[Wayves]

Reading the political threads here, one gets the impression that people who are rich are evil and should be reviled.

What gives? Are the rich-bashers saying they don't aspire to accumulating any wealth?

Here's another thing I don't get. Why even care? I mean, I work, I make money, I buy things, I'm happy. If some guy is rich, so what? Even though guys like Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and the Google guys are gazillionaires I don't think they've cheated me somehow. I don't think they owe me anything.

Thoughts?

[Irysinon]

It's not that rich people are evil per se. It's that too much money can make a person evil. You know, greedy. It's easy for someone to obsess over wealth once they've tasted it. Money can make people do potentially crazy things. But, that's not always the case. Some people use their riches to help out the needy and play good Samaritan or contribute to society. Some haven't sold their souls.

I personally don't care if someone is rich or not. Hell, anyone that thinks they're top dog because they're rich don't mean jack to me. Unless a person is Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, they don't impress me. Now, would I want to be rich myself? I can surely see the financial advantages, but I'm also afraid that I might become obsessive or become some compulsive consumer. I'm 50/50.

[cavil.]

Where did you get this silly notion from?! I don't think anyone here detests those who are rich, but happen to detest people who happen to be rich. There is a stark difference in that. Don't get so confused.

[Apri1]

I think most detest evil rich. Many many many many people are rich because they step on people's backs. Some companys have knowingly KILLED people to make money. Example: Company knew aspestis can kill you but told the workers they were safe ... thousands of people died later in their life .. they knew they would die .. but they where paid a lot of money not to say it. After workers found out ... the company was actually SHOCKED that the people were mad about their husbands/wives dying from the poison and that people wanted justice.

This is what a lot of rich company people are like.

As for rich people like paris hilton? People work hard for money. It gets REALLY annoying to them to see people just waste money

[fallen*angel*]

Reading the political threads here, one gets the impression that people who are rich are evil and should be reviled.

What gives? Are the rich-bashers saying they don't aspire to accumulating any wealth?

Here's another thing I don't get. Why even care? I mean, I work, I make money, I buy things, I'm happy. If some guy is rich, so what? Even though guys like Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and the Google guys are gazillionaires I don't think they've cheated me somehow. I don't think they owe me anything.

Thoughts?

well, it all depends on how you looked at things. warren buffet does manipulate the stock market/or use it to his advantage to make money from the poor. bill gates also manipulate/use his empire to get rid of competitors ...ect... donald trump is brutal in business; cross him, you're dead. the man does take pleasure in revenge. george soros does use his power/connection in wall street to make more wealth.... these are obviously unfair because it doesnot present equality as america thinks it has, equality among all classes is a fantasy, not reality. i don't think average people hate these wealthy men but if one understands how wealth is made in wall street, one understands our society is never equal, the poor gets pooer, the rich gets richers...because the rich has connection, power...ect.

[MiddleMan]

Reading the political threads here, one gets the impression that people who are rich are evil and should be reviled.

What gives? Are the rich-bashers saying they don't aspire to accumulating any wealth?

Here's another thing I don't get. Why even care? I mean, I work, I make money, I buy things, I'm happy. If some guy is rich, so what? Even though guys like Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and the Google guys are gazillionaires I don't think they've cheated me somehow. I don't think they owe me anything.

Thoughts?

I think it's only one or two posters who keeps bashing the wealthy.
And they keep creating new threads on the similar subject.
Personally, I don't hate rich people. I want to be like them.

"If you know the pathway to be rich, you tend to focus on achieving the dream.
If you have no pathway, then you tend to focus on your wrath..., (hating the rich)." -Thomas Friedman.

As for rich people like paris hilton? People work hard for money. It gets REALLY annoying to them to see people just waste money

I don't mind Paris or any other rich people flaunting their money, it is their's or their parent's anyways - they have the right to spend it. What I do mind is the people and media who glamorize them. Our children seem to mistake them as some type of role model.

[Apri1]

fallen angel is right

A lot of times you ARE being cheated by the rich and do not realize it.

And there are a lot of evil legal loop holes right now that really hurt the poor, that rich people do to get even more money.

For example ... our countries national debt. Rich people can help it by giving money. BUT then they collect intrest on it .. so they get more money back. This actually makes our debt bigger.... this hurts poor people. It only helps rich people get more money.

Rich people can also make money on money. They can eliminate risk from the stock market.... I forget what the word is .... They can move billions of dollars though a small country to make money and totally ruins that country and the poor people there.

Celebs say they are great when they donate money to a charity ... but really that is just big tax breaks that they would not have before.

----------
P.S. I don't hate rich people. Just giving some examples why some others might ....

[Tuffcore]

Bill Gates is one of the worlds biggest philanthropists and a lot of rich people do similar too.

Maybe it's envy and jealousy. i don't know.

[knockblock]

Where did you get this silly notion from?! I don't think anyone here detests those who are rich, but happen to detest people who happen to be rich. There is a stark difference in that. Don't get so confused.

That is contradicting itself.

[Wayves]

well, it all depends on how you looked at things. warren buffet does manipulate the stock market/or use it to his advantage to make money from the poor. bill gates also manipulate/use his empire to get rid of competitors ...ect... donald trump is brutal in business; cross him, you're dead. the man does take pleasure in revenge. george soros does use his power/connection in wall street to make more wealth.... these are obviously unfair because it doesnot present equality as america thinks it has, equality among all classes is a fantasy, not reality. i don't think average people hate these wealthy men but if one understands how wealth is made in wall street, one understands our society is never equal, the poor gets pooer, the rich gets richers...because the rich has connection, power...ect.

Can you give me an example how someone like Warren Buffet manipulates the stock market to make money from the poor? I don't know how that works.

I don't think America has economic equality, nor should it. We're not a communist country. On the other hand, everyone has economic opportunity. Sure, some people start out life with a head start, but there are plenty of examples of people who came from humble beginnings and still made it big. There's even more examples of people who started with little and have still done pretty well.

[little mixed girl]

oh god, what the hell?

people don't hate others for being rich.
they hate rich people with attitudes, such attitudes include:

- thinking that you're all that and a bag of chips because you have a lot of money.
- expecting others to automatically respect you because you have money.
- saying that people without money are "jealous".
- saying that people without money are "lazy".
- living off their parents money, but acting like they have the right (for people that didn't earn their own money).
- generally treating others badly because they can't afford to wear the same clothing brands or designer labels as you.
- being unnecessarily cheap around people with even less money.

i have a lot of friends who have a lot more money than i do.
most of them are pretty cool.

however, i have run across a number of people who are so stuck in their own little bubbles that they fail to notice that everyone can't afford the same things they do.
and instead of understanding that person's situation, they use it as an opportunity to attack that person for "not trying hard enough".

as for taxing people, i don't like to see taxes taken out of my paycheck anymore than someone else.
but if your take home pay AFTER taxes is $100,000 or more, are you really suffering?

some people feel like they NEED to go after the big house, the big car, the designer clothing to prove to people that they've made it...

you make more and so are taxed more.
the money goes to the roads, schools, etc. if you have so much, why are you complaining?
that's another reason why some rich people are hated.
they have so much more money than everyone else, yet complain that they are taxed at a higher rate...all while living in more expensive homes, buying lexuses, etc.

srsly.

[Wayves]

fallen angel is right

A lot of times you ARE being cheated by the rich and do not realize it.

And there are a lot of evil legal loop holes right now that really hurt the poor, that rich people do to get even more money.

For example ... our countries national debt. Rich people can help it by giving money. BUT then they collect intrest on it .. so they get more money back. This actually makes our debt bigger.... this hurts poor people. It only helps rich people get more money.

Rich people can also make money on money. They can eliminate risk from the stock market.... I forget what the word is .... They can move billions of dollars though a small country to make money and totally ruins that country and the poor people there.

Celebs say they are great when they donate money to a charity ... but really that is just big tax breaks that they would not have before.

----------
P.S. I don't hate rich people. Just giving some examples why some others might ....

Ok, that's the sort of stuff you sometimes hear. So, what about it?

Our country's national debt is just that. It's debt. The country is borrowing money by issuing Treasury bonds that pay interest. Anyone can buy them.

What hurts all Americans is government spending that exceeds the taxes that are collected. This deficit spending is what creates the debt that will someday become a real problem for the country (it's like having a credit card balance that get too big). Government spending is a problem. The government should live within its means.

Arbitrage is the simultaneous purchase and sale of the same securities, commodities, or foreign exchange in different markets to profit from unequal prices. It's sort of like finding someone on one side of town who will sell you an apple for $1.00, then going over to the other side of town and finding someone who will buy your apple for $1.25.

Of course, sometimes after you buy the apple for $1.00, there's no one who will pay more than $.80 for it, so you can lose money too. So who's being cheated?

When people make donations they generally get a tax break. Just about everyone does, not just the rich. However, anyone who makes a donation just for the tax break and not because they really want to give money to a charity is pretty stupid. Here's why. Say some rich person gives $1 million dollars and gets a tax break of $400,000. They're still out the net amount, or $600,000.

In other words, they've just spent $1 million to save $400,000. Not such a good deal if you ask me.

[Wayves]

oh god, what the hell?

people don't hate others for being rich.
they hate rich people with attitudes, such attitudes include:

- thinking that you're all that and a bag of chips because you have a lot of money.
- expecting others to automatically respect you because you have money.
- saying that people without money are "jealous".
- saying that people without money are "lazy".
- living off their parents money, but acting like they have the right (for people that didn't earn their own money).
- generally treating others badly because they can't afford to wear the same clothing brands or designer labels as you.
- being unnecessarily cheap around people with even less money.

i have a lot of friends who have a lot more money than i do.
most of them are pretty cool.

however, i have run across a number of people who are so stuck in their own little bubbles that they fail to notice that everyone can't afford the same things they do.
and instead of understanding that person's situation, they use it as an opportunity to attack that person for "not trying hard enough".

as for taxing people, i don't like to see taxes taken out of my paycheck anymore than someone else.
but if your take home pay AFTER taxes is $100,000 or more, are you really suffering?

some people feel like they NEED to go after the big house, the big car, the designer clothing to prove to people that they've made it...

you make more and so are taxed more.
the money goes to the roads, schools, etc. if you have so much, why are you complaining?
that's another reason why some rich people are hated.
they have so much more money than everyone else, yet complain that they are taxed at a higher rate...all while living in more expensive homes, buying lexuses, etc.

srsly.

Having $100,000 in take home pay would be a lot in many places, but if you lived in New York City or San Francisco and places like that, it might not go very far because the cost of living in those places is so high. Someone living in Des Moines with $50 thousand in take home probably has a better quality of life. It's relative.

I'm not saying that anyone should feel sorry for someone with that kind of income, but it doesn't mean they are necessarily living an extravagent life either.

On the tax issue, say you make $50,000 and your tax rate is 20%. Someone who makes $30,000 would say "Hey! you make more than me! You should pay 25% percent because you can afford it. Why are you complaining?" Does he have a point?

And the same argument goes right on up the line.

I'm not saying all rich people are good. They aren't. Neither are all poor people. Anyone can have an attitude.

[wantan]

although i don't detest rich people, there are some of them who are too greedy. with money that you couldn't even spend in 10 lifetimes, where is the sense in wanting more? you should be aware that money isn't popping out of nowhere, you have because someone loses it. that's the law of nature.
but, if you're not extraordinary rich, i have no problem with that

[little mixed girl]

Having $100,000 in take home pay would be a lot in many places, but if you lived in New York City or San Francisco and places like that, it might not go very far because the cost of living in those places is so high. Someone living in Des Moines with $50 thousand in take home probably has a better quality of life. It's relative.

I'm not saying that anyone should feel sorry for someone with that kind of income, but it doesn't mean they are necessarily living an extravagent life either.

On the tax issue, say you make $50,000 and your tax rate is 20%. Someone who makes $30,000 would say "Hey! you make more than me! You should pay 25% percent because you can afford it. Why are you complaining?" Does he have a point?

And the same argument goes right on up the line.

I'm not saying all rich people are good. They aren't. Neither are all poor people. Anyone can have an attitude.

do i think it sucks to have money taken from your paycheck? yes.
do i understand why it's done? yes.

in japan, my monthly pay is 300,000yen a month.
however, what i get in my bank account is 240,000 yen.
japan has a national health system that all who are working have to pay into, i also have to pay residence taxes and other taxes that they take out.

i don't go the doctor or dentist enough to "get back" the money i'm paying into it.
i'm not living permanately in japan so i'm not getting back my residence taxes and most of the other stuff that i'm taxed for.
and yes, it sucks, but that's something we have to do.

i have friends who live in those places, and i'm pretty sure that their take home pay is nowhere near $100,000 and their quality of life is pretty good. they aren't living in the ghetto either.

i'm not arguing that some places are more expensive than others, of course they are.
however, i don't get why people who are making so much money need to complain about taxes.

they are making enough that it doesn't matter whether they have a few hundred less or more.
for other people, that few hundred means a lot.

[Meenuh]

Having $100,000 in take home pay would be a lot in many places, but if you lived in New York City or San Francisco and places like that, it might not go very far because the cost of living in those places is so high. Someone living in Des Moines with $50 thousand in take home probably has a better quality of life. It's relative.

I'm not saying that anyone should feel sorry for someone with that kind of income, but it doesn't mean they are necessarily living an extravagent life either.

On the tax issue, say you make $50,000 and your tax rate is 20%. Someone who makes $30,000 would say "Hey! you make more than me! You should pay 25% percent because you can afford it. Why are you complaining?" Does he have a point?

And the same argument goes right on up the line.

I'm not saying all rich people are good. They aren't. Neither are all poor people. Anyone can have an attitude.

anyone can have a attitude is true, but in this case, we're talking about rich people no? why bring everyone into it?

i completely agree with the first part of little mixed girl's response.

people don't hate others for being rich.
they hate rich people with attitudes, such attitudes include:

- thinking that you're all that and a bag of chips because you have a lot of money.
- expecting others to automatically respect you because you have money.
- saying that people without money are "jealous".
- saying that people without money are "lazy".
- living off their parents money, but acting like they have the right (for people that didn't earn their own money).
- generally treating others badly because they can't afford to wear the same clothing brands or designer labels as you.
- being unnecessarily cheap around people with even less money.

that is the only time i feel disgusted by rich people. other than that, i don't care if they make more money.

[Apri1]

What do you mean what about it? You wanted to know some reasons so I told you. At first it seemed like you wanted to be informed but now it seems like you just want to argue that being rich is better and if you don't like the rich then 'so what about it' you must be terrible.

Also I was not talking about hurting the government. I was giving an example of how rich people can hurt poor people directly by trying to get more money. Honestly if you are trying to make excuses for people who already have muli-MILLIONS / billions and purposly hurt other people and make the more poor just to get MORE millions .. then you don't really have much morals.

oh god, what the hell?

people don't hate others for being rich.
they hate rich people with attitudes, such attitudes include:

- thinking that you're all that and a bag of chips because you have a lot of money.
- expecting others to automatically respect you because you have money.
- saying that people without money are "jealous".
- saying that people without money are "lazy".
- living off their parents money, but acting like they have the right (for people that didn't earn their own money).
- generally treating others badly because they can't afford to wear the same clothing brands or designer labels as you.
- being unnecessarily cheap around people with even less money.

i have a lot of friends who have a lot more money than i do.
most of them are pretty cool.

however, i have run across a number of people who are so stuck in their own little bubbles that they fail to notice that everyone can't afford the same things they do.
and instead of understanding that person's situation, they use it as an opportunity to attack that person for "not trying hard enough".

as for taxing people, i don't like to see taxes taken out of my paycheck anymore than someone else.
but if your take home pay AFTER taxes is $100,000 or more, are you really suffering?

some people feel like they NEED to go after the big house, the big car, the designer clothing to prove to people that they've made it...

you make more and so are taxed more.
the money goes to the roads, schools, etc. if you have so much, why are you complaining?
that's another reason why some rich people are hated.
they have so much more money than everyone else, yet complain that they are taxed at a higher rate...all while living in more expensive homes, buying lexuses, etc.

srsly.

I totally agree with this !!!

Some of them are stuck up to the extreme. For example ... Here is a quote from where my dad works "Why should we give them the money? What would they do with it? Look at where they live! Look at who they are!" <--- Talking about money that workers EARNED by working at a JOB. But the high up people wanted to keep it for themselves.

[Wayves]

What do you mean what about it? You wanted to know some reasons so I told you. At first it seemed like you wanted to be informed but now it seems like you just want to argue that being rich is better and if you don't like the rich then 'so what about it' you must be terrible.

Also I was not talking about hurting the government. I was giving an example of how rich people can hurt poor people directly by trying to get more money. Honestly if you are trying to make excuses for people who already have muli-MILLIONS / billions and purposly hurt other people and make the more poor just to get MORE millions .. then you don't really have much morals.

I totally agree with this !!!

Some of them are stuck up to the extreme. For example ... Here is a quote from where my dad works "Why should we give them the money? What would they do with it? Look at where they live! Look at who they are!" <--- Talking about money that workers EARNED by working at a JOB. But the high up people wanted to keep it for themselves.

Oops sorry, my 'so what about it' was misinterpreted. There's a comma after the word "So." What I meant was "So...let's take a look at the examples you provided and talk about them" not "So what?"

I'm not here to argue so much as to figure out where all the venom comes from. You said "people who already have muli-MILLIONS / billions...purposly hurt other people." I'd just like to know, how? Who are these people and how do they do that?

I'm also not trying to make excuses for rich people, and my morals are just fine thank you. On the other hand, generalizing people with money as greedy and evil doesn't work for me. I really don't care about the rich, and so I don't blame them because I can't buy everything I'd like to buy.

It's simply a different perspective.

[Happy_Day]

I don't have anything against rich people if they are humble. So many rich people are arrogant about their money, which is what I don't like. I also don't like rich people who were born into money and don't do anything useful with their lives just because of that, like Paris Hilton.

One of my friends is really rich, and I was appalled once when I called her to ask something FAFSA. But she was like, "Why do you do that, just pay it off every quarter." Me: "Uh, what? Maybe coz we don't have that much money, and I need studen loans." Her: ".. Why? You need to pay if off on time."

THOSE are the people I don't like.



But hey, otherwise I love rich ppl. Not that I'm a gold-digger, but it'd be nice to marry someone rich so I can do what I love without having to worry about financial security.

[fallen*angel*]

Can you give me an example how someone like Warren Buffet manipulates the stock market to make money from the poor? I don't know how that works.

I don't think America has economic equality, nor should it. We're not a communist country. On the other hand, everyone has economic opportunity. Sure, some people start out life with a head start, but there are plenty of examples of people who came from humble beginnings and still made it big. There's even more examples of people who started with little and have still done pretty well.

well, warren buffet manipulates the market all the time. for example, he shorted the dollars ...ton of millions. after that, he would bash the dollars left & right to wall street .......................... obviously, tons of wall st traders would "listen" to warren buffet & went to short the dollars too(after warren buffet already shorted it)... this cascade of shorting/bashing the dollars would cause the dollars to stumble/collapse even more & he would benefit from the mass/the chaos/the "dogs followed dogs barking" action...
he knows the power of his words & he uses to the max to capitalize on it.

america creates an illusion that everyone is equal; that's is, everyone can achieve the american dream. this is further from the truth. only some exceptional cases... of course, there are always exceptions to the rules. i do know there are poor people who can make it big. however, statistically, this is NOT reality.
the reality, that is, the rich will get richer & the poor will only get pooer. son & daughters of executives will always have the advantage to get ahead in society more than the poor class. my sociology professor did a study on this & it was proven what i just said, generally, the sons & daughters of executives will have all the advantages more than the poor class or even the middle class. these wealth kids will also become executives & gets way better career/jobs/salaries than the rest of society, keeping every thing else equal, that's is, the same degrees/intelligence of all subjects in the research.