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I don't get this rich getting richer thing. The majority of rich people did not start off rich. They made themselves. So that sounds more like all sorts of people are getting richer.
The top 1% or 5% of wealth is growing in a larger proportion than everybody else's wealth. I perceive this to be true and believe I have seen statistics to support this. I welcome contradictory evidence.
Redistribution is not the answer. Better economic development and stronger family structures are the real answer.
Amen to that! We all need to start worrying about our own little corner of this world instead of crying about what everyone else is doing. Whining about what you don't have has never gotten anyone any closer to actually getting it. Focus on your own work and family, vote your conscience, and improve your own lot in life. If we all did that, our families, communities and even our country would be much stronger for it.
The top 1% or 5% of wealth is growing in a larger proportion than everybody else's wealth. I perceive this to be true and believe I have seen statistics to support this. I welcome contradictory evidence.
That may be true, but that doesn't negate the fact that most of the people who are rich didn't start off rich. So it's not just the already rich that are getting richer. Your statement may point to the disparity of wealth growing, but is that more people attaining that wealth? Wealth also tends to grow faster because more money just makes more money. What we're trying to do in this country (I hope) is give everyone the opportunity to become as rich as they want. It seems like many people are using that opportunity. That's a good thing, no?
The top 1% or 5% of wealth is growing in a larger proportion than everybody else's wealth.
Did it ever occur to you that maybe this is true is because the top 1% or 5% are already on top, and as such, they tend to focus on improving their own fortunes and spend ZERO time sitting around moping about what everyone else has? If we all did that, then maybe in time we would become more like them!
That may be true, but that doesn't negate the fact that most of the people who are rich didn't start off rich. So it's not just the already rich that are getting richer. Your statement may point to the disparity of wealth growing, but is that more people attaining that wealth?
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Did it ever occur to you that maybe this is true is because the top 1% or 5% are already on top, and as such, they tend to focus on improving their own fortunes and spend ZERO time sitting around moping about what everyone else has?
Listen.... I am not moping... and I am not saying tax the rich more..... (these boards can be amazing... people will argue even when in agreement!).... I agree that taxing the rich punishes success and hurts productivity. I could not agree more.
I simply noted that the rich are getting richer. The rich make the rules. The rich get people elected.
My whole thing is that INDIVIDUALS should spend their many so that they are supporting a local community (as much as this is possible anyway) as opposed to supporting a huge corporation and it's stockholders.
Yes people, in theory, should be able to have what they've earned.. but there apparently must be laws to limit people's unabashed, uncontrollable GREED also.... because there seems to be no limit to it. People obviously can't control it, it's human nature I suppose. Too much money often makes people lose their perspective to the point of insanity. Do people really need millions of dollars in bonuses?? Do they really need mansions in 10 cities and a fleet of yachts?? The system is corrupt and completely out of whack. No one's saying 'pure socialism in the answer'... but NOBODY needs to be making millions of $$ in bonuses after already ripping people off..... hello, you are rich enough already. And YES you should pay far higher taxes than the 'common' working-class people! Do people really want a world where there is only the extreme uber-wealthy and the wretchedly poor? This is what happens if people are left to their own devices without ANY govt. controls. So if legislation has to force these things, then so be it. America was supposed to be about freedom.. of speech, press, religion, (or, non-religion), freedom to assemble, petition govt, ... etc.. it is NOT all about the freedom to be as greedy as you want to be, at all costs.... If this is what people think, then we have missed the whole point...
Yes people, in theory, should be able to have what they've earned.. but there apparently must be laws to limit people's unabashed, uncontrollable GREED also.... because there seems to be no limit to it. People obviously can't control it, it's human nature I suppose. Too much money often makes people lose their perspective to the point of insanity. Do people really need millions of dollars in bonuses?? Do they really need mansions in 10 cities and a fleet of yachts?? The system is corrupt and completely out of whack. No one's saying 'pure socialism in the answer'... but NOBODY needs to be making millions of $$ in bonuses after already ripping people off..... hello, you are rich enough already. And YES you should pay far higher taxes than the 'common' working-class people! Do people really want a world where there is only the extreme uber-wealthy and the wretchedly poor? This is what happens if people are left to their own devices without ANY govt. controls. So if legislation has to force these things, then so be it. America was supposed to be about freedom.. of speech, press, religion, (or, non-religion), freedom to assemble, petition govt, ... etc.. it is NOT all about the freedom to be as greedy as you want to be, at all costs.... If this is what people think, then we have missed the whole point...
Greed isn't a problem as long as it remains legal. The problem with some people who made a lot of big money in the last bubble is that they earned it by doing some things that either were, or should have been, illegal, such as passing off junk bonds as AAA-rated bonds.
The way to deal with predatory greed (as opposed to healthy and legitimate aspirations of wealth) is not by taxing away wealth, but by regulating the financial system properly so that such illegal or quasi-legal schemes as we've seen cannot be successful.
You know, if you people stopped talking about how rich people got through illegal means, you would find that you could do it too. Just stop being difficult and drop your morals and ethics, stop being envious of illegal wealth just because you can't drop the morals you pocess. If you want anything real in life, you have to leave your comfort zone and get out of your bloody bubbles.
...but I can also agree with the OP as far as the rich are getting richer and this is not a good cycle.
But you created that cycle.
I'm not disputing that the Middle Class is shrinking, I'm saying this is the stoopidest Middle Class in the history of planet Earth.
Only a moron buys a house with 0% down. You can't possibly justify buying a house without putting 35% to 50%, and yet people do, and then they whine they have no money, and they're right, because they're spending it all on interest.
If they had the self-discipline to wait two years, they'd end up with a couple million in the bank, and that doesn't include profit from the sale of the house.
Would an intelligent person pay $5000 for a $1200 TV? No, but the American Middle Class does. Instead of saving money for 4-6 months and paying cash, they put it on their credit card and end paying interest over the next 20 years.
And that's a just a few examples. People are poor because they make bad financial decisions, and then they don't want to accept responsibility for their actions, because blame is better to give than receive.
And then there's your neighbors, Paul and his hardware store, Tom & Cindy and their bakery, and Joan and her grocery store. The fact that they live in your community, pay taxes to support your schools and their kids go to school with your kids wasn't important to you. You went to the Big Corporate Hardware Store and the Big Corporate Bakery and the Big Corporate Grocery store to save a few cents.
Yeah, well, in the end, how much money did you really save?
They all went out of business, so there's fewer Middle Class entreprenuers, you have to pay more in property taxes now to support your schools and the money you spend at the Big Corporate stores ends up in other communities or out of state, and in the pockets of a only few (and none of them live in your community).
I'm not disputing that the Middle Class is shrinking, I'm saying this is the stoopidest Middle Class in the history of planet Earth.
Only a moron buys a house with 0% down. You can't possibly justify buying a house without putting 35% to 50%, and yet people do, and then they whine they have no money, and they're right, because they're spending it all on interest.
If they had the self-discipline to wait two years, they'd end up with a couple million in the bank, and that doesn't include profit from the sale of the house.
Would an intelligent person pay $5000 for a $1200 TV? No, but the American Middle Class does. Instead of saving money for 4-6 months and paying cash, they put it on their credit card and end paying interest over the next 20 years.
And that's a just a few examples. People are poor because they make bad financial decisions, and then they don't want to accept responsibility for their actions, because blame is better to give than receive.
And then there's your neighbors, Paul and his hardware store, Tom & Cindy and their bakery, and Joan and her grocery store. The fact that they live in your community, pay taxes to support your schools and their kids go to school with your kids wasn't important to you. You went to the Big Corporate Hardware Store and the Big Corporate Bakery and the Big Corporate Grocery store to save a few cents.
Yeah, well, in the end, how much money did you really save?
They all went out of business, so there's fewer Middle Class entreprenuers, you have to pay more in property taxes now to support your schools and the money you spend at the Big Corporate stores ends up in other communities or out of state, and in the pockets of a only few (and none of them live in your community).
There's a lot of truth to what you say. People don't have the discipline to keep from spending beyond their means, and to delay gratification, and end up paying for things many times over. And they don't even know it.
Most people love the idea of mom and pop stores, but don't shop in them. It's not always just price, but selection, hours, etc. Our 24-hour lifestyle where everybody must be working at all times is also a major culprit in this problem.
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