What excuses are you referring to?

Are you also arguing that if a problem isn’t in your immediate periphery then it doesn’t exist? We are all human beings, living on the same planet.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling a modicum of empathy for those less fortunate by circumstance of geography or socioeconomic influence.

Even more simply:

Government: closes their curtains in the evening.

I’d probably turn off the power first especially if I didn’t already know what was behind it and whether it is properly grounded.

I feel like I’m the exact opposite of what this article proposed however the entire thing confuses me.

I’m not rich but relatively well off, and, without doubt in the best financial position of my immediate group of friends.

If I happen to be the one that picks up the bill I often have people chasing me to pay me. I actually think that is a problem because they feel obliged to do the right thing, however I’m unmotivated because I don’t care about the outcome – I don’t need the money. This is my fault and I feel poorly for it but the reality is that after I’ve had a nice evening I don’t really care. In terms of the debt: honestly I probably wouldn’t bother asking.

The very concept of asking someone for 4 bucks seems abhorrent to me. To be clear, I say this personally; I’m not struggling to pay rent/mortgage/utilities/whatever. If you’re in a position where those are concerns then please absolutely follow up.

Chasing a $4 debt won’t make you rich, ever. Even if you do it all the time. Anyone well off chasing this kind of cash is deluding themselves.

Generally speaking my friends and I operate over a long term fairness principle. “Bob got the last round, I’ll get the next”; they won’t be even but our assumption is that it’ll balance in the long term. That applies to more than just the pub.

I’d prefer they make it fatter if the battery would last more than a day as consequence.

A former treasurer of Australia solved it. You just need to get a good job.