The poor shall shall have no dominion.

[undergroundpanther]

There was once a television show that always concluded its program with the stand up comic stating just as seriously as he possibly could, “Just remember folks ... there’s one thing that money can’t buy ... and that’s poverty.” It always brought a roar of laughter.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/2659
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Let me tell you about the very rich,They are different from you and me.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/23/the-real-reason-why-the-rich-see-americas-problems-differently-than-you-and-i/

I am sick of people,who are NOT rich, treading oh so carefully around the 'feelings' of the rich. And defending them. Always when someone brings up how corrupt the rich are,or how greedy or whatever there is always a self appointed pollyanna cheerleader for greed giving some flimsy example of a"good" rich person.

I have seen how people point to the same few rich people as examples of rich gooders to prove to me why most rich people are good too.I not convinced by a few decent rich people giving the plebes a crumb or two is enough good to say rich people are good people,for me.
http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10004217.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/apr2006/rich-a19.shtml

I am too cynical to think a handful of relatively decent rich people care enough about those of us who suffer to do all that much to make things better for most of us,except for a few handpicked people at a discretion.Or when rich give through charities so the rich never have to see what their own greed creates firsthand and they have to be lured to give with treats dinners or"recognition".. I know the rich will not waste their hoarded wealth on doing stuff that would REALLY change things.Like repairing the mortgage crisis, The"good" rich won't stop the super rich from rigging the system,the "good rich"won't shut down the G8, The "good rich" won't fight the greed of the banks,Many"good rich" won't dare turn down those fat tax cuts bush gave them even as our economy crashes,because they care when it benefits them somehow, other than that they are like any other rich pig..
http://media.www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2008/05/23/EdOp/Greed.And.Corporate.Power.Created.American.Plutocracy-3375254.shtml
http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/

Rich people get rich most of the time by: luck, being born into wealth,marrying rich,crime, or by being a ruthless asshole in a generational line of ruthless asshole robber barons. Somewhere along the line the rich sold out their heart in exchange for"financial security". Sold out for greed. And I notice in those little nice rich people stories I see the people that fawn over the rich put up the story doesn't ever say who got hurt on the way to this decent rich person getting rich. At who's expense does the rich get rich from? Ask THAT one.



As long as mankind is dominated by the worship of self,idolizing overweening ambition,selfishness ,'display',and elitism of the few .. poverty for the many will not let up, let alone cease.The rich must have the poor in order to be "rich"Just as a "master" needs slaves, without slaves the so called master is just an ill tempered bully and nothing more..As long as the greedy crave power, and wealth is treated as power, there must be people (lessors)that power can be wielded over.Like the poor,disabled,tribal etc.

How much is enough? Seems enough is where you choose to find it. It has certain parameters - a floor, and no ceiling - you probably do have enough, but whether you recognize it or not depends whether you look up or down....


Those seeking power always want more, they are like addicts, acting like psychopaths,and most of the time it is shielded behind closed doors.Like abusers do their nasty business in the most private areas of the house. So the more people left out,kept poor and locked out of participation in politics the more things stay the same because the rich WANT it to stay in their favor,always...And the more power and wealth accumulated by the "rich",the more dominion they assume over others,more power they have over the lives of others.Yet to openly admit that as a rich pig makes the rich pigs look like abusers of humanity that they ARE
http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/Types/faces.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=NcomDP4BKKsC&pg=PA224&lpg=PA224&dq=pathological+optimism&source=web&ots=7RyLD47bVv&sig=phM3Rl1ErmuCoIkO4m6iACyZYy0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA8,M1

So they do the old bully trick, blame the people they exploit to justify the exploitation they are doing.
http://www.makezine.org/queens.html

Or they pull the just world fantasy out of their ass.So people can feel good about looking the other way.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v3n2/justworld.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/invuln.html

Most responses I see to the dangers this unchecked pathological greed and positivism that has brought upon us by the rich and comfortable unwilling to feel the dangers right in front of us are..

* Denial - Well it can't happen like that here
* Brave New World - That was then, this is now
* Love of Big Brother - They will think of something
* Hollywood - Technology will bring us seamlessly into a free energy age at the last minute
* New Age - Why do you focus on the negative?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArkBuilders_org/message/1270
WTF???

So many people especially of the wealthy class are completely anesthetized and shielded to the pain of their lack of foresight. Left and Right, So many comfortable people are trained to ignore suffering,turn away, to live like children always looking forward to big Christmas even though they behaved like assholes all year long.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArkBuilders_org/message/1270

You can't be an asshole forever and expect to never get punched in the face for it,eventually.

http://gnn.tv/articles/3762/Spin_of_the_Week
http://gnn.tv/articles/3726/Speculate_to_Annihilate
http://gnn.tv/articles/3645/Bayer_A_History_of_Profit_from_Suffering
So The wealthy created standing armies,and mercenaries(black water),private prisons,lots of guns, non lethal weapons,bad drugs, and sycophants to use to keep them safe and plundering the world at our expense.
Because someday, the frustrated losers of this class war as they fall down through income brackets until they hit poverty themselves,I think they will realize they were beating up on the WRONG people.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3599776

Lets face it,99.9% of the people in the world will NEVER get rich. NEVER EVER..The greedy create the needy.The rich need the poor,because if we all had enough there would be no orders and classes anymore.And the rich can't have that, they want to dominate others,and because they can,they do.
http://www.unknownnews.org/060502a-Panther.html
http://www.jmooneyham.com/your-true-chances-of-getting-rich-reference.html
http://www.unknownnews.org/070217a-Panther.html

Most people are struggling to survive because of the greed and over weening ambitions of rich people.That is why right wingers want orders and classes of people.Those at the top justify their extravagance by claiming it is god's will they live like royalty.What if god does not exist? Than they are just greedy pigs on the take again..
http://www.radicalleft.net/blog/_archives/2006/7/16/2110617.html
http://gnn.tv/articles/3757/Health_Care_and_Ghosts_of_War

Rich people and their fictions called 'corporations' are truly the source of most if not all our bad situation pretty much. Because to be rich to have extreme wealth,or wealth at all it means someone else has to have less. So someone else has to be put in a category,a 'class' of people like those that have none or much less, be it destitute ,poor,working class,etc.
http://hope.journ.wwu.edu/tpilgrim/j190/richgetricher.html
http://jmooneyham.com/enormous-costs-to-society-of-right-wing-governance-reference.html
Right wing ideals are toxic.Toxic to freedom,to equality, to fairness, to humanity,justice,peace,community it is INSANE to support right wing governance if you are not super rich.
Right wing governance even increases suicide rates..
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2817
http://www.counterpunch.org/lichtman07102004.html

There is enough for everyone’s need and not for their greed. Poverty is the result of continued tolerance of inequality. It is Human rights violation at its worst. Due share for all is a matter of obligation on the part of society and not CHARITY.
Nataraj Ramachandran - Chennai - India - - 16 October 2007
http://www.oct17.org/tem.php?id_rubrique=343&id_secteur_virtuel=210&lang=en&annee=2007

"...Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H.L. Hunt...and a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a letter to his brother Edgar, Nov. 8, 1954

This is what the rich do to people that threaten to end wealth,to redistribute wealth, or attempt to make the kinds of differeces in lives that leads to progress that can end class war,and the poor who support them? Criminalize poverty,and kill the dream.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAsharewealth.htm
http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/840
http://www.tucradio.org/parenti.html
http://www.streetnewsservice.org/index.php?page=archive_detail&articleID=94

This Class war has gone on too long un challenged.
The rich have destroyed OUR country,Why not,END WEALTH NOW?
http://makewealthhistory.org/2008/01/29/how-much-is-enough/
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/11025
http://transitionculture.org/2006/03/31/can-we-use-fear-as-a-motivator-for-change-slight-return/

[reflection]

1. You make some good points. You should copyright them.

No, wait.

:think:

[undergroundpanther]

3. Why?

I want people to SEE my points,I don't want to copyright or charge money for my thoughts,because poor people are who need this information the most.Selling it to people that could afford a book for 15 bucks limits the audience. So Feel free,to use my ideas to sharpen your own replies to this problem and the people that are the problem.
Copyright does NOT help poor people or help foster the changes that I would like to see happen in this country.

So I am NOT copyrighting it,now or later.I might print it all up,into a nice collection and sell that at near production costs if there is a demand for that, but I won't copyright any of it.And the Stuff on Unknown news,I didn't put the copyright on there,either. The webmasters do it,by default.
So go ahead use my ideas to make better arguments.
They came to me for free,so you can use them-for free.

[TahitiNut]

2. One nit: It's not about "inequality"; it's about inequity.

Economic equity and justice would not assure that everyone was identically affluent ... it would merely ensure that the gross abuses of a system that's increasingly 'tuned' to benefit the already-benefited would be curbed and corrected.

The Gini Index is the measure of inequality, where a measure of 0.00 would indicate total equality. That's not the 'ideal' target; it's dystopian. We're currently hovering around 0.46 and increasing, while far more equitable economic systems (Japan, France, Denmark, etc.) yield a measure below 0.33 down to 0.20.

[undergroundpanther]

4. If money is power..

And it seems money can buy power, it IS about more than inequity
it is about justice,fairness denied and inequality.

[bobbolink]

5. "The greedy create the needy." GREAT bumpersticker!

I want one!

As always, a great thread, and terrific links. BOOKMARKED!

PS... I remember some time back you posted a link about empathy going extinct. I have searched, and can't find it now. Do you still have that link around? (And if you do, how the heck do you organize everything?)

K&R!!!!

[undergroundpanther]

6. Hi Bobbie!!

How I keep organized?
I know the basic ideas I am working with,So I search and the places
that are saying the things I am writing about aren't everywhere. You can target searches very specifically. There are not all that many,hits.So usually I can find what I was looking for that way.
Or if I can't find it I go back into my other writings and find the link there.Also I have a method I use to remember things because I need to do it that way to work around my issues.. I can also finish a 200 page book in an hour I read fast.It saves me money on buying books that are not what I wanted, that I thought was what I was looking for.

Here are a few of the things I put up about empathy.
Maybe one of these was it. Let me know And I will look more if it isn't.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/undergroundpanther/21
Asshole free zones post
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/undergroundpanther/37
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=230&topic_id=2189&mesg_id=2225
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2049160
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/undergroundpanther/76


Bobbie I hope all is OK with you.Seems we were both going through some bad shit at the same time!! sucks ass doesn't it?

Take care...I am here,I'm not leaving this place any time soon.

[bobbolink]

7. Those are great...thanks. I bookmarked ones I didn't have before. ^_^

However, that's not what I had in mind...... and the worst part is, I can't remember where I got it from you... DU, PM, etc... sing along with me... "If I only had a brain..."

If you happen to dig it up, I'd be most grateful.

Also, I KNOW I came across a GREAT article about the downsides of education.. it was tremendous and really got me thinking. NOW I can't remember where I found it, and google isn't getting me there...sobble. If you would happen to know about it, I'd be most grateful.

Thanks much!

:yourock: :hug: :yourock:

[undergroundpanther]

9. Bobbie

I think this one on productivity might be useful too,and read the responses,interesting,,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2976355

[UndertheOcean]

8. Great post

:applause:

[windoe]

10. What a mind job we have been subject to our whole lives

that convince us we are free when we are not. Starting with the 8 hour school day to condition us for the 8 hour shift, it breaks off from there with expensive college education, the people with the least means having to work to support the upper classes, with very little time for leisure--or FREE TIME. The middle class is somehow stuck between these 2 worlds, working the long shifts and having a savings-having a chance for stability but without all the free time. The American dream of hitting it big is the carrot to keep people working till they are exhausted.

'We ' have created a society that is so high maintenance that most people cannot enjoy this life and enjoy healthy relationships. The very structure of the highway system and zoning laws that are used to design our neighborhoods are meant to enrich the oil companies and corporations. The loss of the 'commons'; water, energy and public airwaves, as examples, have slowly made us more dependent. This design has increasingly created isolation by forcing us to use our cars to get food and goods, and to visit one another. TV has brought programming to every home and added to this societal fragmentation. People can spend their lives in their own self created bubble, living vicariously as a TV voyeur.

Isolated people are easier to control, people do not feel as obligated to each other, having not developed a sense of community. Internet has arisen to fill this void in a way, allowing global discussions and a sense of community.

Traveling to other countries you can experience the old neighborhoods, people walk and ride bikes to the markets and have much more leisure time. There is something to be learned about a slower lifestyle--having more free time gives you more time to think, and plan your own life. Having more free time is necessary for people to develop awareness of each other, stay vigilant to what their overseers are up to (!) and creating art, music and communing with nature and LIVING, not just EXISTING.

I believe having autonomy over how we structure our neighborhoods, the sharing of our food and shelter, education and healthcare is key to quality life for more people, but I can only dream of how to get there from here.

[undergroundpanther]

12. Mind job indeed!

>that convince us we are free when we are not. >

We are not free.People feel nostalgic about the past because they assume they were freer "back than",and thier eyes get all fuzzy and they daydream about a past that never was..


<Starting with the 8 hour school day to condition us for the 8 hour shift,>

When I started school I couldn't stand being cooped up.ALL day!! It drove me up a wall.I hated it. All I could think of was just getting up and walking outside.I always tried to get a window desk,to feel the breeze and some sun hear a bird anything...What was keeping me there?I asked that question and a surge of anger rose up. After I tried walking out, I was forced to stay after school as punishment on the first day they tried that, I skipped out,the second the teacher walked out,I got on the bus before anyone knew and went home, So they called my mom and she brought me back to school.
I was just furious.

Nobody asked me WHY I was going crazy being caged 8 hours with a bunch of assholes, bored to tears with classes that I already knew the shit they were teaching us. I quickly found out there was no empathy, reasoning or compromise in these people .They even made it so my mom had betrayed me,they were my enemy than,As far as they were concerned I was going to be forced to accept this crap or else. But I didn't play their game their way .After escaping,over and over,and my mom not being able to find me to drag me back to school ,(I was hidden in the woods,she would walk right past me unaware I was there)..The school gave up with trying to keep me after school.The school never tried that shit again.

But they would try to break me other ways.The teachers would by-stand as bullies stalked me hit me harassed me ceaselessly..
But I would not tolerate it.I fought back.But it has cost me.Cost me dearly to be who I am.I am full of wounds I am trying to overcome. It ain't easy.But the alternative as I see it was worse.I would be dead if I played as they demanded.So I refused to assimilate with the culture of empire.

> the people with the least means having to work to support the upper classes,>
Upper class parasite/criminal/con men/greedy pigs you mean.



> very little time for leisure--or FREE TIME. The middle class is somehow stuck between these 2 worlds, working the long shifts and having a savings-having a chance for stability but without all the free time.>

The American dream of hitting it big is the ultimate carrot to keep people working till they are exhausted used up and too old to be a 'threat' to rich pigs..All that time they toil hoping to get that carrot, free time..But sadly when they finally retire they can't manage all that"free time".They never had the free time to learn how to manage free time.So all the things and issues they've denied or put aside for work,The dreams deferred ,the emotions, regrets,whatever else rushes in to fill the gap where work was a distraction from it,and so the retirees sometimes get depressed or lose it or just isolate because they do not remember how to turn strangers into friends..

<'We ' have created a society that is so high maintenance that most people cannot enjoy this life and enjoy healthy relationships. >

No THEY the wealthy made this culture this way.They conditioned us into accepting it,bit by bit until We are not free,but have emotional deficits that fir right into a "consumer lifestyle"
The rich in the government did this to the people over generations.Look into the history of the department of labor..Charles Neill said this in 1905 "There must be a separate House and as far as possible separate rooms so that in the early years of life the idea of PROPERTY the right to THINGS to privacy may be instilled." They were conditioning us to be servants that believed they were free,valuing obedience and owning things over relationships.

The zoning laws and building codes (some we still have today,)prevent people sharing quarters,welfare agencies a few decades ago were so hellbent on pushing individualism that as late as the 1970's food stamps could be automatically denied to any poor family or person who SHARED food with others!!!! Imagine that punished for SHARING a meal with friends or neighbors??!



>The very structure of the highway system and zoning laws that are used to design our neighborhoods are meant to enrich the oil companies and corporations.>

YES!!! Ever hear of automobile Apartheid?
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2005/10/25/224914/77
http://www.countercurrents.org/en-shiva170304.htm
It's no bullshit..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3238412

>The loss of the 'commons'; water, energy and public airwaves, as examples, have slowly made us more dependent.>

All while convincing us privatizing these things makes us more INDEPENDENT!!Orwell would be astonished!


>This design has increasingly created isolation by forcing us to use our cars to get food and goods, and to visit one another.>

What is the designed city, who wants to make it happen, and who designs it?
Suburbs are designed around the Nazi Garden Cities.All over America sprawling "garden cities"Miles and miles paved and no one is walking..No one is allowed to "loiter".How dare I socialize on owned sidewalks? How dare I loiter in the shelter of a store's overhang to avoid being drenched by a thunder storm before I walk home,and get wet anyway with cars speeding by me on the shoulder of the road(no sidewalk)dousing me mindlessly with filthy water and greasy tire spray?
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/50dec/1250moses.htm
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/back/24_Barnett.html


>Isolated people are easier to control, people do not feel as obligated to each other, having not developed a sense of community.>

EXACTLY!!Ooh the scary news and ooh the scary city people all the violence!! Go home,go to work,the mall,home,you cannot be SOCIALIZING you might be shot,..move along..

<Internet has arisen to fill this void in a way, allowing global discussions and a sense of community.>

And this is why they want to shut down the web.They want to SPY on everyone,The net was supposed to be the rich pigs tool,it was supposed to be a way to isolate us more in our homes and a way for business to invade our homes and occupy even more of our attention so we would BUY more.We can't be using the web to be socializing here,SHARING,or empowering each other , even if it's all virtual for now,Oh NO!!The plebes are finding out information that goes contrary to the programming the rich pigs have tried so hard to instill in them!! How Dar I speak that Cultural Imperialism! Sucks!
http://www.williambowles.info/guests/cultural_imp.html

<There is something to be learned about a slower lifestyle--having more free time gives you more time to think, and plan your own life. Having more free time is necessary for people to develop awareness of each other, stay vigilant to what their overseers are up to (!) and creating art, music and communing with nature and LIVING, not just EXISTING.>

And this is what these rich pigs and greedy people have STOLEN from us. free time,a slower pace,time to develop awareness of each other,build community and solidarity and access to political power to get our own needs met.

>I believe having autonomy over how we structure our neighborhoods, the sharing of our food and shelter, education and health care is key to quality life for more people, but I can only dream of how to get there from here. >

I agree, But some out there are thinking of how,to get there from here.And they have some pretty good ideas.
Building a better way threatens people who are invested in keeping things as they are. So how much are the rich parasites wanting a slave state ,all the authoritarian bullies and narcissistic "libertarian" assholes will try to fuck the new attempts to live without the 'system' up before it takes off. We don't need this empire system, We don't need the corporations or the pigs running it.. the system despite how the rich owned media spins it needs us and the pigs want to dominate every aspect of our lives they want so much,still they want more...and more..Sometime you will have to say to the boss, the bully, the cop, and rich man, NO you Can't HAVE you can't TAKE..Go away or I will make you go away.

http://www.ranprieur.com/essays/dropout.html
http://www.ishmael.com/Interaction/QandA/Detail.CFM?Record=448
http://www.ishmael.org/Education/Writings/wealth.shtml

[mcg]

19. The sumptuous Moscow Metro

Regarding automobile Apartheid, look at this video of the Moscow Metro ...

Sumptuous MOSCOW METRO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgiFJysMx4c

Even the DC Metro, which looks great compared to the NY Metro,
looks like crap compared to this.

also ...

Wonderful St. Petersburg METRO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUQv8DuFIvk

[Greyhound]

11. Quite possible, but very unlikely. Love your spirit. More after work. n/t

:kick: & R

[KoKo]

13. Oh My....what an EXCELLENT POST...I hope folks have stomach to read it all. K&R!

:kick:

[Raksha]

14. In Hebrew the words for JUSTICE and CHARITY are the same word...

namely tzedakah, which means both "rigteousness" or "justice" and charity.

Re There is enough for everyone’s need and not for their greed. Poverty is the result of continued tolerance of inequality. It is Human rights violation at its worst. Due share for all is a matter of obligation on the part of society and not CHARITY.
Nataraj Ramachandran - Chennai - India - - 16 October 2007

Just thought I'd mention it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

15. That standup was an idiot.

Or, looking in the wrong places, at the very least. I'll be happy to sell him all the poverty he can handle....and then some.

Seriously, though...I went to high school with kids of some pretty wealthy people. It wasn't Beverly Hills High, but at least one 'friend's' family had a private jet, which wasn't a common thing in the late 60's. Anyway, I don't remember a single one of them having much in the way of social conscience. Mostly the dead opposite.

Some of them talked a good game, but consider the era; they were just playing a role, anyway. Once life came to some serious choices, they ALL returned to the fold and went with the money.

[dysfunctional press]

16. that pie chart is entirely bullshit...

only 1% or less of the people who are wealthy get there through their their own efforts, opportunities and initiatives...? i'd really like to see the hard numbers used to construct that pie chart.

[undergroundpanther]

18. I'm not talking mere millionares Question..

$1 million just doesn't cut it, anymore to be considered wealthy.
http://www.jmooneyham.com/rich-reference.html#section28

Only twice before over the last century has 5 percent of the national income gone to families in the upper one-one-hundredth of a percent of the income distribution — currently, the almost 15,000 families with incomes of $9.5 million or more a year, according to an analysis of tax returns by the economists Emmanuel Saez at the University of California, Berkeley and Thomas Piketty at the Paris School of Economics.
...
The great fortunes today are largely a result of the long bull market in stocks, Mr. Volcker said. Without rising stock prices, stock options would not have become a major source of riches for financiers and chief executives. Stock prices rise for a lot of reasons, Mr. Volcker said, including ones that have nothing to do with the actions of these people.

That kind of rich.And more are what I am talking about.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/business/15gilded.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Weill,%20Sanford%20I.&pagewanted=all
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0411-05.htm

[dysfunctional press]

20. what are the exact numbers...?

the chart and your post says that 99% of "wealthy" (what amount of $$ is your cut-off point?) people got there through the means you cite, leaving only 1% available for those who made their wealth through effort & ambition.

so- what are the raw numbers? how many people does 69% represent?
btw- "The great fortunes today are largely a result of the long bull market in stocks, Mr. Volcker said."

-would those fortunes fall under "inheritance" "marriage or "illegal means"...? :shrug:

[undergroundpanther]

21. Read This page

Look at this link and the references.You will understand the reasoning for pie chart than.

http://www.jmooneyham.com/rich-reference.html#section28

If you don't want to bother reading the link and checking the references yourself..than you are wasting my time.

[dysfunctional press]

22. the reasoning for the pie chart isn't reasonable...

unless you consider every wealthy person who didn't inherit or marry into their money to be a criminal...and that simply isn't the case.

i may not be wealthy, but at least my mind isn't twisted around with jealousy of those who are. please- get yourself some help.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

26. Probably inheritance for most of them, if you go back.

Look, if I inherited $10 million yesterday and you asked me how I got my money I'd say I inherited it.

Fast forward 10 years: I've invested the money and it's earned an average of 10%. I now have $25 million and you ask me how I earned my money. I say that I earned it through investing. It's a true statement, but would I have made the $25 million without the initial inheritance?

[dysfunctional press]

28. in many cases that's probably true-

but there are still people who start with little or nothing and become very wealthy. off the top of my head- michael jordan and oprah are just two notable examples from here around chicago, and i'm sure that there are plenty of others but most of them would probably be names that nobody would recognize.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

29. Those people are the exception and not the norm. nt

[dysfunctional press]

30. all ultra-wealthy people are the exception, and not the norm.

but there is still more than 1% of them who would be considered "self-made" (i.e. they didn't inherit, marry, or steal their fortunes)

[mrreowwr_kittty]

25. I believe most of the "getting their through their own initiative"

Is covered in the "crime" section.

[Raksha]

17. K & R, bookmarking to return to this later.

A wonderful piece--you really outdid yourself with this one, Panther.

[lonestarnot]

23. I love this post! Thank you!

BMKing and K & R

[bobbolink]

27. undergroundpanther can be counted on for GREAT mind-expanding thoughts!

:applause:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

24. "Self appointed pollyannas of greed" is a very good phrase

I consider these people enablers of those who are raping our world. Like you, I also blame the rich - all of them, including the "nice" ones - for the state we are in. But they wouldn't be able to do it if they were not aided and abetted by TV-addled dimwits living in a delusional fantasy that someday their masters will take notice of their loyalty and reward them. Yeah right. They might get a pat on the ass before the plutocrat shoves them out the servant's entrance but that's about it.

So-called "charity" is a bunch of bullshit, too. Power tripping rich assholes picking and choosing whom they're going to bestow with a few crumbs. You're right about that as well.

And finally, the Just World and New Agey justifications for massive inequality are so rampant. Whether it's wealthy evangelicals acting like Jesus wants them to be greedy crooks or Oprah peddling horseshit like "The Secret", the mind fucking of the people continues.

[bobbolink]

31. Kick for an important, thought-provoking thread!

:loveya: