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But my post was in response to a comment that said, in part, "where people are victims of forces beyond their control."
And my explanation was that, in a competitive environment, the force that is beyond your control is the competitive superiority and advantage of your adversary. Everything you can do, he can do better. You can run as fast as you can, but you can't run faster. If you can, so can he. And even if you could, you would probably simply lose by a narrower margin.
That's the way competition works. You want to glory in the miracle of competition as the binding principle of the American way, and gloat over the way it has rewarded you for the resources that you happen to posses by the luck of the draw, but turn a blind eye to its nether side -- it has losers, too.
You seem to be assuming that the "losers" who cannot save as much or earn as much or for some reason do not do as well as those who become super rich end up with nothing. They do not. They may not have as much as the "winners" who run faster or farther or whatever, but if they follow a plan to live below their means, save, invest prudently, insure sufficiently, and all the other things that are well within the ability of anyone with an income, they will end up better off than those who do not. In most cases, they will end up much better off. Just because not everyone cannot be Bill Gates does not mean that only Bill Gates wins.
Yes, but after a few million you may have Freedom, more millions gives you power and influence.
True. Personally I'm not super interested in influence. I think I'd rather have the freedom and kind of keep to myself. Of course having that type of wealth (and not having to work a regular job) i'm sure the rich get ideas and want to influence politics frequently...when you can't think of any more toys to buy...then I guess you buy elections?...like the Koch Brothers
Well, I'd argue I'm already as free as I'll ever be...and I have a buck forty two in my checking account.
Still, what can't I do if I really wanted to? I'm busy planning for my trip to the moon here...
That's cool. Wealth can give you freedom. But a train-hopping hobo has that freedom too. I always wanted to be either independently wealthy or a poor bohemian eating berries in the forest - none of this middle ground.
Yeah I agree.. being 'stuck in the middle' isn't much fun. I can see the 'freedom' of the poor bohemian or hobo living off the kindness of strangers there is a time freedom and all that and then of course the rich have the freedom too...but where is the freedom in being in the middle?
Being in the middle all of your efforts go towards making money that just pays your expenses (in most cases) . Being poor you can benefit from programs like Section 8 and food (WIC, EBT,etc) to pay your expenses.
Some 'poor' people are not stupid they see people going to college and making just enough to pay their bills ...if they are already getting their basic bills being paid where is the benefit for them they think.
The American Dream is only if you can get out of the middle.
Yes he does. There is a finite amount of wealth in the economy, and if you get more, you have taken somebody else's. Nobody "makes" money. Money is redistributed. Unless the Fed, as you correctly state, is "newly minting" millionaires, in which case the aggregate value of all wealth remains the same, but is represented by a larger number of lighter coins.
The test of your thesis lies in its converse: when a person becomes poorer, where do you think his money went? Into a black hole somewhere, disappeared forever, or into the bank account of somebody more wily (and therefore more deserving of it)?
Every good salesman knows that "There isn't any new business, there is only somebody else's".
I had heard that people actually believe this theory. I find it absurd at best. It is so weak and has so many holes in it that you better not take it swimming.
Take the middle class milionaires. Many of them build wealth from saving over time. They did not create wealth by taking from someone else.
What about the risk takers that build their own business operations. What poor person are they hurting by building a business? The fact is that the business owners give back to those that have not in the way of jobs and good will. Many more business owners give to charities than poor people.
Then we have the creative types that have sold items that others value. Take some of the modern writers such as Mark Victor Hansen and his Chicken Soup Series, or J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series. Who have they made poorer by creating great selling books? Chances are you could take entertainment on a whole and say that the people that create it never took from any other person.
Now lets take those that have started entire industries. How about Bill Gates and Microsoft, or Steve Jobs, RIP, and Apple. These guys created something new and exciting that changed the world.
I also like the founder of ABC Supply Company. Ken Hendricks, RIP. He started the company by taking over failing supply houses and turning them around. These are places that were in or near bankrupsi. He became a wealthy guy doing it and creating and helping many hold onto jobs that would have ended. Not bad for a guy that considered himself a roofer. In fact that is how his life ended, checking out a new job that his company was going to be working on. He fell off a roof. The company though grew to a now $4.3 billion business, built from 300+ failed or failing building supply business's around the USA.
Life in the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." -- Thomas Hobbes
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