive, a burden, an embarrassment.
Editor’s note: the inquirer story is no longer up. But you can see their photo gallery of the story here. Or you can read more recent news stories about Tal Haussig here.
Posted in Economics | 2 Comments »“Oh! that we who declare against wars, and acknowledge our trust to be in God only, may walk in the light, and therein examine our foundation and motives in holding great estates! May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions, or not.”
- Quaker activist John Woolman, 1720-1772
Hat Tip: John Lamoreau
Posted in Economics, Peace, War | 1 Comment » 
I discovered this “advertisement” on the Wittenburg Door site and the artist Tim Nyberg of Octane Creative has graciously given his permission for us to post it here.
Growing up as a middle class American, I always knew that there were desperately poor people in the world. And I heard many times how fortunate I was to live in
Then I discovered the Global Rich List. It’s a simple website where you input your annual household income. Then it shows you where you are in relation to the rest of the world’s population, based on a bar graph and a percentage. Wow!! My husband and I couldn’t believe the results. Surely that thing isn’t working right! We aren’t rich. After all, the car we drive is 10 years old and we don’t wear designer labels and… I guess my concept of wealth is pretty distorted by the culture I’m living in. So if I am rich, what does that mean for me? Do I have any responsibility to all those people in the world less fortunate than me?
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