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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:40 PM
Original message
Would you rather be rich?
It seems like an obvious question, but I've met some people who would rather have enough money to live comfortably rather than be rich or poor. Me, I drive a truck for a living. I tell people that the only thing that I'd rather do besides driving a truck is to be rich.

Do you think that being rich would change your political views? It would not me. I'd still want DK to be prez. :)
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philosophie_en_rose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:42 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yes, I'd rather be rich. No, it would not change my political views.
It would likely make me more political.
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devilgrrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:43 PM
Response to Original message
2. I 'd rather be comfy...
how rich do you have to be for that?
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:46 PM
Response to Original message
3. My dear Droopy!
Well, according to the tables, my family and I are rich....

We have a reliable income of a certain size....

We don't lack for things.....

But as far as I can tell, this hasn't changed me.

I'm still a very liberal Dem, a feminist, a woman who would like to see things improve for the less fortunate .....

Having a good income is very freeing......certain things you don't have to worry about...

When you want something, you can go out and buy it.

That doesn't mean we aren't careful......we are...

But there are fewer trade-offs...

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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:51 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Good deal, Peggy
I hope to be where you are when I reach retirement age. I hope. I'm trying my hardest to make it be that way.
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:57 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. I hope you can do it too...
It is a very good place to be!

:hug:
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Nicole Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:46 PM
Response to Original message
4. No, I'd rather not be rich.
I'm very comfortable right where I'm at. I have more than I need & enough to share with those I choose to share with.

Being rich would bring about changes I have no desire for. Not changes in me but changes in how people would treat me. No thank you!
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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. Interesting
I knew my non-rich but comfortable friends weren't an anomaly. Ultimately I'd like to be rich, but if I could reach comforthood before I retire I think I would be a happy man.
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Nicole Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:19 AM
Response to Reply #7
13. Comforthood is good enough for me.
I have enough that I was able to retire young and debt free. I'm able to spend time and money on causes that are important to me.

I hope you can get there too before you retire. :)

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Flaxbee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-25-07 11:48 PM
Response to Original message
5. yes, I'd rather have more money
so I wasn't sweating bills all the time. I hate being preoccupied by money worries -- if I were rich, I could focus on good, important stuff like charitable work.

I'd still be liberal. Nothing's going to change my views on basic human kindness, which I think liberals practice and Republicans don't.
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SeattleGirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:03 AM
Response to Original message
9. "Rich" is a relative term, I think, but overall, yeah, I'd rather be
rich by my definition of it: Enough money that I don't have to worry about bills (I have exactly 11 cents to my name right now, and payday is a week away). Enough money that I can take care of my mom and siblings. Enough that I can use that money to reach out and help others who are in a bad way, enough to donate to causes I support. Enough that I can do some traveling to places I've always wanted to see.

Would it change my values, my political views? Highly doubtful. I was taught that no matter how much or how little I have, there will always be someone who has less, and it's my duty to reach out and help those people who have less. :)
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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. Excellent, SeattleGirl
It seems like in a society such as ours (supposedly the most advanced on the planet) that we could make things easier on our citizens. I ask myself all the time, "Why does it have to be such a struggle?" The answer is that it doesn't. For some reason we make it that way or it is made that way for us. But the people have the ultimate control. At least I used to think so. Are we as a nation making things harder on ourselves than we have to?
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SeattleGirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:14 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. I think the imbalance of power is making it harder on the majority
of us. Sometimes it seems as if we are turning into a feudal society: the few ruling over the many, mainly fueled by money.

I don't think money, in and of itself, is an evil thing. Nor do I think that everyone who is rich is selfish. But it seems to me, right now, that the really, really wealthy ARE selfish, and DON'T give a fig about anyone outside of their small circle.
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wildhorses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:13 AM
Response to Original message
11. don't take this wrong but, i would so love to be
RICH:bounce:

i would still be the same ole me but, RICH!!!

i would do things to help people and take care of my family

and i would have fun!!!

oh, the things i would do:bounce:
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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #11
14. Haha! Me too, baby
:D
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:12 PM
Response to Reply #11
35. you don't have fun now?
Ruins my dream then, to have enough money to go out with you.
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wildhorses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:23 PM
Response to Reply #35
39. say what---
:blush:


you must have me confused with someone else:shrug:
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GoddessOfGuinness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:57 AM
Response to Original message
15. I'd love to be rich.
So I probably never will be.
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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 01:05 AM
Response to Reply #15
16. Me, too
Say, why do you have that big ass ant-eater in your sig? I've always wondered that.
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GoddessOfGuinness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 01:10 AM
Response to Reply #16
17. I used to change my sig pic like wallpaper
But people kept asking for the anteater. So I decided to make him my regular pic. :-)
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jobycom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 01:27 AM
Response to Original message
18. As long as I didn't have to sell my soul to become so. nt
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crim son Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 07:32 AM
Response to Original message
19. I'd rather have enough money to live comfortably.
There was a time when I was more than comfortable and the overwhelming feeling was that I needed more, more, more! I didn't care for it and I'd rather simply be able to afford all the basics and a couple of luxuries.
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Maineiac Donating Member (361 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 07:38 AM
Response to Original message
20. Rich or poor
I still have to live on this earth (for now). Let's make it the best place to be,
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MedleyMisty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:05 AM
Response to Original message
21. I just want to own myself
All I need is enough money to pay the bills and keep a fairly up to date computer with a cable net connection and buy books without having to sell my time to someone else, and I'm good.

Anything more than that and I'd start feeling guilty. In fact, just that would make me feel somewhat guilty because although that's not too bad here, that'd still be way more than what most humans have.
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:24 PM
Response to Reply #21
36. then you would be owning others too
Every time you spent money, you'd be taking the time and energy of somebody else who was not rich enough to own themself.

I think what I would prefer is to be part of a useful organization and to be respected and valued by them instead of treated like a piece of human toilet paper - used to wipe up sh*t (or build a pyramid) and then flushed away.
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Little Wing Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:18 AM
Response to Original message
22. Sure
It's easy to not care when you're loaded
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Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:23 AM
Response to Original message
23. My wife is pretty well heeled and is the most generous Dem. donor in town.
My state job is respectible, but not especially lucrative.
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Zuiderelle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:30 AM
Response to Original message
24. Yes, I would much prefer to be rich.
And it would not change my political views. I would live comfortably and not outrageously, but have the money set aside as a safety net for my family, and for my child's college education.
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Starbucks Anarchist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:43 AM
Response to Original message
25. Hell yes, though my politics would remain the same.
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Wetzelbill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 08:53 AM
Response to Original message
26. I wouldn't mind it, but money would not change my views
The biggest difference it would make with me is I'd probably just travel more. I'm not really the golfing, country club type. I'm more of a pro wrestling and beer joint sort of guy. :)
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raccoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 09:18 AM
Response to Original message
27. I'd rather be rich. I don't have expensive tastes, but these days,
if you (or a family member) have a debilitating illness or injury, you have to be rich or you may very well end up in the street. I guess you still could end up in the street, even if you were rich to begin with. :-(
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CBHagman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 11:08 AM
Response to Original message
28. I just would like relief from the pressure.
Edited on Mon Mar-26-07 11:09 AM by CBHagman
If I were rich, new obligations (and perhaps pressures) would come. For example, how much to give away? Would it change people's attitudes towards me? As Garrison Keillor said -- rightly, from what I've observed -- when you're rich in the United States, people can't do enough for you.

My current fantasy is to have just enough money up front to pay my basic bills of the year -- housing, insurance, food, transportation, Internet access, etc. -- so that I could focus on what kind of work I should be doing and not worry about salary or benefits. My wish also includes taking time to visit friends and family. As it is, I'm on a treadmill of work and obligations and not able to balance it all out.
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Guava Jelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 11:10 AM
Response to Original message
29. Of course
And i would never change my political views.
I am a liberal until i die
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edbermac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 11:16 AM
Response to Original message
30. I'd rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable.
;-)
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buddhamama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 11:18 AM
Response to Original message
31. i wouldn't want to be rich
enough to live on, modestly, for the remainder of my days would be cool. i would spend my life volunteering my time and energy helping others.
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bumblebee1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:05 PM
Response to Original message
32. I would like to have
enough money to put into trust funds so my grandnieces and nephews would be able to go to college or a trade/techincal school. I would pay their tuition, they will have to work to pay for their books and other living expenses. I don't want any spoiled brat trust fund babies in my family.

I would also like to have enough money to do things like travel, invest for the future and give to charity in a big way.



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dropkickpa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:06 PM
Response to Original message
33. Hell yeah! Being poor sucks!
I wouldn't change, I'm an asshole no matter what I do.
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:10 PM
Response to Original message
34. I'd like to be rich. When I am, I'll let you know if I change my political views or not.
:evilgrin:
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Karenca Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:25 PM
Response to Original message
37. There is no comparison for me--
I was poor up until 2001. Then my life took a 360 degree turn, and subsequently I've become what most would consider "rich". My life up until 2001 was very stressful....So bad, that at times I used to wonder if I could actually die from all the stress. I'de rather stay rich.

And, to answer your second question: I've become much more liberal in my political beliefs since I don't worry about money anymore.
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anarch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-26-07 12:28 PM
Response to Original message
38. I'd rather be rich than stupid.
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