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Wealth Inequality in America: Viral Video

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
It's to be expected that the bottom 90% would like to see the top 10% transfer wealth to them in the name of fairness.
Their idea of "fair" (according to the chart) leaves most of the the wealthy with very little more than the middle class.
I doubt that we'd ever achieve that kind of redistribution, since it would sap the will to work hard & take risks.
 

Dirty Penguin

Master Of Ceremony
[youtube]QPKKQnijnsM[/youtube]

Yea.. Many of us Dems have been saying this for quite some time. I just talked about this in another thread where someone was advocating getting rid of minimum wage. It was laughable because minimum wage is a joke in this country. It doesn't make sense to get rid of it and even where it is per person isn't enough to live on. It rounds out to less than $14,000 for a person working one minimum wage job "full Time". No wonder those making so little seek Medicaid. It seems they're actually forced to in order to keep working.


Income Inequality Is Not a Myth - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic



sad.....:facepalm:
 
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Kilgore Trout

Misanthropic Humanist
Yes, but these ultra-wealthy people are putting their extra funds back into our economy in the form of hoarding it in offshore accounts and investing in foreign companies. Oh, wait....
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
I know how much flack I'm going to take for this statement, so save your ammunition. Where in the world did you get the idea that wealth is ever distributed? Wealth is earned, accumulated, inherited, stolen--never distributed. Distribution of wealth means you are going to take from one to give it to another. Be honest in your aim. You want what doesn't belong to you.
Secondly, if you hit the Powerball how much of your money are you willing to give to the "poor". Would you sit down and figure to the penny how much it takes for you to live and "distribute" the rest of you dough? You may not like the wealthy, that's ok, but lets quit blowing smoke up everyone's skirt--you're mostly envious.
Thirdly, how many people do you know that actually work for minimum wage. Minimum wage is mostly for entry level and unskilled workers. If you can't find a job that pays better, then maybe the problem is you.
 

Reptillian

Hamburgler Extraordinaire
Aim for a large middle class! Ideal should be Gaussian (Normal) Distribution!! Ghaaaahhh!!!
 

Falvlun

Earthbending Lemur
Premium Member
It's to be expected that the bottom 90% would like to see the top 10% transfer wealth to them in the name of fairness.
Their idea of "fair" (according to the chart) leaves most of the the wealthy with very little more than the middle class.
I doubt that we'd ever achieve that kind of redistribution, since it would sap the will to work hard & take risks.

I know how much flack I'm going to take for this statement, so save your ammunition. Where in the world did you get the idea that wealth is ever distributed? Wealth is earned, accumulated, inherited, stolen--never distributed. Distribution of wealth means you are going to take from one to give it to another. Be honest in your aim. You want what doesn't belong to you.
Secondly, if you hit the Powerball how much of your money are you willing to give to the "poor". Would you sit down and figure to the penny how much it takes for you to live and "distribute" the rest of you dough? You may not like the wealthy, that's ok, but lets quit blowing smoke up everyone's skirt--you're mostly envious.
Thirdly, how many people do you know that actually work for minimum wage. Minimum wage is mostly for entry level and unskilled workers. If you can't find a job that pays better, then maybe the problem is you.

The problem with these sentiments, that dismiss the income gap, or worse, blame the poor people for being poor and praise the rich people for their money-making prowress, is that it ignores that graph in post 5.

The rich have not done anything more than usual in order to earn the greater wealth that is coming their way. They have not had to work harder, be smarter, take more risks, etc. They have simply benefited from the ability to exploit workers, exploit the government (through less regulation and taxes), and the way the stock market works (if you have a lot of money you can make a lot of money in the stock market).

They have distributed the wealth to themselves. They have taken what used to go to the middle class and claimed it for themselves. If distribution can go up, I see no reason why we should consider it theivery or moral bankruptcy to lobby for it to go down as well.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
The problem with these sentiments, that dismiss the income gap, or worse, blame the poor people for being poor and praise the rich people for their money-making prowress, is that it ignores that graph in post 5.
Oh, no....I'm not dismissing what you say. I'm just not addressing it.

The rich have not done anything more than usual in order to earn the greater wealth that is coming their way. They have not had to work harder, be smarter, take more risks, etc. They have simply benefited from the ability to exploit workers, exploit the government (through less regulation and taxes), and the way the stock market works (if you have a lot of money you can make a lot of money in the stock market).
Sounds like you've never built a successful business, so you buy into the Obama line, "...you didn't build that".

They have distributed the wealth to themselves. They have taken what used to go to the middle class and claimed it for themselves. If distribution can go up, I see no reason why we should consider it theivery or moral bankruptcy to lobby for it to go down as well.
I'll certainly agree that there are fundamental problems imposed by government which prevent people in the lower income brackets from earning more.

Now, let's check out a rerun....
[youtube]-5PU9GU2ztE[/youtube]
You Didn't Build That Remix V1.0 - YouTube
 

Kilgore Trout

Misanthropic Humanist
When you condense this whole issue down, it's primarily an issue of mathematics more than anything else, and, within a finite system, a geometric progression can't continue indefinitely.

Looking at it from the human end, it may be true that many wealthy people now were born into it, so don't have the experience of building wealth, and don't really understand or appreciate it - and less wealthy people now may have a sense of social responsibility, or patriotism, or even basic human decency. But, putting that aside, you'd figure that they all can't be so stupid that they don't realize that wealth means nothing if the economic system collapses. Just out of purely selfish and pragmatic preservation, you'd think that they'd want to keep the system going which gives their wealth any meaningful value. it seems as though the whiny victim mentality has penetrated and blanketed every facet of society though, and is great at blinding basic reason and sense.
 

Dirty Penguin

Master Of Ceremony
I know how much flack I'm going to take for this statement, so save your ammunition. Where in the world did you get the idea that wealth is ever distributed?

You can't say it and not expect a response. What gives you the notion that wealth "isn't' distributed. All funds are distributed. When you get paid by a company part of your "earned" income goes to the federal government, state government and county/city governments....to be "distributed" for various projects and social services. Even in the case of some social programs...the money received goes right back into the community.

Wealth is earned, accumulated, inherited, stolen--never distributed. Distribution of wealth means you are going to take from one to give it to another.
See above...


Be honest in your aim. You want what doesn't belong to you.
Do you believe you can live on $7.25 an hour or do you belive you work hard and should be paid more in order to live?

Secondly, if you hit the Powerball how much of your money are you willing to give to the "poor".
It depends on the person who hits....Most lottery winners spend their money and rarely hoard it like the top 1%...and many lottery winners claim broke in 1 to 2 years...So that money is "distributed" right back into the economy.

Would you sit down and figure to the penny how much it takes for you to live and "distribute" the rest of you dough?
Some do...It's called Philanthropy. Some people pay 10% of their earnings to a church. Some donate to charities.

You may not like the wealthy, that's ok, but lets quit blowing smoke up everyone's skirt--you're mostly envious.
Your love fest for the wealthy/rich...which you certainly are not part of...is cute....but you gloss over the point made in the video or even the chart I gave. There's nothing wrong with pointing out the income inequality in this country. And we can discuss why that is but to brush it off as if those making the point are "envious" is disingenuous.

Thirdly, how many people do you know that actually work for minimum wage.
I know plenty of them. I work for a local school system and I'm in touch with many who work for minimum wage....and even if I didn't it's not like there aren't people working minimum wage jobs.....:rolleyes:

Minimum wage is mostly for entry level and unskilled workers. If you can't find a job that pays better, then maybe the problem is you.
There are some that work for these companies and make a career for themselves there....but let's be real...just because it's entry level doesn't mean it shouldn't provide a livable wage considering the profits these companies make off the backs and sweat of their employees....:facepalm:
 
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Dirty Penguin

Master Of Ceremony
Sounds like you've never built a successful business, so you buy into the Obama line, "...you didn't build that".

Yea...but you missed the rest where he explains that you didn't build it by yourself. No one's fooled by the right wings ability to take his words out of context....Yes, if you got a business...you didn't build that...someone helped you build it....this is even true for the business you run....:sad:
 

Apex

Somewhere Around Nothing
Minimum wage is mostly for entry level and unskilled workers. If you can't find a job that pays better, then maybe the problem is you.
I am calling BS right here. Minimum was not restricted to entry level or unskilled workers. My wife is a vet tech. She holds a degree from a Big 10 university. Yet she barley makes over minimum wage and her wage prospects do not go much higher from here, regardless of how long she decides to stay in the field.

With the saturation of college degrees that is going on, it is getting to the point where you need a degree to get a job for pretty much anything beyond a cashiers positions.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Yea...but you missed the rest where he explains that you didn't build it by yourself.
You presume too much. I heard the whole thing, & the whole context.
Of course, his dishonesty & pandering are more nuanced than that single quote.
But it's such a very entertaining gaffe, & it speaks directly to his real intent, ie,
that others deserve a greater share of the wealthy's income & capital cuz they're
just as smart & hard working. Hogwash.
 

Dirty Penguin

Master Of Ceremony
You presume too much. I heard the whole thing, & the whole context.
Of course, his dishonesty & pandering are more nuanced than that single quote.
But it's such a very entertaining gaffe, & it speaks directly to his real intent, ie,
that others deserve a greater share of the wealthy's income & capital cuz they're
just as smart & hard working. Hogwash.

:biglaugh:.....


PolitiFact | Putting Mitt Romney's attacks on 'You didn't build that' to the Truth-O-Meter

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."


:facepalm:
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
It's to be expected that the bottom 90% would like to see the top 10% transfer wealth to them in the name of fairness.
Their idea of "fair" (according to the chart) leaves most of the the wealthy with very little more than the middle class.
I doubt that we'd ever achieve that kind of redistribution, since it would sap the will to work hard & take risks.

It isn't the bottom 90% wanting the top 10% to transfer wealth to them in the name of fairness, but the top 1% of the top 1% - that's the top 0.1% - that owns 40% of the wealth of the country. To have this kind of wealth transfer has absolutely nothing to do with hard work, ingenuity, or integrity in business, but in playing the system in their favor from international bankers, whole GDPs of countries, and tax/investment/derivatives loopholes.

Even the top 10% isn't doing as well as they could due to the transfer of wealth toward the top 0.1%. I have great difficulty believing that the top 0.1% are the models of integrity that deserve all they have.
 
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