Do you live your life by your principles?

Depends what your definition of wealthy wealth is, ultimately. I know plenty of people who've made a decent wedge of cash by doing nothing but positive things - designers, artists, producers, musicians, actors, what have you.

Again, I have no doubt this is true. There are people who do geniune good with their lives and are not motivated by a desire or* need *to earn large sums.

But conversely, there are people who design Nestle chocolate bar wrappers, who shoot Mercedes adverts, who sell their music to H&M advertisments or star in commericals for BP. Again - a fairly trite line of argument to take, but a valid one nonetheless. These 'creatives' who choose the paycheck over ethics are, imho, little better that the execs who are running these companies.

Furthermore, we all go to supermarkets and buy vegetables from Kenya that are grown by people who are paid tuppence for their unrelenting hard labour. Many of us buy clothes from high street stores that subcontract every level of their manufacturing process out so many times that there is no real accountablity, no real way of ensuring the workers in whatever south-east asian town are actually getting paid *any *kind of decent wage - this is a wealth, a freedom, that the majority of the world does not have.

I can't really be bothered to go on, because I know many people view this sort of arguement as typical left-wing bollocks, because I know nothing will ever be done about it, and, like Tynan et al, I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that we might as well just live life, enjoy it and wash all the 'bad stuff' down with delicious (locally sourced) ale.