A note of appreciation from the rich Let's be honest: you'll never win the lottery.

[midnight]

On the other hand, the chances are pretty good that you'll slave away at some miserable job the rest of your life. That's because you were in all likelihood born into the wrong social class. Let's face it — you're a member of the working caste. Sorry!

As a result, you don't have the education, upbringing, connections, manners, appearance, and good taste to ever become one of us. In fact, you'd probably need a book the size of the yellow pages to list all the unfair advantages we have over you. That's why we're so relieved to know that you still continue to believe all those silly fairy tales about "justice" and "equal opportunity" in America.

Of course, in a hierarchical social system like ours, there's never been much room at the top to begin with. Besides, it's already occupied by us — and we like it up here so much that we intend to keep it that way. But at least there's usually someone lower in the social hierarchy you can feel superior to and kick in the teeth once in a while. Even a lowly dishwasher can easily find some poor slob further down in the pecking order to sneer and spit at. So be thankful for migrant workers, prostitutes, and homeless street people.

Always remember that if everyone like you were economically secure and socially privileged like us, there would be no one left to fill all those boring, dangerous, low-paid jobs in our economy. And no one to fight our wars for us, or blindly follow orders in our totalitarian corporate institutions. And certainly no one to meekly go to their grave without having lived a full and creative life. So please, keep up the good work!

You also probably don't have the same greedy, compulsive drive to possess wealth, power, and prestige that we have. And even though you may sincerely want to change the way you live, you're also afraid of the very change you desire, thus keeping you and others like you in a nervous state of limbo. So you go through life mechanically playing your assigned social role, terrified what others would think should you ever dare to "break out of the mold."

Naturally, we try to play you off against each other whenever it suits our purposes: high-waged workers against low-waged, unionized against non-unionized, Black against White, male against female, American workers against Japanese against Mexican against.... We continually push your wages down by invoking "foreign competition," "the law of supply and demand," "national security," or "the bloated federal deficit." We throw you on the unemployed scrap heap if you step out of line or jeopardize our profits. And to give you an occasional break from the monotony of our daily economic blackmail, we allow you to participate in our stage-managed electoral shell games, better known to you ordinary folks as "elections." Happily, you haven't a clue as to what's really happening — instead, you blame "Aliens," "Tree-hugging Environmentalists," "Niggers," "Jews," Welfare Queens," and countless others for your troubled situation.

We're also very pleased that many of you still embrace the "work ethic," even though most jobs in our economy degrade the environment, undermine your physical and emotional health, and basically suck your one and only life right out of you. We obviously don't know much about work, but we're sure glad you do!

Of course, life could be different. Society could be intelligently organized to meet the real needs of the general population. You and others like you could collectively fight to free yourselves from our domination. But you don't know that. In fact, you can't even imagine that another way of life is possible. And that's probably the greatest, most significant achievement of our system — robbing you of your imagination, your creativity, your ability to think and act for yourself.

So we'd truly like to thank you from the bottom of our heartless hearts. Your loyal sacrifice makes possible our corrupt luxury; your work makes our system work. Thanks so much for "knowing your place" — without even knowing it!http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm

[Demeter]

1. FSRP!

[Po_d Mainiac]

15. Let me hone that edge for ya n/t

[Laelth]

2. k&r for the truth, and for its rich irony. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[sui generis]

3. oh fuck me, what a bunch of self-pitying ignorant bullshit

Lame diatribe - it just goes to show the kind of rich person you would be if the universe intervened. The rich did not magically appear, cut out of whole cloth. In America, you don't have to win the lottery to get rich, but you do have to have some talent, ability to innovate, luck, and perseverance and you can make your own way, and sometimes make it all the way to "rich". Wealth really DOES come from being in the right place at the right time with the right idea, and not just by birth.

So I'd like to write a note of appreciation back to the rich from us poor uneducated ill mannered tasteless feeling sorry for ourselves bastards.

We're so good. You're so bad. We hate you. We think you're not even human like us. We'd like to kill all of you because we didn't get the same starting advantage that you did, whether that was birth, having a killer sports career, or merely a better mousetrap.

We would like to thank you for being there to give us an excuse for not trying harder, for blaming you for our complete absence of creativity, and for taking away any responsibility or accountability for acting and thinking for ourselves.

Thank you so much for being our personal devil, excusing all the bullshit in our lives that we want to dearly believe is holding us back, other than ourselves.

:eyes:

[Raster]

4. SOME Wealth really does come from being in the right place at the right time with the right idea,

and not just by birth. Some. Though by far, the best avenue to wealth and power is birth.

[sui generis]

5. you know I just want fairness

without generalizing. Every time I see this kind of masturbatory rhetoric it makes me see red. Not all people ARE created equally, and that IS a fact.

Some people are smarter, some people get luckier, some people get born to it, some people are prettier, and in all our variations, the consumer ultimately drives any single person's wealth, with the rare exception of the otherworldly rich, who do not even intersect our reality except through gossip rags and so called "reality tv".

Every time somebody says it's somebody else's fault we can't be creative or more motivated I just hear a foregone conclusion, and surrender.

We here on DU should be better, and wiser than that.

[Waiting For Everyman]

6. And millions with equal talent are purposely kept down by design of the machine. Get real. n/t

[sui generis]

7. oh you poor victim. Being kept down and all.

If you had a good original idea you'd be rich. Own it.

I'll bet you talk a lot about why you can't get ahead, instead of doing something about it. That's the difference between you and "the rich".

[Waiting For Everyman]

16. Did I say I was referring to myself? I wasn't.

I've been on top several times in my life, through starting my own successful businesses. I've seen how the system works from the top AND the bottom. Several times. I know how to get ahead, and I wouldn't put it past me doing it again, even at my age. But I've also seen the forces that hold people down, and they're not accidental.

The mega-wealthy are bullshit, every one of them. All it takes is zero morality or ethics. Not even talent, not even a good idea. (For example: any idiot can start a cult religion with a mail solicitation scheme attached to it, and be rich in a month.)

Those with the good ideas tend to be bought out and the ideas shelved, because good ideas lead to progress. Progress isn't good for wealth hoarding and keeping others down. In other words... limiting the competition - what the wealthy concentrate their time on.

From my observation in 60 years of life, most of the talent is among the poor... the poor who won't use their brains and talent to screw over everybody else to get an advantage for themselves... i.e., the best of the human race.

Capitalism isn't a meritocracy, in case you hadn't noticed that.

[sui generis]

35. I was mean yesterday -

sorry about the crankypants, but I don't believe that poverty is a meritocracy either - "the poor" is as much a homogenized archetype as "the rich". When we attempt to ascribe nobility or vileness to either state, we're not being honest, or realistic, and we're generalizing.

The best of the human race need to be considered on their own merits, not their social position, economic philosophies or income.

[Old Time Pagan]

44. Do you really enjoy talking out your arse?

I was involved in the PC industry from its innovation. I built my first computer from a HeathKit. I watched Bill Gates personally shill the very first version of Windows (yes he did have armpit stains, greasy hair and smelled bad back in those days.)

But enough fun traveling down memory lane, let's address your statement.

"If you had a good original idea you'd be rich. Own it."

Back in the birthing years of the PC industry, say from about 1980 to the early '90s there were literally thousands of small companies with "good, original ideas." Because I was going to university in Seattle at the time I was immersed in the culture and knew many people in the biz.

I watched as Billy Boy and Paul Allen stole those ideas, buried those young companies and forced many of those incredibly innovative, hard working people to either join Microsoft or go belly up.

Now I can only speak to the industry that I was part of and I never was interested in getting "rich" by this society's standards. That said, I did observe the ruin of friends who had software that was vastly superior to anything that Microsoft has ever released.

I did some consulting with Bob Monsour back in the early '80s and I followed the company that he and some friends started back then, Stac Electronics. If you care to check on just one example of the way people with "good, original ideas" get screwed by unscrupulous, slime balls then just google the company and read about it. Bob and his friends at least emerged with something, many other victims of Microsoft lost everything.

Here's a little something for you to chew on:

Myth: The rich get rich because of their merit.

Fact: Researchers have uncovered dozens of social factors that contribute to becoming rich.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-richmerit.htm

You really don't know what you're talking about, the wealthy just love dupes like you.

[Tansy_Gold]

56. +10 I knew someone would come up with at least one

concrete example to refute that, uh, "theory."

Of course, the other example is Paris Hilton. . . . .


TG

[verges]

47. Luck really is the key factor though. nt

[teknomanzer]

67. What kind of after taste does the kool aide leave on your tongue...

Your response is so much like those who say "If you're so smart why aren't you rich?" That is a crock of fuckin' shit - eat it whole and enjoy it.

How about you take your god damned blinders off and take a good look at reality. Economic disparity exists and it has real fucking effects. Your belief in the myth of American Dream that if you work hard you can get rich is completely detached from reality.

Ideas are not borne in a vacuum, new ideas result from a combination of experience and education as well as intellegence. Opportunities arise through being in the right place at the right time. Another advantage to the horders of wealth.

Further more most ideas cannot be accomplished by one person - even if that person is the orginator of the idea. So to get an idea to move from thought to substance requires the assistance of others. I would submit to you that anyone who is filthy rich probably stiffed a great number of people who helped them along the way.

I've seen far too many people work as hard as they can but never do more than barely keep themselves afloat. So you can stuff your "pull yourself up by the bootstaps" republican philosophy way up your four point contact.

[midnight]

8. That machine seems generously greased to create predatory lending systems

that unleashes a tsunami of devastation that many are barely surviving...

[midnight]

19. "the consumer ultimately drives any single person's wealth" Spoken like the

insurance mandate.... they are counting on you....

[sui generis]

29. I like the irrelevant ad hominem

as I said, irrelevant. What was your point and can you please be direct?

[midnight]

9. Your showing signs of impatience...... Reply to #3.

Warning: If these bankers show signs of impatience, just remember that they live in different time zone: On average they are accustomed to earning about $10,000 an hour.

[sui generis]

30. Evil bankers is a different thread. This one was a silly essay.

I'm addressing the essay and its implications. Please stay on topic my friend.

[wolfgangmo]

11. So how does the fact that it is harder to be upwardly mobile in America

Than in any other country?

I guess we are all lazy, stupid, and unmotivated. I know, I know, you didn't say that, but the implication is pretty clear. The sad fact is that most of the wealthy in America started from wealth or started near wealth.

Many point to Bill Gates as a self made man who came up with a better idea (OK so he bought an old idea and marketed the hell out of it) but the fact remains that he his father was a very highly placed corporate law lawyer with money to burn supporting his son and connections galore to get his sons ideas heard in the right places. So much for self made.

You miss the point. Most of us don't want to live like the rich, but we also don't want to be one sickness, one job, or one paycheck away from being homeless. We just want our kids to be healthy and have a chance at an education and opportunity. And that no longer is available to many American's simple because the future has been given away to the uber rich so they can get solid gold faucets for their 2nd yachts' 3rd bathrooms. The rich are rich and they want to stay that way and they want to make sure that all their decendents stay that way forever. Do you honestly think that the Duponts have personally come up with new ideas in the past 100 years (4 generations so far and counting)? No - they exploited the work of others.

Money is a force unto itself. We just want the government to reign it in a little. It's called a level playing field.

[midnight]

20. That type of wealth is not easy to imagine, but it is the driving force and it is

what is moving the business in this country.... However, I believe that we as a collective don't all strive for that level of wealth. We want to have access to health care, good education, safe environment to live and work..... and so I agree with you that a level playing field is neccessary.... or equality.

[sui generis]

34. very good reply

At least the first part. My problem was with the straw man entity set up in that "letter of appreciation".

The uber rich exist. Nothing will EVER change that. Sharks are in the ocean. It's all part of the ecology, and realistically they have always existed in our human community and they always will, just as sharks and predators will surely swim the oceans.

Worrying about the unfairness of the have's having so much more than the have nots does not address what the have nots need, nor how to realistically get it. A good friend of mine who is a scion of one of those "families" called me from her last remaining yacht in Acapulco a few years ago in a suicidal depression that her "allowance" had been reduced to a mere 80,000 dollars a month. Years later in her own inheritance, she now backs multiple organizations with well over 80,000 a month.

It is cathartic to go after the evil rich who are evil merely by existing, but it's also not effective, nor even appropriate.

If we want to level the playing field, destroy lobbying. Period. Investigate every law maker under a microscope, make it illegal for them or anyone in their family to have a relationship with anything they're voting on, and let's have complete transparency from the top down.

If Obama received 20 million in campaign contributions from the health care industry, then isn't holy Obama as complicit as the sharks that bribed him? Incidentally, Obama received significantly MORE than 20 Million from grassroots you and me, but he chose to support health insurance rather than health care for the grass roots. He's the one who set the tone for this crapfest of a non-bill, not some piddly 20 million dollar bribe.

[Jim Sagle]

21. Whadda buncha shit.

[midnight]

26. Hey Jim..... I agree....

“…this year, change has to be more than a slogan.” -- Barack Obama

[Lost4words]

27. just cause you are paranoid doesn't mean their NOT out to get you!

gotta admit high unemployment keeps the working classes in line.

[sui generis]

32. what a completely salient reply

Don't let me interfere with your self-pity; excuses are holy.

[Jim Sagle]

36. Hey, I've GOT a decent job. But I can remember when most other folks did too.

[natrat]

28. in the past you could work hard get lucky and get "rich"-this piece is about the super rich

as in the people who really do break countries, as in contemporary usa. The trajectory is clear though, look how unaffordable education has become. Look at how big biz is pushing out small biz. Sadly the clique at the top really is trying to fuck the rest over, sorry.

[sui generis]

31. this piece was also drivel about being kept down

where is our spirit? Do we always blame everyone else for our lack of motivation? It just got under my skin to hear that THEY are responsible for our lack of creativity, for our lack of motivation, for all the factors we believe are keeping us from being successful if not "rich".

If I'm fat, it's not because there are McDonald's everywhere, whether or not I eat there frequently. It's because I've given up responsibility for being disciplined about my diet and health to some other entity, and I say that fully cognizant that there ARE rare exceptions and that nearly everyone who replies to this tangent will claim to be the exception.

[alberg]

38. The fact that some of us may have been successful

in carving out a little piece of security and balanced living does not change the fact that many of us are institutionally prevented from doing so. A society in which 10% control 90% of the wealth is not equitable, it is not humane and I would argue is not in any real sense "free". The poster is trying (I believe successfully) to break through the frame that keeps the exploited majority from accurately perceiving their situation and organizing effectively to change it. All the social progress that we currently enjoy was created by social movements in which the citizens organized and then took action to change the social order. Progress was never "given" to the regular folks by the powers that be, it had to be struggled for and demanded. We can have a better world, a more equitable world, a more humane world - but first we have to be able to imagine it. Then we have to organize and work to achieve it.

[sui generis]

39. There are several principles at work here

not the least of which is an assumption that given the exact same set of circumstances everyone would behave the same and achieve the same advantage.

I am not at all saying that things shouldn't be more equitable, but a lot of these arguments, like yours, focus on the "control" of wealth rather than the use of wealth itself, by the 10% and by the 90% respectively.

Yes, imagining is the first step, but right from the start much of the "imagining" for how we get from here to there is not at all benevolent, and is focused on catharsis rather than fairness and reality. I'd like to think we're collectively better than that.

Also, in these discussions I often see ideas that are tantamount to wealth-redistribution, when the reality is that a huge leap in taxes for whatever tier is considered "wealthy" just goes to pay for more military spending. It does not go back into services, it does not uplift people who are currently hungry, jobless, or in need of immediate medical care.

We have to fix a lot more than the disparity between the haves and the have-nots for any proposed solution to last more than one term.

[alberg]

40. To "use" the wealth, you first need to "control" the wealth.

In life, as in physics, a quantitative change can lead to a qualitative change - in the language of science: a state transition (think super conducting, as an example). When a state transition occurs, the behavior of the new state is disconnected from the previouse one, i.e. the "rules" that applied to the previous state no longer apply. The amount of wealth now concentrated in the hands of the elite has produced a "state transition" in our society because it has rendered the checks and balances of our Democratic system incapable of protecting the rights of the majority against a small minority. We need another "state transiton" to correct this.

The equitable parts of our society (social security, civil rights, unions, universal suffrage, women's right to birth copntrol etc.) came as a result of real struggle by the majority against an entrenched ruling class. Some of these struggles occured in past times, some in living memory - but all of them required organization, leadership, a vision of the desired state and (probably most important) the willingness of individuals to lay their lives on the line to make it happen. The "wealth distribution" has already happened over the last 50 years - from the middle class to ruling class. This has all been documented extensively here (DU) and else where. The issue now is to distribute some of it back. This will either happen through the "normal" political process through regulation and taxes (the recent manuvers around the Health Care Bill make this possibility seem less likely) or through more extraordinary means (the exact character of which has yet to be determined).

The fact that we need to "fix a lot more" should not deter us from making a commitment and a start.


"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

. . . America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens."

--FDR's "Economic Bill of Rights.

[sui generis]

42. Agreed - great response by the way.

I look forward to seeing a lot more of you!

[midnight]

51. Thank you for posting the Economic Bill of Rights...

After reading through this, it became obvious as to why their is such a economic imbalance in our economy.....

[midnight]

52. The beauty of the solution I have for your reaction is that you can think what

you want..... your very intense reaction is probably a compliment because you understand you deserve not to be kept down.... This is good...

[scentopine]

61. Arrrgh - your smug and pithy remarks are killing my appetite

The realist in you has spoken - and every word is stomach churning bile. Your series of remarks should be flushed with ammonia and, assuming this has neutered the fecal endemic, shrink wrapped and bundled inside a bag of Cheetos as the happy meal philosophy prize at 7-11.

There are a number of fallacies you are promoting that deserve attention, but perhaps none more than the "fatty" argument. Let's examine this in detail.

From the moment anyone is born into this world (and by this I mean biological birth in contrast to the prefabricated assembly comprising your pre-natal existence) you are literally assaulted with advertising for products and behavior that will kill you. It is everywhere. For example, even as precious little baby Sui peered out of her Beverly Hills perambulator, she sees and hears non-stop celebrations of big buckets of deep fried poultry and flame broiled cow parts. Rich beautiful people are loving these products. Believe it or not they love that crispy bird and greasy cow even more than their nearly mint copy of Fountainhead that they never quite finished but are never the less assured that individual responsibility is the path to righteous glory.

And then everything changed for baby Sui. Some very motivated men on Wall Street figured out that there are some places in this world where there are very poor people in other countries who are willing to work for a few dollars a day. So, they fired baby Sui's dad and gave his job to some of these poor people. And this made the motivated men very rich. So rich in fact, they had money to buy pretty things for public officials, who then changed laws so they could make it easier to give jobs to poor people in other countries. Then these inspired men told baby Siu's dad he needed to pull himself up by his boot straps.

So, baby Sui's Mom and Dad had to sell everything and move into an apartment. Perhaps a more realistic, pragmatic and responsible family would have simply killed their child in order to maintain a realistic lifestyle. But the Sui's have strong family values. Baby Sui got placed in day care and Mom and Dad worked 10 to 12 hours a day with no health benefits so baby Sui didn't get to the doctor very often. Thankfully, big buckets of deep fried bird parts could be bought and bought so cheaply! Like 15 or 20 million other families, baby Sui's family lived in the city, far from farms and high boutique farmer markets. Miracle of miracles- there is a Safeway and Wendy's just 3 blocks away! So, as Mom and Dad worked, they kept baby Sui fed with beef-like product helpers from Safeway, deep fried chick parts and flame broiled cow parts. Such inspired and motivated men to have invented such great and delicious and processed food that comes in boxes.

Baby Sui watches lots of TV and she always sees those happy people having so much fun eating cow patties stacked two or even three to a sandwich. Even the subway and buses and school paper have very happy people eating flame broiled cow parts and fizzy drinks. Every day. Every single fucking day. Every fucking where. Over and over and over. Baby Sui is now 30 pounds overweight and is at risk for diabetes. Baby Siu can name 27 fast food joints by the time he is six.

Meanwhile - some smart and individually responsible bankers took what little money baby Siu's dad had in a retirement account and used it to buy pretty things for baby Siu's congressman. They congressman was so happy with their gifts, he helped these creative entrepreneurs by passing laws that allowed them to consolidate/absorb their competitors and use baby Siu's college fund to buy bundles of home mortgages. These self-made men, told Siu's mom and dad they could now afford their own home! And so baby Siu has a new house and a new brother, Pragma who, just like baby Siu, was easily assembled, very much like an Ikea tea cart!

But the self-made men didn't explain that after one year the interest rate would double. And after two years, it would double again! In fact they didn't tell millions of people about that. They didn't have to. It was on page 17, paragraph 46. So pretty soon, daddy Siu lost his job again. Thank god for deep fried chicken parts and flame broiled cow parts.

One day, a very smart man, Mr. Cashncarry, was riding in his limo over to the new Whole Foods on the Upper East Side and while waiting for the light to change, he notices the fat baby Siu and begins to lecture baby Siu about personal responsibility, morals and ethics. Baby Siu listens carefully as Mr. Cashncarry scolds the boy now 80 pounds over weight. Mr. Cashncarry finishes his lecture and drives off in his limo. Baby Sui comes to the correct conclusion that Mr. Cashncarry is a total douche bag. Next time they meet, Baby Siu's gonna put some personal initiative to work against Mr. Cashncarry's head and drive off with the limo

"Of course there ARE rare exceptions and that nearly everyone who replies to this tangent will claim to be the exception"

Yes you said this sentence. And, I know what you are thinking. I can't believe you said anything this stupid either. First you make a preposterous statement and then in a fit of arrogance, you preemptively dismiss anyone who dares to argue. Jesus, that is just incredibly, fucking, stupid. But I bet you knew that. People who write shit like that are usually douche bags. Of course there ARE rare exceptions and nearly everyone who replies to this tangent will claim to be the exception.

[midnight]

64. Do I sound arrogant? A greed crisis has left many homeless and jobless, and without health care,

and my response to agression is not more agression. Since your story does tell a tale of powerful people maninpulating poweless people; why argue? I am curious who you would deem " the self-made men" in your story.

[scentopine]

65. lol! not you - my disdain was directed at sui generis

he hijacked your thread, your post was perfectly spot on. It certainly resonated with me. There was absolutely no drivel in it.

I've seen an increasing number of posts come under attack with troll like tactics lifted straight from the "how to disrupt" textbook.

His "fat" analogy and smug pronouncements of personnel responsibility pushed me over the edge. Tired hearing popular psychology and complete bullshit about the root causes of obesity and personal responsibility. There is a war being waged against us, and we have very few legal weapons to fight back.

Please keep posting!

p.s. the self made men are the amoral corporate MBA bastards who fuck us over every dime we make.

[raccoon]

43. "but you do have to have some talent, ability to innovate, luck, and perseverance"

Or oil on your property, like Jed Clampett.

[Ho Tai]

48. WHAT?

Yeah, the super-rich don't pull all the strings, it's a level playing-field, and the poor are poor because they are LAZY.

FUCKING TROLL.

Why did I even bother responding to a cheerleader for aristocrats?

[scentopine]

62. duplicate post removed

[scentopine]

63. Troll population is growing fast and as

power is legislatively transferred from the lesser classes to the tiny minority of super rich, these upper classes will feel obligated to scold us for our lack of initiative and adherence to principals.

[Hugin]

55. I might buy your pablum if you could provide one verifiable example of this ...

magical conveyor-belt of merit working.

[Onesided_fistfight]

60. Fucking goddamn randian

why are people like you even allowed here? Goddamn "had everything in my life fucking handed to me" scum like you are an insult to liberal ideals everywhere. Eat a bag of horse shit.

[jotsy]

10. Straight up as high noon!

Your critic(s) squeal like stuck pigs when a truth that genuine sees the light of day, love it!

kicked.

[midnight]

14. Thanks.

[bertman]

12. So many Americans "slaving away at some miserable job". When I read that I thought about

the people I know. Most of them like their jobs. A good percentage of them love their jobs. Do most Americans really feel like they are slaving away at a miserable job?

If they are, then I would like to ask them why they have not found a different job. One that they like, or at least don't feel like a slave while doing it.

I've been working either part-time or full-time since I was 12. That's fifty years of work experience. I've done everything from menial labor to upper-level management. During those jobs I have met hundreds of people who were working with me or around me. What I found was that the people who felt like they were slaving at the job were people who bitched about everything. Most of the people I knew who found that they did not like a particular job would quit and try something else. Or they might seek training for some other job. It was usually the ones with no ambition or limited smarts or the just-plain-lazy who stayed in a job that they hated.

This post is a tribute to the "you have to be rich in order to be happy" crowd. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I'm sorry you're having such a bad day, or bad life, midnight. I'll bet that you could find a great job that you loved if you'd just design that system for society that is "intelligently organized to meet the real needs of the general population." So please tell us what that system is. I can't wait to hear about it.

[midnight]

17. Au contraire, when I read this, it actually gives me some hope that those

who want to live in a more equal society are waking up. For those of you that see this as a message to kick those for waking up-maybe time to rethink.....

[winyanstaz]

13. I am sure they are lauging their asses off

at the people fighting among themselves over race and religion etc....
Will we ever wake up?

[midnight]

18. That was my exact response to the poster before you. I see this as a message

for those who are waking up....

[undergroundpanther]

22. Oooh the rich people

and the myth of the self made millionare... Horatio Algier is DEAD,and
the rich will eat your life..for a buck...The rich get rich off the labor and suffering of others.

The box is full of salmon, and a man sits atop the box. Long ago this man hired armed guards to keep anyone from eating his fish. The many people who sit next to the empty river starve to death. But they do not die of starvation. They die of a belief. Everyone believes that the man atop the box owns the fish. The soldiers believe it, and they will kill to protect the illusion. The others believe it enough that they are willing to starve. But the truth is that there is a box, there is an emptied river, there is a man sitting atop the box, there are guns, and there are starving people.


http://www.ranprieur.com/readings/jensenbox.html

[midnight]

24. That is the circle of things..... Time for to widen it a bit, and share...

[Blue_Tires]

23. ttt

[midnight]

25. Some reaction about the commission formed this past summer that was

suppose to find out where the bailout money went..
This commission, appointed last summer, runs on a budget of $8 million, and is still in the process of staffing up. The FCIC website was set up last minute, probing questions however, didn't make the ‘6 month preparation time' quick list.

As a result, all we got was a friendly show of collaboration - what do you think should be done about compensation? What do you think was the role of risk? Do you think derivatives played a role? Indeed, Goldman CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, said that derivatives did better during the crisis than ‘we had a right to expect.' No one even interrupted him with a – WHAT? REALLY? WHAT?

"Rather, questions had less teeth than any police or federal agent inquisition over simple daily crimes – they existed, but in a tepid format. It was sadly clear that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee has no clear idea what constitutes bank risk from their questions, or banking for that matter, and the CEOs are dancing rings around them. Notice how none of them advocated reducing their reliance on government subsidies, or splitting themselves up into risky vs. non-risky entities. Indeed, when Blankfein was asked a related question, he said that if there was a repeat crisis, he assumed the government would step in given the ‘fragility' of the system. That says it all. We might as well just watch the Bachelor rather than waste time with this - it is equally vacuous, but has a slightly higher chance of a conclusive outcome.

t was almost embarrassing to watch this discourse, questions without content to back them, so lacking in probing value. A prosecutor trying to street case has more information going into questioning, even if some of it is fabricated, or based on self-interested ‘witness'. Plus, prosecutors are certainly more intimidating. And, if someone gets caught with a vial of crack, or sitting next to someone with a vial of crack, they can't just say - sorry, I made a mistake, it won't happen again, learned my lesson, and get off.

Yet this is exactly what Jamie Dimon said in front of the commission, “While we were able to withstand the crisis and I believe emerge as a stronger institution, we, like many others, made mistakes. As always, we try to learn from them.”

At least, these wealthy bankers who have added to the poverty and unemployment charts to the levels of the great depression, are sorry and will try to learn from this..... Now it is in the best interest of all concerned to hide the details of this mess, and move on..... As always thanks for being such great Americans.....

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/145153/why_can%27t_we_get_anyone_to_ask_a_wall_st._ceo_the_hard_questions/?page=entire

[Scruffy1]

33. Excellent post

[alberg]

37. K & R. The unspeakable truth has just been spoken.

[Kweli4Real]

41. I know this will not be a popular opinion, but ...

I think that the OP has pointed out exactly why there are very few Black folks in the Republican and Libertarian parties or at Tea Party events. After generations of experience, we were disabused of the notion of the "american dream" where justice and hardwork will lead to financial success. This is a lesson that white poor and working class folks we find fighting so hard to maintain the status quo have yet to learn.

[Fire1]

57. So true and I for one have no sympathy for the so called

majority working class. They are born on the landing strip and automatically cleared for take off. As Chris Rock so aptly put it. We have to fly where they need only step.

[Ishoutandscream2]

45. Enthusiastic kick! Enough of the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps"

bullshit. The game is rigged, and we're losing.

[midnight]

46. PHOTOS The Greediest People of All Time A look at the despots and robber barons who believed that

greed really is good..http://www.newsweek.com/id/190715

[JNelson6563]

49. Yes, but when they call, sobbing,

from their last remaining yacht, wondering how on earth they could live on 80,000.00 a month, you will realize, they are just people like you and me.

:puke:

Reading some of this thread makes me wonder if DU merged with FR.

Julie

[midnight]

53. Julie your generosity of spirit is probably the right application here, because

that is what is needed when these homeowners are kicked out of there only homes. We are all connected, and it is time to remember.....

[JNelson6563]

50. Yes, but when they call, sobbing,

from their last remaining yacht, wondering how on earth they could live on 80,000.00 a month, you will realize, they are just people like you and me.

:puke:

Reading some of this thread makes me wonder if DU merged with FR.

Julie

[mrbarber]

54. Having had contact with the "super rich" and seeing how they live...

I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy.

The more money and things people, have 9 times out of 10, the more unhappy and unfulfilled they are.

I'll take having to cook cabbage soup in my small apartment with the finacee I love and all my art supplies over dining in a million dollar home, distant and cold from all those around me and realizing that the only reason people associate with me is because of my money.

Life is as good, fulfilling and creative as you make it.

[midnight]

58. How lovely..... I myself prize my

printing press over other expendentures.... I don't want you to think that I'm advocating the greed of resources that the few seem to hold hostage from the many..... just equality, and the realization that it's truly not right to steal money from others people just because one is good at it....

[midnight]

59. Bankers Without a Clue

Consider what has happened so far: The U.S. economy is still grappling with the consequences of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression; trillions of dollars of potential income have been lost; the lives of millions have been damaged, in some cases irreparably, by mass unemployment; millions more have seen their savings wiped out; hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, will lose essential health care because of the combination of job losses and draconian cutbacks by cash-strapped state governments.

And this disaster was entirely self-inflicted.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/opinion/15krugman.html?src=tp

[midnight]

66. Goldman Sachs bankers 'set for 81% rise in bonuses'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/17/goldman-sachs-81-per-cent-rise

On Jan. 17 this headline was read by many. It is still a good time for these bankers.