Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'
- Thread starter Luis G
- Start date
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Thats the word I don't like to see when dealing with anything outside of the sports arena...fair. Nobody ever said that life was fair without having an ulterior motive usually involving seperating you from your hard-earned cash. In order to become what they have become, you must aquire the skills to build and retain wealth on your own. The thing you need to think of to do this is "do you really need it, or do you really want it"?
Examples...
1. I need to eat. I want to eat steak and lobster.
2. I need personal transportation. I want a Bently/Rolls/Porsche/etc...
I agree with you, but you gotta draw the line of fair.
In sports, by all means let the best one wins, but at least give a chance to others to compete. In real life there are millions of people that never get a chance to get out of the shit-hole they are living in, while people with more advantages make more and more wealth and by doing so are leaving the poor poorer.
It might be fair for them to get their hard earned money, but it isn't fair to the other side to keep losing hope or to starve to death.
unclehobart
New Member
You can try to enforce fair all you wish... but human nature is human nature.
Professur
Well-Known Member
Bullshit. Shepards eat mutton all the time. Noone's gonna suggest that the mutton eat some shepard. You get what you can in this world by taking it. People sitting on their asses with their hands out waiting get what they deserve.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
You missed my point. I've been to countries that can be classified as 'third world'. I've never been to a populated country without automobiles/buses/trains. I've never been to a populated country without electricity. I've never been to a poppulated country without telephones. I've never been to a populated country without fresh water (indoor plumbing or hand-pumped from a well). Most people can live just fine without transportation...provided they don't travel very far. Most people can live without electricity. Most people can live without telephones. Are you getting the bigger picture now? We have been 'trained' to move all of our 'wants' into our 'needs' column. If you were to drop someone from the big city onto a deserted island with only one book on island survival, you and I both know he/she could survive quite well. Modern conveniences would be nice, but are not necessary for survival. You want to build and aquire wealth? Get rid of that cell-phone, dump your TV cable, and stop driving your car except for trips to the supermarket and work. You can even go as far as to get rid of your computer, but you wouldn't be able to tell us how things are working.
BTW...here's a little quiz on patience. If you put $20 USD every payday into an interest-bearing (6%) account for 20 years, how much money would you have at the end of that 20 years? For further information, there are, on average, four weeks in a month, and paydays are usually every 2 weeks here in the US...
unclehobart
New Member
For Africa and Indian to break out of the cycle of poverty, the melenium old tribalistic mandates must be made more flexibile or set aside completely. Either they take strides into taking care of their own and building their infrastructure, or they surrender their lust for western Euros and go back to a total tribal subsistence structure. The growing pains suck, the pollution will be massive, but the education, production, and consumer base would 10 fold inside of twenty years.
Of course those of us buying 20 man hour labor hand-woven baskets at Pier1 for $35 wouldn't like that very much.
Of course those of us buying 20 man hour labor hand-woven baskets at Pier1 for $35 wouldn't like that very much.
Granted. But you gotta admit that survival and living are not the same. Wether we like it or not, money is needed in our society. Want a blanket? you need money. Want to eat? you better have some money to pay for it. Want to give your children an opportunity to improve their quality of life? you better have the money to feed them, dress them and give them education. Want to have some place to live? pay for it. Want money? you get a job. But if you can't get a job, then what to do?
unclehobart
New Member
I think basic barter still applies in many, many countries.
Get a skill or learn to kill. Its the way things were done 1000 years ago.
Get a skill or learn to kill. Its the way things were done 1000 years ago.
Not everybody is sitting on their asses prof. There's also hard working people that even by working their asses off won't improve their quality of living.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Depends upon their view of quality, now, doesn't it? I try not to compare my quality of living with...say...Bill Gates...because I'm not Bill Gates. I also don't try to compare my quality of living with SnP/Gonz/Prof because I'm not SnP/Gonz/Prof. That's where all of these studies go completely wrong. They push the idea of living like Bill Gates, and completely ignore the fact that a human being can survive and thrive withoug having the lifestyle of Bill Gates. Stop worrying about what your neighbor has, and stop competing with every Tom, Dick, or Harry, and you'll not only be happier, but more prosperous as well...
We all need to workj harder to make some more wealth, for ourself.
Top 1% pay 34.7% of taxes (US stats).
Top that off with remembering that there is no tax on wealth, only on incomes.
As far as fair goes...wealth is not static. There is not a set amouont of money & the lions share goes to a few, leaving the rest of us to scrounge for the crumbs. Wealth chages with the times, measured by how prosperous & industrious any individual, group or nation is. I feel for the starving Ethiopian baby but my buying a new TV did not take food from their mouth. There will always be those who chase th egold ring & those who watch. Not too many get off their ass & start running.
Top 1% pay 34.7% of taxes (US stats).
Top that off with remembering that there is no tax on wealth, only on incomes.
As far as fair goes...wealth is not static. There is not a set amouont of money & the lions share goes to a few, leaving the rest of us to scrounge for the crumbs. Wealth chages with the times, measured by how prosperous & industrious any individual, group or nation is. I feel for the starving Ethiopian baby but my buying a new TV did not take food from their mouth. There will always be those who chase th egold ring & those who watch. Not too many get off their ass & start running.