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They don't. They are free to work for themselves. Not sure why many more don't in fact, do so.
I'm self-employed. So are many other members here on C-D.
You don't work for yourself. You sell your services/goods directly to the customers. Your private biz may, or may not employ wage labor. The point is - you must sell to live. Working for yourself is something else. People who work for themselves don't have to sell anything to anybody. Nobody in the modern societies is free to work for himself, even an Amish. You must pay all sorts of rents to work and to own things and space. If you work for yourself in the true meaning of those words, you'll be evicted, stripped of your property and homeless warp speed.
OK, let's accept your idea of working for yourself. What do you mean "they are free"? It's nonsense. Nobody is free to work for themselves just out of blue. One must purchase all sort of things, got all the permits, licenses, pay taxes, rents, secure space, etc., etc.. To purchase something you need to sell something, to sell something you need to please buyers, to please buyers you need to adjust yourself properly, in order to secure wages or loans, sometimes you might be lucky to inherit something.
You have very peculiar idea about "freedom". BTW, 90% of the labor force employed by somebody else. Major employers with 500 workers or more produce lion's share of GDP and make your self-employment possible. For all practical purposes your business is just an extension of big dogs, you can't survive without them. Thus "they are free" makes no sense.
You don't work for yourself. You sell your services/goods directly to the customers. Your private biz may, or may not employ wage labor. The point is - you must sell to live.
In fact, you do. 80% of millionaires are first-generation wealthy. 60% of the Forbes 400 richest Americans also didn't inherit their wealth. That statistic holds true even with the top 10 richest Americans. 6 of the 10 didn't inherit their wealth.
Most of the wealthy were born to well off families to begin with, they didn't come from trailer parks. BTW, 100% of Chinese and Russian wealthy are true first generation wealth of humble origins. Beat that. So what if there is negligible probability of climbing to the top? I don't really care who works me more and more for less and less, old wealth or the new wealth. It feels the same. I don't want to ignore deteriorating society because I have (supposedly) 0.00000000001% chance to climb to the top. Life should not be a climbing game.
The point (you continuously ignore) - you get wealthy by appropriating fruits of labor of others. There are no other ways to the true wealth.
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Working hard and smart, making sacrifices, living below one's means, making good life and financial decisions, saving, and investing are all hard to do. We know that because so few choose to do so. That's why they comprise only 1% of the population.
That's not how billionaires made their billions. Taking high risk and loans, making no sacrifices, putting others to work, and collecting disproportionate share of profits. That's how billions are made. You mixed up a peon working to afford his managed care retirement and an economy cemetery plot with having true wealth. You can work yourself to death in most lines of work without getting anywhere near to the wealth (even a wage slaving variety of the wealth). Exploiting of others is the only line of work that is rewarded with megawealth.
Imagine, somebody saying "Slavery is inhuman, people should be free" to a Roman Slaveholder. In reply he says "Look, 80% of slave owners are first generation slave-owners. Evey slave has a chance to secure his freedom and get slaves of his own". That's your line of reasoning from post to post. Wage slavery and minority who owns society (and its government and laws) cannot be fixed by negligible probability of a peon moving up food chain.
Last edited by RememberMee; 01-29-2013 at 04:32 PM..
Most of the wealthy were born to well off families to begin with
Doubtful, but if so... they didn't inherit wealth because?
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Most of America's millionaires are first-generation rich. How is it possible for people from modest backgrounds to become millionaires in one generation? Why is it that so many people with similar socioeconomic backgrounds never accumulate even modest amounts of wealth?
Most people who become millionaires have confidence in their own abilities. They do not spend time worrying about whether or not their parents were wealthy. They do not believe that one must be born wealthy. Conversely, people of modest backgrounds who believe that only the wealthy produce millionaires are predetermined to remain non-affluent. Have you always thought that most millionaires are born with silver spoons in their mouths? If so, consider the following facts that our research uncovered about American millionaires:
* Only 19 percent receive any income or wealth of any kind from a trust fund or an estate.
* Fewer than 20 percent inherited 10 percent or more of their wealth.
* More than half never received as much as $1 in inheritance.
* Fewer than 25 percent ever received "an act of kindness" of $10,000 or more from their parents, grandparents, or other relatives.
* Ninety-one percent never received, as a gift, as much as $1 of the ownership of a family business.
* Nearly half never received any college tuition from their parents or other relatives.
* Fewer than 10 percent believe they will ever receive an inheritance in the future.
Nope. You must sell to others, in order to obtain $, in order to pay for everything and secure all that wealth of yours. You must sell in order to live, whether it's your goods or your wage slaving arse. Wage work is work therefore I work for myself, right? You have very peculiar ideas about freedom, wealth and working for yourself.
When I work for myself I couldn't care less about value of my work to others, especially employers, customers and top 1%. That's this freedom makes "working for myself" so special. For all practical purposes, you are just a modified version of a wage slave. Besides, you 100% dependent on the big corporations for your livelihood.
"people of modest backgrounds who believe that only the wealthy produce millionaires are predetermined to remain non-affluent."
Sucks to be you. lol...
You refuse to read and think. You just recite whatever conditioning you have recorded on your brain over and over. I guess we reached the limits of your reasoning ability, long time ago actually.
Why in the hell I would care about negligible probability of joining the upper class? What difference does it make to the plight of the lower classes? Does it make wage slavery and dispossession right? Is it OK for the majority to stand neck deep in the fecal mass as long as there is 0.001% probability making it to the top? Most peons will never make it to the top. Because exploiting labor of others is the only way to the top. How your kind can imagine top without bottom?
100% of Chinese super rich are new generation wealth. shouldn't you move to China or something?
Last edited by RememberMee; 01-29-2013 at 04:29 PM..
You refuse to read and think. You just recite whatever conditioning you have recorded on your brain over and over. I guess we reached the limits of your reasoning ability, long time ago actually.
Conditioning? No. My opinion is based on the actual data, which I posted. You're the one going into histrionics spewing falsehood after falsehood. You're the one who isn't thinking.
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Why in the hell I would care about negligible probability of joining the upper class?
You tell me. You're the one going on and on complaining about it not being possible, when in fact IT IS possible.
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What difference does it make to the plight of the lower classes?
Yes, that's the work I do. For myself, as opposed to doing it for someone else.
Do you earn wages for somebody else? You don't do work for yourself, you must sell your work. This makes you a modified, self-directed wage slave who is 100% dependent on the larger corporations for his business to boot. OK, man, thanks for chatting, I prefer to argue with somebody who can reason for a change, and it's just not your style.
Yes, I agree, lower classes should not be trapped in poverty by accepting rotten rules of the game, tolerating all the indignities their class has to offer and seeking solace in 0.00001% chance to move up food chain.
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