Wealth distribution in the US

cannabineer said:

When you look at groups of larger than one, however, you need a universal definition imo. cn

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No, of course not. You only need to define it for the social group, like in Lord of the Flies, the headhunters and the cargo cult.

cannabineer said:

When you look at groups of larger than one, however, you need a universal definition imo. cn

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ahh, you hold a strong point, but why would you wish to conform to there sick minded travesty of a definition? it is simply a manifestation of the ratio of ones ability to acquire ones desires. Change your abilities or your desires but don't live in misery chasing other peoples.

I know what your saying and the reality of what is being discussed, but i think part of it is that simple, whatever we attach value too we will attempt to obtain, and others will also attempt to obtain it simply because you attached value to it (it can be traded to you for something they value). with the exception of food, water, and shelter its all a ball and cup game to keep people chasing what you want them to instead of thinking about what is, or should be, important to them.

every once in a while someone must inject a little reality into the childish fantasies of utopian daydreamers. i try to do my part in this, but it is difficult when faced with the sort of tripe in the OP. by oversimplifying economic realities that video served only to embolden the ignorant, giving them a false sense of their own intelligence. the fact that our economy consists of trillions of dollars seems to have been glossed over. it might not seem important, but that means that our poor might be considered wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of people only 100 years ago or only a few miles away. another thing conveniently ignored was the definition of wealth and what exactly that wealth is doing. does anyone believe that any member of that 1% y'all keep harping about has a billion dollars laying about in their coffers or even a paltry million? no; that wealth, though it belongs to them, is primarily tied up in investments that provide for the other 99%. the industry that keeps our population employed did not magically appear nor was it created by politicians or ivory tower do-nothings. it all came to be because someone somewhere down the line gambled their earnings, reputation and fate on the outcome of the enterprise. risk is always the one link in the chain that is ignored by the envious mob.

another of those things curiously missing from the grand socialist equation that damns capitalism at every turn is history. an honest look at history shows us that the inequalities touted by anti-capitalists is nothing when compared to the abuses of the past. only two hundred years ago or so that 1% would have been .001% and the inequalities wouldn't have just been a matter of wealth. economic power, religious power, political power and even the power over life and death was held in the hands of a very few. the experiment of our relatively unencumbered capitalist society coupled with a limited form of democracy has proven to be the single most egalitarian society known to man. that a portion of the dreaded 1% started with little and built an empire should be evidence enough of that. in fact, if we look back far enough we'll find that nearly every member of that exclusive club had someone that started the ball rolling with little more than you probably have in your pockets right now. all that the whiners seem to care about is what those few have right now, not all that went into building it.

as a final little jab at the ignorant who insist on deriding the very system that has given them all they have, i just have to share the giggle i got when that even bar of wealth was shown as the outcome of "socialism". is anyone naive enough to believe that garbage? an elite will develop in any society and they will attempt to gather as much to them as they can. the fallacy of socialist equality denies human nature. the notion of "total" equality itself denies human nature. the best we can hope for is to create competing sets of elites and keep them vying for the attention of the masses, but the threat of modern liberalism does its best to do away with even that slim hope. by demanding government step in and equalize the natural economic inequalities, the fools consolidate ever more power into the hands of those we already know can't be trusted. the outcome will be what it always must be, the combined economic and political power of the nation placed in the hands of an elite we cannot depose - the new .001%................

DonPepe said:

ahh, you hold a strong point, but why would you wish to conform to there sick minded travesty of a definition? it is simply a manifestation of the ratio of ones ability to acquire ones desires. Change your abilities or your desires but don't live in misery chasing other peoples.

I know what your saying and the reality of what is being discussed, but i think part of it is that simple, whatever we attach value too we will attempt to obtain, and others will also attempt to obtain it simply because you attached value to it (it can be traded to you for something they value). with the exception of food, water, and shelter its all a ball and cup game to keep people chasing what you want them to instead of thinking about what is, or should be, important to them.

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I have learned for myself to decouple wealth from contentment. I have found that some of the wealthiest people (by any measure except the one you propose) are terrible malcontents. cn

All the riches in world, but unless we know self...

Self is where contentment lives.

Hey Everyone,

Padwan wants to make money just for himself. He doesnt want to make anyone else money because they are all greedy.

Does anyone else see the hilarious conflict his position puts him in?

Hemlock said:

Apples and Oranges Pad. Come on if you make it you should be able to keep it Period! Isn't that one of the reasons we left the UK to form America.

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you said you were from the south, right?

this comment here pretty much proves it. your southern education is shining through.

NLXSK1 said:

If you were not sitting around waiting for a handout from someone you might not be such a pissed off little brat...

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he should follow your example and get a lawn mower.

NLXSK1 said:

I started several businesses just over 2 years ago. I am making much more money than I need and I just had to hire a 2nd person on to help me. I have facts to back up my bullshit.. All you have is whiny little rants about wanting college for free....

Rich people earned their money for the most part. You dont seem to want to earn anything, you seem to want to have it handed to you because the other guy has it. Tough shit, it doesnt work that way.

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couldn't carry your rake anymore? too many blisters make it tough for you to explore yourself when mommy and daddy go to bed at night?

does he keep a dollar from every lawn and you keep the other $4?

Hemlock said:

I can tell you have NEVER owned any kind of business that has to deal with the government.
Currently the USA has one of the HIGHEST Corporate Income taxes rates in the WORLD.
Oh Man you really have no idea what the fuk you are talking about. This guy is Just a Kid brainwashed by the left.

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our corporate income tax rate is effectively one of the lowest in the world, actually.

i believe you trying to make it seem the opposite is one of those right wing talking points.

Doer said:

But, the new deal was such a fraud, from a fraud President that would not have been elected, had he stood up and tried to tell the truth from crutches.

And yes, there is racism, and FDR was an appeaser of Hitler. That kind of racism was what FDR proposed. Help the Blacks, but, turn down the Jews from Europe. Don't send them anywhere, just don't let them come here. Oh, if you are a rocket scientist, it's OK. Just a wandering jew? We already have black people.

Double dipped the depression because he was born an elitist and was rejected from his social standing.

A wannabe that lashed out at his social group for that rejection and had to fraud WE to get it done. It's why we have the 22 A. And only in crazyland do we see these frauds as a good thing.

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actually, the depression double dipped when we tried austerity.

but history around the time of FDR is demonstrably NOT your thing, now is it?

UncleBuck said:

actually, the depression double dipped when we tried austerity.

but history around the time of FDR is demonstrably NOT your thing, now is it?

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You can always count on the FDR revisionists to regurgitate Krugman.

The double dip we experienced was also during a time of increased taxes and the largest union boom in our history. You guys always ignore the fact that Hoover also tried to "fix" the economy in 31 by the expanding the government by 25% and raising taxes. If Keynesian economics worked we would have been out of the depression long before the cuts to government spending in 37'. Without those cuts in government spending we would have gone bankrupt before finishing WWII.

The UK has experienced a double dip and the Krugidiots are blaming austerity on causing this. The UK has increased spending the last 2 years. You guys really need to look up the meaning.

UncleBuck said:

actually, the depression double dipped when we tried austerity.

but history around the time of FDR is demonstrably NOT your thing, now is it?

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Because Keynesian economics works.....

Doer said:

But, the new deal was such a fraud, from a fraud President that would not have been elected, had he stood up and tried to tell the truth from crutches.

And yes, there is racism, and FDR was an appeaser of Hitler. That kind of racism was what FDR proposed. Help the Blacks, but, turn down the Jews from Europe. Don't send them anywhere, just don't let them come here. Oh, if you are a rocket scientist, it's OK. Just a wandering jew? We already have black people.

Double dipped the depression because he was born an elitist and was rejected from his social standing.

A wannabe that lashed out at his social group for that rejection and had to fraud WE to get it done. It's why we have the 22 A. And only in crazyland do we see these frauds as a good thing.

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FDR was nothing compared to truman champ...

Totoe said:

Also there is no house advantage in poker. poker is a player v player game where the house merely takes a rake, a small percentage of the pot up to a capped number, think a tax. A game where the house has an advantage is something such as blackjoack, roulette, craps, and slot machines.

metaphor fail. go back to your lettuce.

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Poker still has about a 2% house edge no matter how good you are. That "tax" you speak of adds up. It's one of the only games that lets the player have some chance. But in the end you 're still the house bitch, you liberal git.

DMTER said:

Because Keynesian economics works.....

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in 1937, we tried austerity during a weak economy. guess what happened?

DMTER said:

Because Keynesian economics works.....

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in february 2009, we tried keynesian stimulus during a severe recession...

NLXSK1 said:

A rich person has never stolen anything from me. My benevolent government... well, that is a completely different animal... I pay thousands and thousands of dollars in extortion to them every year.

You are a brainwashed little brat that does not want to take responsibility for himself and are looking for the next teat to suck off of when your parents get sick of you and kick you out of the house.

Man up, get a job, get experience, look for a better job, rinse, repeat. Why do you fell you are entitled to a free ride on someone else s success?

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Take for a random example Steve Jobs. At one point he had some ideas, and those ideas made him some money. From that point, his money paid other people who came up with the ideas. Those people come with ideas, and many contribute a number of hours of their lives equal to what Steve Jobs does to the work, and yet Apple paid Steve Jobs an amount disproportionate to what those other idea generators received.

Were they riding Steve Jobs success?

The look for a better job, rinse, repeat idea is flawed. Imagine if 100% of people followed the get a job, get experience, look for a better job, rinse, repeat method. Regardless of their efforts, there are only so many high paying jobs. Only so many of those people will obtain the money of a CEO, despite everyone else working as hard. Only so many people can open a small business and make their own way. (Example, how many bakeries can be opened before there isn't enough money to be made running a bakery.)

It isn't about handouts. It's that only so many people can obtain large amounts of money, and that money makes them an exorbitant amount of additional money without the need for real effort.

UncleBuck said:

in february 2009, we tried keynesian stimulus during a severe recession...

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Great, so you have shown me that Gov made a series of malinvestments that will just perpetuate the business cycles we see. I honestly just see the Gov destroying my savings with that chart you are showing me....and I know I will pay for it sooner or later...maybe...just maybe if the gov was less involved we wouldn't need them around to "fix" our economy...like in the mid 80's when we started seeing those mortgage backed securities....but then again Gov does what is best for us...thank you obama

NoxMetus said:

Take for a random example Steve Jobs. At one point he had some ideas, and those ideas made him some money. From that point, his money paid other people who came up with the ideas. Those people come with ideas, and many contribute a number of hours of their lives equal to what Steve Jobs does to the work, and yet Apple paid Steve Jobs an amount disproportionate to what those other idea generators received.

Were they riding Steve Jobs success?

The look for a better job, rinse, repeat idea is flawed. Imagine if 100% of people followed the get a job, get experience, look for a better job, rinse, repeat method. Regardless of their efforts, there are only so many high paying jobs. Only so many of those people will obtain the money of a CEO, despite everyone else working as hard. Only so many people can open a small business and make their own way. (Example, how many bakeries can be opened before there isn't enough money to be made running a bakery.)

It isn't about handouts. It's that only so many people can obtain large amounts of money, and that money makes them an exorbitant amount of additional money without the need for real effort.

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So what? Do you feel these people need to have their wealth re-distributed simply because of this? How many people does Microsoft employ? Does that not count for anything?

Actors and sports atheletes make far more than regular people and employ almost nobody. Yet I cant remember hearing people cry about their exorbitant salaries and how unfair it is...

There are no guarantees in life. In America you have the ability to become wealthy through hard work. It is still possible to do that by starting businesses, etc. The fry guy at McDonalds is not guaranteed to make 70K per year at his job if he stays there for 50 years. If he becomes a manager and eventually an owner he can make good money though.

Why is there so much hate for the job creators in America?