Why don't I care that the rich are getting richer?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

 

[Albatross]

Envy is a powerful emotion for people,but some don`t let that feeling overwhelm their reason-partial explanation.Beside equality in wealth has as much chance of being implemented as equality in height,or in intelligence.
That aside,a society is most stable and happy with a solid middle class.

 

[micrometers]

they get rich often through legalized corruption.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

they get rich often through legalized corruption.

who allows for the corruption? the politicians?
shouldn't they be at capitol hill then?

 

[QuantumPion]

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

Are you rich by leeching off others (e.g. politician, trial lawyer, business using government money/power, etc?)

 

[airdata]

How about ill gained wealth? Corporate fraudsters. Bank bailout fraudsters. Should they all get richer and not be punished for looting bailout money?

Why should 5000 people have received $1M + bonuses if their employers were being bailed out by the government? Why should they have seen a penny in bonus money if they obviously failed at their jobs?

How about some accountability. Berny Madhoff ripped off a bunch of rich people and got swift justice... the whole country gets ripped off and we reward them and then for the most part look the other way.


Find a specific target for you post. Not just a broad group of people of which your post doesn't applies to just a few.

 

[QuantumPion]

who allows for the corruption? the politicians?
shouldn't they be at capitol hill then?

We do when we demand that the government "do x for the greater good".

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Are you rich by leeching off others (e.g. politician, trial lawyer, business using government money/power, etc?)

who said i was rich?
my income is no doubt higher now than it was 6 months ago, but i worked at it over the last 12-18 months to get to this level.

 

[WelshBloke]

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

Its not something that keeps me awake at night, but the concentration of wealth is not a great thing for either the economy or society.

 

[dmcowen674]

Why don't I care that the rich are getting richer?

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

What are you not getting?

Well obviously you are in the rich class yourself.

The 1%ers are raising the costs of everything while at the same time driving wages down resulting in the destruction of the U.S.

Until you are personally affected, you will not get it.

 

[theeedude]

who allows for the corruption? the politicians?
shouldn't they be at capitol hill then?

Who pays to buy off politicians? Sounds like Wall St is the right place to be.
Of course if I was OWS, I would target places where the Wall St people live, not where they work.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Find a specific target for you post. Not just a broad group of people of which your post doesn't applies to just a few.

my post is based off of what i see from the general public. everyone is expecting a handout.
the OWS crowd targets anyone who has more than them. that is who they paint as the enemy.
did you see the video clip of the north side vs south side of the OWS camp at zucotti?
people are just envious of what others have, and too lazy to work for it themselves.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Who pays to buy off politicians? Sounds like Wall St is the right place to be.
Of course if I was OWS, I would target places where the Wall St people live, not where they work.

who has the power to pass laws?
if it were up to me, i'd make lobbying illegal.

 

[theeedude]

who has the power to pass laws?
if it were up to me, i'd make lobbying illegal.

Who has the money to buy off politicians who have the power to pass laws?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

What are you not getting?

Well obviously you are in the rich class yourself.

The 1%ers are raising the costs of everything while at the same time driving wages down resulting in the destruction of the U.S.

Until you are personally affected, you will not get it.

oh, it affected me alright.

tolls and gas have increased around here so i changed to a job with a shorter commute, or one that would allow me to take public transportation.

 

[Craig234]

Wasted on you, but:

http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Inequality-Make-Societies-Healthier/dp/1595581219

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

Why does the left find high incomes more upsetting than poverty?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
What are you not getting?

Well obviously you are in the rich class yourself.

The 1%ers are raising the costs of everything while at the same time driving wages down resulting in the destruction of the U.S.

Until you are personally affected, you will not get it.

oh, it affected me alright.

tolls and gas have increased around here so i changed to a job with a shorter commute, or one that would allow me to take public transportation.

and you don't think at some point you won't be able to meet these increases?

public transportation costs continue to skyrocket as well.

What will you do when you can't change to a job that will cover the increases?

Sounds like you are on the edge yet say you don't care?

I smell bullshit 1%er

 

[dank69]

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

What will you do when the 1% finally get around to shipping your job to india?

 

[BoberFett]

The way I see it...

For the masses, income is used merely to determine the distribution of scarce goods. The wealthy do consume more than the average person, but there is a limit to the amount that any single person can consume. The actual total consumption of goods by the obscenely wealthy is so small that even if you eliminate that wealth gap and redistribute their "excess" income, the actual lifestyle of the masses would remain unchanged. The prices might change, but the distribution wouldn't. There would still be haves and have nots. Get rid of the wealthy and my purchasing power doesn't change because we still have the same amount of people competing to acquire the same resources.

Where it starts to get murky is that for the capital class, excess money over the amount used for consumption is used as a tool to determine ownership of production. Beyond that it's used as a corrupting influence to purchase control, which is where it does begin to affect me. Lobbying for laws that require me to purchase a company's product, or creating a government mandated monopoly situation forcing me to pay higher prices than the free market would normally bear, or setting up regulatory barriers to entry that prevent competition from every arising. That's when I take issue with concentration of wealth, but it's also why I don't see the problem strictly as one of concentration of wealth but one of the government having too much economic influence.

 

[soulcougher73]

I dont think most people care that their are rich people. Their will always be a 1% no matter what. It is more about how that money is aquired. Bailouts, fraudulent means, off shoring, stock market manipulation etc.

I personally think the excessive concentration of wealth at the top is a bit much. I mean do people really feel good about themselves when they have more money than they could possibly spend while others struggle just to get by? I know i wouldnt. Id like to be rich someday but id like to do it honestly and ethically while donating vast sums of my money to the needy.

 

[Craig234]

Why does the left find high incomes more upsetting than poverty?

You have got to be kidding.

You don't understand poverty is the problem and excessive inequality a cause, eh?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

What will you do when the 1% finally get around to shipping your job to india?

in my line of work, it's unlikely to happy for the foreseeable future. i'm not one to say it will never happen, but hopefully if/when it does, i'll have enough saved to last me through retirement.

my biggest concern is how much the dollar is going to be worth then.

 

[micrometers]

The way I see it...

For the masses, income is used merely to determine the distribution of scarce goods. The wealthy do consume more than the average person, but there is a limit to the amount that any single person can consume. The actual total consumption of goods by the obscenely wealthy is so small that even if you eliminate that wealth gap and redistribute their "excess" income, the actual lifestyle of the masses would remain unchanged. The prices might change, but the distribution wouldn't. There would still be haves and have nots. Get rid of the wealthy and my purchasing power doesn't change because we still have the same amount of people competing to acquire the same resources.

Where it starts to get murky is that for the capital class, excess money over the amount used for consumption is used as a tool to determine ownership of production. Beyond that it's used as a corrupting influence to purchase control, which is where it does begin to affect me. Lobbying for laws that require me to purchase a company's product, or creating a government mandated monopoly situation forcing me to pay higher prices than the free market would normally bear, or setting up regulatory barriers to entry that prevent competition from every arising. That's when I take issue with concentration of wealth, but it's also why I don't see the problem strictly as one of concentration of wealth but one of the government having too much economic influence.

very good post. I agree with you very much.

there is nothing wrong with a guy making double or ten times that of another guy. The problem is when you have these crazy rich executives making hundreds of times more than the next guy. They will often throw their money into investment which results in more competition within a sector -- and thus less stability for those in the sector.

 

[Jhhnn]

So many people are upset at the 1%, Wall St., people that inherit wealth, the rich getting richer, etc.

None of that bothers me at all, or I should say... I don't let any of that concern me.
I only worry about myself. I do what I have to do to bring a paycheck home. If I feel like I'm not making enough to support the lifestyle that I want, I'll have to improve myself and not bitch at those who have more than me.

Unless the 1% are standing at the door, personally restraining me from job interviews, stopping me from working harder to make myself more marketable, I couldn't care less what they're doing.

What am I not getting?

All of us little people are subject to forces beyond our direct control. It's not like the 14M unemployed Americans weren't doing their jobs or improving themselves before they became unemployed, is it?

Or that the wealthy didn't become more so by causing those people to become unemployed, either. Corporate profits & cash reserves are near all time highs...

People of great wealth often have great power, as well, so they can take bigger risks, particularly when it's with other people's money & livelihoods. When they win, they're Country Club heroes, celebrated in the Wall St Journal. When they lose, other people take the hit, people just like you, and the lifestyles of the ownership class don't suffer on account of it. The wealthier they are, they greater the risks they can take, and the more people are affected when their schemes reach an end.

Witness the housing bubble, aka the Ownership Society & the wreckage left behind.