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Does anyone feel like this is normal or acceptable?

PureX

PureX

Veteran Member
Vee said:
Very true. I think that at one point it's not even about money anymore. It's about the thrill of becoming more and more powerful. It's an addiction. Like a drug addict they never get enough and the more they have, the more they crave, and like an addict, they don't care about the consequences as long as they get their fix.
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So why do we allow it? Why do we encourage and defend it? Look at the folks here who think this kind of corporate greed is GOOD! Or that it's inevitable, and so must be accepted as a fact of our economic existence? I understand addiction. But non-addicts don't support addiction. So why are so many non-wealthy people supporting the greed of those who exploit and abuse them? Are we insane???
 
Vee

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
PureX said:
So why do we allow it? Why do we encourage and defend it? Look at the folks here who think this kind of corporate greed is GOOD! Or that it's inevitable, and so must be accepted as a fact of our economic existence? I understand addiction. But non-addicts don't support addiction. So why are so many non-wealthy people supporting the greed of those who exploit and abuse them? Are we insane???
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Because they look at those people who are wealthy and powerful with admiration. Because they are told one day they too can become like their idols, and they believe it.
There are still some very smart people in the world, with good values, who genuinely want to do the right thing. But the majority of the population, to quote my dear friend Gregory Mannarino, "can't walk and chew gum at the same time".
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Estro Felino said:
Socialist Romania: 93%

That is: better being at the same level of very low, modest wealth. .than having a society of rich people and poor people.
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My having been a real estate broker notwithstanding,
I'm not an advocate of universal home ownership.
Renting offers greater flexibility to move when one
wants to live or work elsewhere. When we own our
home, transfer costs are high, eg, transfer taxes,
income taxes, commissions.
 
PureX

PureX

Veteran Member
Vee said:
Because they look at those people who are wealthy and powerful with admiration. Because they are told one day they too can become like their idols, and they believe it.
There are still some very smart people in the world, with good values, who genuinely want to do the right thing. But the majority of the population, to quote my dear friend Gregory Mannarino, "can't walk and chew gum at the same time".
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So what you're saying is that even the poor can become addicted to greed.

I agree. And maybe even more-so because the greed (and subsequent exploitation) of the wealthy puts them in danger. They become frightened, and vulnerable, and so start to hoard what little they have. And fight with each other for what 'crumbs' are available. And, generally, behave just like the rich and greedy do. And thereby they BECOME greedy, even though they are not rich.

This is why greed is not only socially toxic, but is also socially contagious. And much like any other addiction, it denies it's own existence. The addict is rarely able to recognize and appreciate the reality of his own addiction until it's destroying everything he/she loves. And by then it's too late to stop. They don't know any other way to live.
 
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Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Rival said:
SOCIALISM IS EVIIIIILLLLLL BE QUIET OUR SYSTEM WORKS!!!!!!

:mad:
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First we need to collectively ask ourselves what freedom and liberty actually are. "BBQ and Beer" definitely isn't it, no matter what some redneck wearing a shirt that says otherwise wants to believe. Its not Coke or Pepsi. If clothing options and guns represent freedom, youll willingly and gladly give up your real freedoms and liberties to a dictator because you dont know what any of them are. Then maybe we can begin to collectively acknowledge that post-Communist Revolution societies often did see remarkable improvements to literacy, health care, transportation and other things that really matter because the freedom to struggle isnt a freedom. Its the collective failure of everyone for failing to address our social responsibilities towards one another as members of a collective society.
 
icehorse

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
BSM1 said:
What would you have done?
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I would have recognized that ALL economic systems are complex machines that need tweaking and adjusting, and I would have made some tweaks and adjustments. Capitalism isn't bad on it's own. In fact I'm a fan. But unchecked capitalism can lead to some of the horrible outcomes we're seeing today. Wealth and income inequality are not characteristics of healthy, sustainable systems.
 
David T

David T

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
100% of my wages come from the wealthy. Our motto screw them out of every nickel possible and do it with a smile, legal, good service so they return again completely ripped off but excited to get more ripped off.

. They need to buy more crap like huge houses, etc. They should have a consumer tax for them spread it around or you are taxed to death. More boats more cars more more more!

Cheapskates.
 
Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
PureX said:
So why do we allow it? Why do we encourage and defend it? Look at the folks here who think this kind of corporate greed is GOOD! Or that it's inevitable, and so must be accepted as a fact of our economic existence? I understand addiction. But non-addicts don't support addiction. So why are so many non-wealthy people supporting the greed of those who exploit and abuse them? Are we insane???
Click to expand...
Because we let money become god.
 
Wandering Monk

Wandering Monk

Well-Known Member
Though there has been a recent increase in inequality if you look at the longer term trend line the trend toward inequality is downward. If you look at other countries you will see that income inequality is greatest in southern South America and Africa have the greatest, southeast Asia, America and Europe are the lowest.
income-share-held-by-richest-10.png
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I notice that many who want more money socialism spend much time on RF not earning it.
Beware....socialism is not conducive with freedom of speech on the internet.

Test....
Hey, @Wu Wei....were you alerted to this?
 
P

Ponder This

Well-Known Member
Vee said:
I saw this article today and although it's not surprising, it never seizes to disgust me how far out of balance humankind has gone, and things are going to get much worse before they get better.

Nearly half of global wages received by top 10%, survey finds
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All I see here is wealth envy.
I don't see anything that describes an abuse of wealth.

Does anyone feel like this is normal or acceptable:
Only ten of the world's countries own 49% of the earth's 149 million square kilometers of land.​
There are like 194 countries in the world!

So yeah, it doesn't bother me that a few people are ridiculously rich as long as they use their wealth wisely to benefit others. What bothers me is when rich people abuse their wealth. It also bothers me when there is a clear lack of social mobility: agency of the individual to excel, improve, and contribute. And those are potential issues they may correlate with large wealth disparity.

But just some statistic about the top percents owning more than half while the bottom half owns less than some percent is rather normal sounding to me and I see no reason to regard is as being unacceptable for a person to be wealthy. Perhaps, if someone hears the statistic for the first time it surprises and causes some measure of wonder. Some people didn't realize how much more wealthy the wealthiest people in the world actually are.

What's important to me is how wealthy people use their wealth and not simply some measure of how wealthy they happen to be. As the story goes, a random guy wins the lottery, quits his job, spends himself to debt, and winds up worse off than before he won the lottery because he's simply not capable of handling wealth in a responsible manner.
 
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