LAGC Donating Member (371 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 05:26 PM
Original message
Why Do I Harbor So Much Hatred Toward Rich People?
I'm honestly trying to figure it out.
Is it envy? I don't have any particular desire to be rich myself, especially if it means attaining such wealth the way so many other people have.
Is it jealousy? I don't particularly like the fact that there are so few rich people when there are so many more poor people who don't have what they have, but I don't really resent them for that reason alone.
What is it then? Could it just be the fact that to become rich it means stepping on so many other people below you in order to get ahead? In effect, EXPLOITING people in order to attain for oneself a vastness of resources that you in effect deny everyone else? Even this wouldn't be so bad if the rich didn't bitch about the fact that a portion (or even half) of their ill-gotten wealth gets taxed back by the PEOPLE that the government is supposed to represent!
I mean, you watch reality shows like "How'd You Get So Rich?" with Joan Rivers on the TVLAND channel, and listen to the "rags-to-riches" success stories. Doesn't it ever strike you how in all of those cases its either: a) getting people underneath them to make money off of their labors; OR b) charging exorbitant prices for their products which in effect distributes wealth from everyday people into their greedy little hands?
Do I think we should do away with all rich people? No, for you can never mandate total economic equality without a government gaining too much control over its populace. But do I have a problem with "redistribution of wealth" where the rich are taxed slightly higher than everyone else to pay for their unfair burden of resources that they hog to themselves? NO! After all, its often THEY who benefit the most from government protections of all their wealth in the form of the police and courts, and from wars and other machinations of the State. They ought to pay their disproportionately fair share!
Am I really wrong to think this way?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6330152This is why I cant stand libs instead of wanting people to be able to be successful they want to take those who have and knock them down a peg and spread the misery.
Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 05:33 PM
Response to Reply #1
6. Exactly, they're spoiled brats who won't share
and nobody likes those, not even other spoiled brats.
They will continue to scream and howl until they can fall asleep on a pile of all the toys in the universe.
They don't exactly hate us, they are indifferent to us. Once they've taken everything from us, we simply cease to exist to them.
And you will continue to scream and howl until everyone is as broke as you are.
Juche Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 05:43 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. Obama openly called for tax hikes on people like himself in the general election
Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 05:46 PM by Juche
However there are some decent rich people. Bill gates donates tons of money to global health. George Soros, Tim Gill and Warren Buffet (to name a few superwealthy liberal people) are leftists. Many of the celebrities in hollywood are leftists.
do you actually believe Obama will pay those higher taxes he is championing?
armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 06:16 PM
Response to Reply #26
34. **** free-market capitalism.
Says the marxist who is getting a business degree.
armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #79
86. Supply/demand is a lie. It doesn't exist.
There are many other less honest factors that play a role in the price of goods and services. If you honestly believe that supply/demand is some sort of law, you really need to do some more research on economics.
flexqube (11 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 08:01 PM
Response to Reply #67
74. Let's think about that
I ask the following question respectfully. Do you think your fellow Americans are stupid?
Consider Walmart. That corporation is routinely bashed for the very things you are talking about.
I shop there all the time. I do so because they offer me great products for a low price. I am happy with the quality of their products and thrilled with the prices. For some products, not many but some, other stores have a lower price. For those products I shop at the stores with the lower price.
There are some products that are available at Walmart and other stores that cost more than I want to pay. A good example is a flat panel TV. I would really like one. But I am not willing to pay over $1,000 for a decent model. So I just don't buy one.
I have never been forced by gun point to go into Walmart to buy anything. Why would I shop at Walmart if better alternatives were available? I would have to be stupid.
In contrast my local government provides my garbage collection services. They are often late. They sometimes refuse to take my garbage. They throw my garbage cans in the middle of the street rather than putting them back on the curb. And if I don't pay whatever price they ask the local government will confiscate my house and/or subject me to fines and jail time.
What about how Walmart treats employees? I have never seen Walmart marching employees into the store a gun point and forcing them to work. In fact, even in this bad economy in my lower middle class neighborhood in metro Detroit workers have other choices than working at Walmart. In fact more workers have chosen to work at Walmart than at any other company in the world. Why would workers choose to work at Walmart if better alternatives were available? They would have to be stupid.
Lousy freeper troll
LAGC Donating Member (371 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 08:35 PM
Response to Reply #74
80. Oh no, you did NOT just bring Walmart into this conversation!
Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 09:09 PM by LAGC
The same Wal-mart that refuses to let its workers organize, and actively stifles any attempts at forming a union, including anti-union propaganda forced onto all employees?
http://walmartwatch.com /
Those low prices come at a mighty high cost... and even then, the stock-holders are STILL making bank!
The same walmart that gave all its employees a decent bonus a few months back in the horrible Obama economy. I'm not a huge fan of walmart but, I dont see them as evil either.
armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #80
85. I'm starting to this that person is a troll...
No proper democrat boasts the benefits of Walmart and free-market capitalism. Those are right-wing memes.
You have to get up pretty early to fool this Marxist
flexqube (11 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 09:57 PM
Response to Reply #85
96. Winning on the merits
I am not claiming that Walmart is perfect.
I am saying that blaming Walmart is not a policy solution. I am saying that blaming rich CEOs is not a policy solution. I am saying that making personal attacks on George W. Bush is not a policy solution. It is a diversion. It will win an election here and there, but it is not an approach that will lead to long term success.
If we want a good health care system or a clean environment we need to win based on ideas. We need to discuss policies in a rational way. We need to look at the incentives that we are putting in place.
Take regulation as an example. Is the issue with our regulatory environment that we have too few regulations? Or is it that we don't have the right regulations. I hear Democrats and Republicans complain about stupid contradictory regulations. If we want to win on the merits complaining about too few regulations is going to fall flat with people that live and work with them. We need to focus on the regulations that are simple, transparent, and make a real difference. Then we are coming up with solutions that are practical and consistent with freedom.
Isn't that what all of us are for?
I don't think there are a lot of people out there (including Republicans) who think that George Bush is smart or that CEOs are not greedy. Talking about that does not move the conversation an inch. I am saying that we need to challenge ourselves here to focus on solutions and not on villains.
armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 10:05 PM
Response to Reply #96
98. We need to identify the enemy...
So yes, I will continue to call out Walmart, CEOs and Bush and friends. I will let everyone know just how evil they are.
Have fun shopping at Walmart. How you can live with yourself is beyond me.
The correct answer is that there is not enough regulation. Actually, the correct answer is that we should get rid of private insurance all together. We need socialized medicine. All the greedy assholes at private insurance companies can go **** themselves.
The reason why I think you are a troll is because you a boasting about things like free-market capitalism, Walmart and "incentives". These are all conservative talking points. It hardly qualifies you as a democrat.
I think you'd be happier if you found your way to freerepublic.com
armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #63
84. I will gladly intimidate the hell out of rich assholes. I want socialism.
Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 08:44 PM by armyowalgreens
Time for a reality check. Free-market capitalism pools wealth at the top. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer. It has very little to do with "voluntary behavior". It has more to do with power and money.
And in socialist countries the peasants have so much money they wipe their ass with their currency.
Why dont you pack up and move to a socialist country and leave the US alone?
ipaint Donating Member (511 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 06:41 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. If they paid their fair share of taxes we wouldn't need their charity. n/t
And if Bill Gates would just send me his ATM card and PIN I wouldn't have to work.
ipaint Donating Member (511 posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 06:38 PM
Response to Original message
40. The rich are by and large useless hoarders.
The Wealth Distribution
In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2004, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.3% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.3%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one's home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.2%
In terms of types of financial wealth, the top one percent of households have 36.7% of all privately held stock, 63.8% of financial securities, and 61.9% of business equity. The top 10% have 85% to 90% of stock, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America.
Figures on inheritance tell much the same story. According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, only 1.6% of Americans receive $100,000 or more in inheritance. Another 1.1% receive $50,000 to $100,000. On the other hand, 91.9% receive nothing (Kotlikoff & Gokhale, 2000). Thus, the attempt by ultra-conservatives to eliminate inheritance taxes -- which they always call "death taxes" for P.R. reasons -- would take a huge bite out of government revenues for the benefit of less than 1% of the population. (It is noteworthy that some of the richest people in the country oppose this ultra-conservative initiative, suggesting that this effort is driven by anti-government ideology. In other words, few of the ultra-conservatives behind the effort will benefit from it in any material way.)
Here are some dramatic facts that sum up how the wealth distribution became even more concentrated between 1983 and 2004, in good part due to the tax cuts for the wealthy and the defeat of labor unions: Of all the new financial wealth created by the American economy in that 21-year-period, fully 42% of it went to the top 1%. A whopping 94% went to the top 20%, which of course means that the bottom 80% received only 6% of all the new financial wealth generated in the United States during the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s (Wolff, 2007).
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth....
There is ample reason to hate the rich and the multitude of horrible problems their hoarding visits on the rest of us. The rich are a huge problem and the poor wouldn't exist without them.
I swear some people in this thread are channeling reagan.
And you contribute so much to society. You employee people and help keep corporations in business with your purchases which in turn provides jobs.
otohara Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Aug-17-09 07:00 PM
Response to Original message
50. They Use So Much Energy & Resources
they don't care about the environment otherwise they'd live in smaller homes - they tend not to recycle all the shit they consume, wasteful, greedy.
They will use Mexicans for child care, lawn care, house cleaning yet don't want them in our country.
Those are some of the reasons rich people are on my shit list.
And you don't use any resources?
The real truth is the primitives envy the rich and instead of trying to figure out how they can reap the benefits of capitialism they want to tear down those who enjoy the benefits.
