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I got my first wac-a-doodle commenter. No surprise it was on my Which is Worse? post. Even less of a surprise, it was an anonymous commenter. Now, I probably shouldn't even acknowledge this commenter, but I'm such a politics whore I just can't stop myself. Besides, it gives me an opportunity to
I'm not going to post the entire comment - if you'd like to read the
In America, the richest 1% now hold 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH.
So? Why is this a problem? For the most part they've worked hard to get that money. This really should motivate the rest of us to push ourselves harder so that we can earn more.
THE RICHEST 1% HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE.
Now there's an uplifting thought! Make people believe they can't better themselves and they'll be dependent on your help. You can spend billions of dollars on social programs to keep them believing they can't do it themselves. Here's reality - the average family's income rose by 35 percent (adjusted for inflation), and the income per person in the household was up 153 percent (adjusted for inflation) in just the last generation.
So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the middle class slip further into debt and the lower class further into poverty.
Let's look at what really leads to poverty in America (from An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck):
- About 2/3 of "poor" children reside in single-parent homes
- 92 percent of children who live in families that make more than $75,000/year live with two parents; 80 percent of those who live in families that make less than $15,000/year do not.
- Kids who do not live with two biological parents are more than five times as likely to be poor and twice as likely to drop out of high school and have behavioral problems.
This isn't about where the wealth accumulates, this is about what has happened to the American family.
The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class.
If you are looking for income equality, you best find yourself a home in a communist country. The only down side to that is that most communist leaders tend to kill millions of their own citizens.
If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives.
Yes, the sub-prime fiasco was lead by greedy bankers, but guess what? They were catering to a market that was demanding loans. This was a high risk group that was more likely to default on their loans. Do I think this means we should bail out sub-prime lenders? Absolutely not, nor should we bail out those that ignored the terms of their loans. Learn to live with the decisions you make in life.
Sub-prime. Their idea. NAFTA. Their idea. Outsourcing. $200 cell phone bills. Their idea. $200 basketball shoes. Their idea. $30 late fees. Their idea. $30 NSF fees. Their idea.
It must be a warm fuzzy place that allows one to blame all of their personal woes on "them." Who was it that accepted sub-prime loans? Who is it that demands lower prices (NAFTA, outsourcing)? Who is it that racks up a $200 cell phone bill? Who is it that must have the latest and greatest in basketball shoes? Who is it that pays their bills late and overdraws their checking account?
Oh! That would be "us"!
Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same.Since I'm not rich, I must be an ignorant fan, however something tells me I may not be the ignorant one in all of this.
Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.I actually do believe one of the worst economic crises may be looming on the horizon. I believe we are headed for a significant recession (at the least) and possibly another depression. What I don't believe is that this is due to those who are wealthy. This has to do with trying to artificially fix things (sub-prime bail-outs for example) rather than allowing the economy to self adjust. This has to do with our inability to live in a cash (rather than credit) society. This has to do with the loss of our country's moral compass.
Would things be tough for a few years if we just swallow our medicine now? Absolutely, but if we don't, this commenter is right on target - WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.
20 comments:
I still see nothing wrong with flat tax... Everyone pays their fair share. EVERYONE!
Doc, I agree! Tax me on what I spend rather than on my income. That single change encourages saving - you're only taxed on it if you spend it - something that few American's are doing these days.
I have a friend who works for the state and takes home somewhere around $1,800 a month in earned income. She has some savings and a small retirement account but it doesn't add a whole lot to her income.
She is selling her house and wants to buy a condo. She went down to her bank and talked to them and the guy there told her that she could afford ... get this ...
A THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR LOAN.
Her monthly payments would be 70% of her income after you include her down payment.
She was laughing about that said that she talked to a money "expert" about what she could really afford.
What was really funny about that is that the bank IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXPERT! LOL
People are suckers. Uneducated people walk into a bank expecting the bank to to the right thing.
Our high school doesn't even teach a basic economics or financial management class here.
I don't know what my point is here other than the lending institutions certainly have been taking advantage of people who are high risk and people have a difficult time admitting when they aren't as far up the economic ladder as they'd like to be.
Not everybody needs a 5 bedroom house with a whirlpool and 3 car garage. Not everybody needs 2 SUVs and an economical car. There's nothing wrong with sending your kids to a state college that is affordable instead of the fancy private college that isn't affordable.
Okay, I'm rambling now.
Why do all these trolls always have to be anonymous? Pussies.
Anonymity is the calling card of the cowards. If I ever disagreed with you, of course being the ultra-conservative that I am, I never do ; ) I would proudly display my name.
One thing, however, c'mon, Glenn Beck? You can certainly find someone more reputable than him to cite...can't you? He's a mouth breathing hack. Cheers!!
Jay, I think the bank is the expert ... on making money! I think people (generally) need to learn to look out for their own best interests rather than depending on some "expert" to do it!
You're cute when you ramble ...
Matt-Man, even *I* balked at having to cite Glenn Beck on those stats, but I'll be damned if he cited *his* source. Yes, that makes me a bit uncomfortable as well. Now I'll have to go find the damn citation!
CITATION FOR FAMILY DATA
The data that I cited from An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck can also be found at www.childtrends.org (a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center)
Yes, I'm a GEEK!
Having spent most of my life in a "socialist" country - I can assure you that is NOT the solution. They may say everything is fine and dandy over here, but there is a lot of crap swept under the carpet, that they don't want anyone to know... not other countries - certainly not the people living here.
It's nothing like communist USSR or anything, but it's not as good as they want to make it out to be.
What would the average person choose? The ability to be rich? Or being punished for being rich... by paying ridiculous income taxes if you earn more than the average person?
There is even an additional "wealth" tax that you have to pay if you have valuable assets.
Europe in general has "old money" wealth, with a form of socialism making a quality of life that is tolerable for the rest. Right or wrong, America will be similar in the future. You will find the banks far more willing to lend you money to buy something non productive, like a house or a car, rather than lending you money to start a businees or buy equipement to grow your current small business. Big business runs Japan, and if you don't think our corporations don't have vast influences over the policies of this country, start looking closer... If it sounds like I'm disagreeing with you, I'm not, but somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
Show your butt tommorrow, and I'll forget what I just said.... :)
If you are looking for income equality, you best find yourself a home in a communist country. The only down side to that is that most communist leaders tend to kill millions of their own citizens.
Plus there is definately income equality, EVERYONE except the ruling class is poor.
The uninformed will vote for this though, because being lifes loser is easier than actually working, see income redistribution (Nacy P, Harry Reid, Hillary, Obama, Castro, Stalin) as a play for fools and anyone who isn't smart enough to work and save and get rich slow. I am not rich, well I don't guess I am, but I don't own one single credit card, credit line, any kind of credit at all except a home mort. I financed 38% of the cost. I would never ever purchase a new vehicle, sign a fleece or finanace a vehicle, all sucker plays in my opinion. I run/own 4 small businesses exactly the same way, zero debt. Anyway, people who aren't smart enough to be personally responsible always disagree and look to the government to help them, it must be tough to have such low self esteem and low self worth, they must have been to an Obama or Hillary rally where they can wallow in their own pity with like minded life losers. I do feel sorry for these folks, it must make people feel worthless to have to take such stances, I'm not sure they deserve my pity but they get it. I am so glad I don't see life that way.
You busted his ass Dana, but then thats easy they make decisions based on emotion, you make them backed by facts.
Carry On.
Oh yeah, the Fair Tax would hurt me personaly but I believe wuld be best for the country. I would never accept g'ment money but I will use every single loophole my accountant and financial advisors (who I almost never listen to) can find, te fair tax would wipe those write offs out.
Here's my 2 cents...
I agree with what you said.
I believe that people who post comments such as that are somewhat ignorant and my guess would be someone young.
My experience in life has been that people are what they make themselves. Rich, Poor, or in between...
I'm Middle Class because of the decisions I've made in my life.
I'm all for a Flat Tax, but it has to be on income. If you only tax what people spend you would be putting a lot of businesses out...
Interesting topic though!
Here comes the epic response! Get ready it's a long one!
In my country income tax statistics prove that almost 90% of our citizens with a net worth in excess of one million dollars inherited all of their money.
Income may have gone up against inflation. However, the cost of living has gone up even faster. In the 1950's the father would work while mom stayed at home and raised the kids. They had a house and a new car every three years. Try doing that on the pay from a factory job. Try finding a factory job today. They're all in India or China.
The notion that wealthy people have "earned" what they have is false. I spend a lot of time around wealthy people and they all have rich parents. Most of these people don't have a real job and simply live off income from investments that they check on about once a week or so.
My country also has socialized medicine. My country is a capitalist democracy and we never leave a person to die on the curb because they don't have health insurance.
My country does not kill its own citizens. We also don't get involved in wars and bombing people in other countries for the wrong reasons. This is in spite of the fact that we have lots of social programs. Socialism isn't bad. It's like salt. You just need a dash.
The decision to go to war is an expensive decision made by rich people. Poor people think harder about the decision to make war. They know they will be the ones fighting it while the rich folks are safe back home.
Thanks to this attitude we have no troops in Iraq. However, we are doing the majority of the fighting and dying in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan. Average folks do have a sense of global justice.
Social programs don't hurt anyone. The parking garage in my building is packed with exotic cars. Our economy is more productive because people spend less time off sick due to healthcare.
University tuition is 10% of what it is in the United States due to social programs and government scholarships. We have far more university and college graduates per capita than the Untied States.
We also live longer and have a better standard of living. We have less poverty and far less crime. Plus we own all the same cool stuff that Americans do. Our population is only 10% of the size of the United States but our economy is in the top seven for the planet. Our dollar is worth more than the American dollar. That's something for such a lightly populated country.
Wealth does not trickle down. Poor people are the engine of the economy. When they get paid they go out and spend it right away. They have no choice. They don't make enough to have money just sitting around. I know rich people who have tens to hundreds of thousands just sitting in their cheque account making no interest at all.
Money is the glue that keeps a bad marriage together. I know plenty of rich couples that stay together because of the money. When you're poor a divorce is no problem. When you've got half your assets at stake it's enough to keep you in a bad situation forever. It's not kids that keep a marriage together - it's the mortgage.
That's why wealthy people divorce less. Ask an unhappy soccer mom why she stays. Ask her husband why he cheats on her but never leaves.
Try to get a university education while working for an "American" minimum wage. It's pretty much impossible to work enough hours to pay the rent and eat plus cover the cost of tuition. It's not impossible to move up but it sure is hard when you have no inherited wealth. If the rich want to stay rich you need a new system for your economy. There aren't enough Mc Jobs to sustain your poor population.
Businesses are so large now that it's impossible to start a small business in many categories simply due to economies of scale. The world has changed a lot and the individual needs more resources to "make it." Social programs are a good way to get poor people to "fit in" to the system. Otherwise they get excluded from the system.
I suggest that you go to a poor area in your town and talk to the people there about your view on money.
Ask the rich people you know who paid for their education, first car, house down payment, and business startup costs. There's always a rich relative behind all that stuff.
Seriously, talk to some people. Ask them what they think. It's part of being an open minded person.
In my country the average person is healthier, living longer, making more money, better educated, has a better standard of living, and is in a better economy.
When it comes to your economy...
You're doing it wrong.
I'm looking forward with glee to your ass...um, next post.
I have thought about starting a different blog under a different name and telling no one, not even corky what or where it is so I can say some of the truely horrifying things in my head with "anonimity" but then it would probably annoy me when no one found it and read it lol
I have thought about turning anonymous comments off, I get so few of them but they always annoy the piss out of me.
Not only did your anonymous "unsigned" poster not mention his/her name or blog, but also did not give the name of their fabulous country where everyone is doing so well. As for those "evil" rich folks who inherited their money, we're not talking about Paris Hilton, we're talking Conrad Hilton, who employs thousands worldwide in his hotels and other interests. The jobs in this country are actually quite plentiful for those who want them and don't expect a handout. While there are certain government programs designed to aid people in finding jobs and taking care of single parents kids, etc, most of the social programs serve to feed the problem by making it more profitable not to work. Couple that with the 20 million or so people with no legal right to work here, who have been shoved off on us by their own government, primarily from Mexico and Latin America plus Cuba who undercut our legal minimum wage because they consider 1/2 of that to be a jackpot. Consider the dependents who they bring with them or birth once here who defraud all these social programs that we pay for and use our emergency room care system as their own personal health insurance...talk about socialized medicine...there you have it. These people can't legally be denied healthcare....so there you go...instant health insurance. As for Evil corporations...yes there are those who knowingly hire these people, and face no consequences for it due to immigration officials put in place by an illegal immigration freindly administration (This is where I most strongly disagreed with Bush) Only now are some violators beginning to feel the pinch, as much of the populace screams for this travesty to end....those nincompoops over at ICE are beginning to make a show of things...a poor show, but it's better than nothing for the time being. If the laws we have in place were thoroughly enforced, the only thing lacking would be the wall. The illegal alien job market would dry up if those laws were enforced and violating employers were hammered accordingly. This country doesn't have equality of education or income...what it has is equality of OPPORTUNITY. Anyone with the drive to work hard for what they want, can have it. There are more self-made millionaires in this country than anywhere else. Everything from industry to the internet provides OPPORTUNITIES to become wealthy. People are free to invent, patent and market anything they want, and people are also free to buy it. Information in this country flows so freely that people can choose for themselves what to purchase, based on information available about every known product or service imaginable. People are empowered with the opportunity to get as much or as little education as they like and are free to reap the rewards of that opportunity. I could ramble on...but I'm preaching to the converted here. Either you know this and believe it or you are under the influence of those who would have you blame those who have for all the troubles of those who don't. Alright, I'm gonna take my soapbox and go home
Dana, once again, you rock in this arena....keep it up!
FMD
Huzzah, was liking this post muchly. Found you via Mr Matt, but will start coming back.
I think you hit one of the issues very well. The breakdown of the family is at the root of a number of societal issues. Bizarrely stressing or enforcing marriage is not necessarily the answer. Marriage is a display of a host of interrelated ethics, we have to somehow work on those.
I think too your commenter gets incensed by a mistaken metric. He's angry at the relative gap in wealth, while ignoring the undeniable fact that underlying average personal wealth has relatively increased. Interesting stuff.
R.E.H., I do believe a large number of folks in the U.S. are suffering from a "Grass is greener" virus. I think people don't often realize that there is a distinct (and sometimes unpleasent) trade-off for some of these programs that are being touted as the answer to all of our woes.
Buff, did you forget what you said? I held up my end of the deal *giggle*
SS, the whole "income equality/redistribution" thing really gets too me. Call me selfish, but I work hard for what I have and I'll be damned if I want to give it up to people who would rather sit on their butts all day.
RD, I can see your position on a flat tax being placed on income, but I must say that I think many businesses today are succeeding because people are spending beyond their means. I really believe a "painful" correction is necessary. I just don't see a solution (long term) that will allow for everyone to maintain where they are right now. We got here artificially and reality is going to suck.
Unsigned, thanks for stopping by. I feel kind of special having seen your attention to R.E.H. in the past. I'll address your comments in a seperate post as they deserve more attention than I can give them here.
Birdman, maybe you should start a new blog under an assumed name and then advertise it on your blog as if you were promoting someone else. OOPS! Guess I ruined that option for you, didn't I??
FMD, thank you! BTW, I really enjoyed your post today - we clearly have similar thinking minds.
Boy, I feel strongly that many of the advancements we've seen, particularly in technology, have shifted our country's moral compass. In some ways that is good, in others bad - I do believe the demise of family (and not specifically the "traditional", June and Ward Cleaver family) has played a large role in this shift.
I do believe that the richest 1% of the world has ruled that way since the dawn of society, no real shocker there. However just because this is how it is does not excuse us from being personally and financially responsible people. There are gong to be greedy people, and stupid people, and their opposites. I am amazed that we as a population have survived this long.
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