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I find this paragraph fascinating. Can you cite any the terms (e.g. clerisy, coastal and heartland classes)? Someone else, another articulate poster, described a similar class as the clerisy, but labeled it as the techno-something or another.. maybe it was "technocrat", but I don't think so. It definitely contained the same sort of upper middle class professionals that you are describing. The Bourgeoisie class.
One time while I was serving onboard my second boat, my wife and I had just returned from serving over-seas and we were in the process of buying a new home. My boat was preparing to go out to sea, and my wife needed a Power-Of-Attorney written with very specific language in it to allow her to sign the mortgage on this new property. My Department Head was a notary, so I went to him to notarize my POA.
Then he gave me an hour long lecture. That he was an aristocrat and I was a peasant. Truly wealthy people never dirty their hands with the details of handling money. and if I ever discussed buying or selling properties again in front of him, he was going to cancel my security clearances [which would effectively toss me out of the Navy]. I said my 'Yes, sir, yes sir' and I never mentioned my assets to him again.
Now as background, every 'home' that my wife and I purchased, they were all Multi-Family-Residences [Triplex, Four-plex, Five-plex apartment buildings]. They provided my family with a home and each of them had tenants that paid us to cover the mortgage and expenses.
Later while still serving on that same boat, when tax time came around. I was sent to an IRS school and came back certified to file taxes for all our crewmen. I filed that Department Head's taxes, and I was pleased to see that as an 'aristocrat' his Net Worth was a tiny fraction of this peasant's Net Worth.
It's a matter of relative standards, and perception of different outcomes for the same effort.
Suppose that you and I both buy lottery tickets, at the same time, at the same gas station. I get lucky, and win $500. You get even luckier, and win the Powerball jackpot. Your winnings haven't diminished my winnings in absolute terms; we both won. Yet compared to you, I've done enormously worse, and I'm going to grumble, that it's woefully unfair, that you've done so much better than me.
So we are both wealthier than we were before.
How is this different from 'jealousy'?
Could we say that buy only winning $500 you are jealous of someone who won $1Million?
Should all lotteries be required to only make exactly equal payouts? Everyone who gambles $1 will receive 95-cents in return.
Could we say that buy only winning $500 you are jealous of someone who won $1Million?
Should all lotteries be required to only make exactly equal payouts? Everyone who gambles $1 will receive 95-cents in return.
another example, if I walked into a room, and randomly gave out $1,$5,$10,$100 etc. is it unfair because you didn't get the $100 instead of the $1? but it wasn't your money to begin with, why should you decide how "fair" I should be when I give it out?
this is what I think people don't realize when they complain about jobs. you aren't there to hold out your hand and hope for a good lottery draw. what you can offer impacts what someone is willing to give to you
what people should want most is not to be excluded, not that they didn't get the same as everyone else
"fairness" is not real, even from your own home, do you eat the exact same amount as your family members? if not, why do you not force feed the toddler the same amount as the adult so the kid can get the same fair amount? or withhold food from the adult so he isn't getting an unfair amount?
it's laughable that the people who cry income inequality talk about fairness, is there a reason they think the world needs to be based on "fairness"?
It is a very tiny percentage of estates that are large enough to be taxed, currently.
A small number of estates, yes, but not a small amount of money. And in my mind it's not so much about the taxes that could be raised, but rather a way to encourage wealthy people to do something constructive with their money while they are alive. Tackle the eradication of a disease, space travel, energy efficiency, etc. Corporations today are less willing to do fundamental research than in the past, and this could be a way to encourage that sort of effort without getting governments directly involved.
Inherited money will more likely be spent on vacations, expensive cars, estates costing 8 or 9 figures, etc.
This is the type of head start we should eliminate. But it won’t happen.
So you are suggesting we should all be kicked out of the house at 18, naked and penniless and expected to "fend for ourselves"? That's the ultimate in self sufficiency.
... as an 'aristocrat' his Net Worth was a tiny fraction of this peasant's Net Worth.
This often happens... which is why I keep reiterating, that "class" transcends mere money... which of course is not to insinuate that your ex-superior-officer was somehow an aristocrat. Mind you, "peasant" is part of my handle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hikernut
So you are suggesting we should all be kicked out of the house at 18, naked and penniless and expected to "fend for ourselves"? That's the ultimate in self sufficiency.
In a sense, this would be the most fair. But then again, it would be most unfair. Fairness is, as it were, unfair... which is why absolute fairness is impossible.
In a sense, this would be the most fair. But then again, it would be most unfair. Fairness is, as it were, unfair... which is why absolute fairness is impossible.
I will have to consider this one after some alcohol.
Poverty starts with lousy parents. Recall Obama's famous Chicago Father's Day speech before his first Presidential election. There are tons of immigrants who come to the United States with nothing but the shirt on their back who have children in our elite universities. The top schools have unspoken quotas or their entering classes would be mostly Asian/Indian.
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