Have the Rich Gone to War Against the Poor and Middle Class in America?

[Magic Man]

The companies profiled on the Forbes report made the Top 100 companies to WORK for - not the MOST PROFITABLE list.

This is because of the way they treat their employees, as well as the way they manage their assets and liabilities - because the way they manage those indicates the stability of the company, and the stability of the employees' jobs and future with the company.

In other words, unlike the US Government - they can't just go print more money or raise taxes. They have to actually manage their assets and liabilities and stay in the black.

And as we all know - our government is so far in the red that our great grandchildren will still be paying for present day mismanagement.

Is that a "no"?

 

[Sunstone]

When Fedex and Starbucks make the list of the 100 best companies in America to work for, you know the standards for what's a good company to work for are a mite underwater.

 

[Ciscokid]

Most people wouldn't say it in so many words, but that's pretty much it. The American dream is to make as much money as you can, regardless of who you have to hurt in the process.

I'm not so much responding to just this post but I'm responding to the sentiment that I see here and there.

I think people are addressing the CEO types that we see in the movie Christmas Vacation. The guy that doesn't care about anything except the bottom line.

Keep in mind there are many folks out there who are wealthy who are NOT that way. There are rich athletes out there who invest not only their money but their time in community projects and charity events.

There are good business owners who are wealthy but also take care of their employees and pay them a good wage for what they do. It enrages me when I hear about super wealthy CEO's getting big bonuses when all they did was take advantage of people and run their company into the ground. But not every rich person is cut from the same cloth and one of these folks.

Being rich isn't a sin, being rich doesn't mean you took advantage of someone to get there.


P.S. I'm not a millionaire, not close.

 

[Magic Man]

Being rich isn't a sin, being rich doesn't mean you took advantage of someone to get there.

No, and I don't think you'll find many, if any, people who think that way. However, the vast majority of wealthy/rich people are very fond of pure capitalism. Pure capitalism is doing anything you can within the written rules to make more money.

 

[Reverend Rick]

No, and I don't think you'll find many, if any, people who think that way. However, the vast majority of wealthy/rich people are very fond of pure capitalism. Pure capitalism is doing anything you can within the written rules to make more money.

You say this with a bad taste in your mouth?

I love it when intellectuals pretend the only reason they don't have money is because of their morals.

Their lack of competitiveness and drive is at issue here. :sad:

 

[Mr Cheese]

You say this with a bad taste in your mouth?

I love it when intellectuals pretend the only reason they don't have money is because of their morals.

Their lack of competitiveness and drive is at issue here. :sad:

"Only when the last tree has died and
The last river has been poisoned and
The last fish has been caught,
Will we realise that
We cannot eat money"

 

[Magic Man]

You say this with a bad taste in your mouth?

I love it when intellectuals pretend the only reason they don't have money is because of their morals.

Who pretended that? And since when is the divide between intellectuals and stupid people?

You can have money without being a *******. You just don't often find wealthy/rich people who aren't selfish. Also, you can have money without being rich or wealthy.

Their lack of competitiveness and drive is at issue here. :sad:

You say "competitiveness and drive"; I say "greed, selfishness and lack of concern for others' well-being". Tomato, tomahto.

 

[dust1n]

You say this with a bad taste in your mouth?

Yeah, are you familiar with Blackwater USA's reputation?

I love it when intellectuals pretend the only reason they don't have money is because of their morals.

Their lack of competitiveness and drive is at issue here. :sad:

I don't have money because my family was poor, I just happen to find 'competitiveness' a weak and empty human emotion.

 

[dust1n]

When Fedex and Starbucks make the list of the 100 best companies in America to work for, you know the standards for what's a good company to work for are a mite underwater.

I'm sure they are great to work for in corporate. Now as far as actual production... that's a different story.

 

[berrychrisc]

I love it when intellectuals pretend the only reason they don't have money is because of their morals.

Their lack of competitiveness and drive is at issue here. :sad:

I would not think that the majority of people who do not have high paying jobs lack competitiveness and drive. My experience is that the majority of people are hard working, no matter what their level of pay. It would not be fair to assume that someone in a low paying job lacks drive any more than it would be fair to assume that someone in a high paying job lacks morals. The simple fact is that the way our market is structured not everyone can have a high paying job. However, we can keep improving the system so that it can be as equitable as possible, and to ensure that all participants in society enjoy the rewards of that society as well.

 

[dust1n]

I would not think that the majority of people who do not have high paying jobs lack competitiveness and drive. My experience is that the majority of people are hard working, no matter what their level of pay. It would not be fair to assume that someone in a low paying job lacks drive any more than it would be fair to assume that someone in a high paying job lacks morals. The simple fact is that the way our market is structured not everyone can have a high paying job. However, we can keep improving the system so that it can be as equitable as possible, and to ensure that all participants in society enjoy the rewards of that society as well.

Holy ****, a reasonable opinion!

 

[Kathryn]

All things are not equal. All skills are not equal. All skill sets are not in equal demand. All resources are not in equal demand.

More goes into a "high paying job" than just work ethic. The ability to consistently and honestly earn a high salary has as much or more to do with overall personality traits and talents as it does hard work.

And many, many people earn high salaries because they are very good at managing life, people, their skill sets, and their own personal resources. These are traits that cannot be "bought" with any amount of hard work - they have to be earned and lived consistently.

The simple fact is that some people will work very hard all their lives and never really get ahead - and often it's because their talents, life skills, and character traits impede their progress up the prosperity ladder.

 

[Sunstone]

There were a hell of a lot more middle class jobs 40 years ago than there are today. There is no law -- just human greed -- that says the US cannot adopt policies that would create more middle class jobs than there are today.

 

[dust1n]

The simple fact is that some people will work very hard all their lives and never really get ahead - and often it's because their talents, life skills, and character traits impede their progress up the prosperity ladder.

I guess this means they deserve poverty...

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The simple fact is that some people will work very hard all their lives and never really get ahead - and often it's because their talents, life skills, and character traits impede their progress up the prosperity ladder.

My sister is a pothead, not a good parent, picks some real "winners" to date, and has some other negative characteristics, like we all do, yet she makes 80 grand a year. But, she did indeed work very hard, at both her job and school, to get to where she is at. She started at a low level lab worker, and now she is a well respected P.A. She worked lots of overtime, countless weekends, and put up with one bad boss after another. She also balanced going to work and school full time, and graduated head of her class with a Masters degree.
Bill Gates is a college drop out. And, he got lucky that his stolen ideas actually sold, and continue to sell.
But if you want to be rich, take the advice of the rich. Don't work for your money, make your money work for you. But then again, you have to have money to make it work for you.

 

[justbehappy]

It seems like your response replicated Rick's in that you ignored what you quoted. When minimum wage is raised, the raise of prices is but a tiny fraction in comparison to how much the worker is now getting payed. Like Rick, you detest welfare because it spawns 'laziness' and is not the government's place to do so, even though our country is obviously based on French egalitarianism, and then detest a minimum living wage to the workers who must work or die, because it results in higher prices for you. Like I said, you want your cake and want to ingest it as well. You don't want to help people publicly or privately, even when the private help is ingrained in consumption.

People that agree with social programs think that people that want little government involvement are selfish, and we say that they're trying to control people.

Yet the difference between you and I is that I will not accuse YOU of that because I do not know the reasons for why you agree with them, yet you will gladly accuse ME of it.

And I am the close-minded one, of course.

 

[dust1n]

People that agree with social programs think that people that want little government involvement are selfish, and we say that they're trying to control people.

Ok, I just don't think you understand. If you take away government because 'it is infringing on people's liberty', than the monopolies will (not that they don't already control the government). Than difference being, government is a legitimatized power, existing because it has not been destroyed yet but the governed, which is transparent, democratically elected, and it's ultimate purpose is to 'serve' the 'people'. Pure market forces will continuously ultimately result in a plutocracy, the social inequality will forever rise, and it's ultimate purpose is to 'make' the 'money'. We use government to regulate capitalism (I know, laughable) so that companies and the rich can not manipulate people, and do whatever they want to them (I remind you that government ultimately saved us the first time, read a book like The Jungle if you want to get an accurate picture) and harm people. There is a reason it's called 'private' interest in comparison to 'public' interest. Now, the fact that our government is slave to companies should give you a clear reasoning that we need less private interest and more government.

Yet the difference between you and I is that I will not accuse YOU of that because I do not know the reasons for why you agree with them, yet you will gladly accuse ME of it.

And I am the close-minded one, of course.

I know, you are just trying to save me my liberties by limiting the governing the body that has the power to do so, and I can just become a dead end job wage slave for the rest of my life.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I know, you are just trying to save me my liberties by limiting the governing the body that has the power to do so, and I can just become a dead end job wage slave for the rest of my life.

As opposed to what? We all are slaves dust1n. You see, we where not born rich so we will have to work our entire lives.

I own my company and have employees, but guess what? My customers are my boss. Everyone has a boss and if you don't please them, you don't eat. It is as simple as that.

You see, the thing is, when you get a wife and children, they depend on you to satisfy your customers. It is not about you any more.

You have no idea how many times I have just wanted to quit and get away from all the demands in life. It's not about me however, I have responsibilities and I am man enough to meet my responsibilities or die trying.

I have to ask you one question, who ever told you that life was going to be fair or you would have this wonderful life? Life sucks and then you die. He who dies with the most toys wins. :slap:

 

[dust1n]

As opposed to what? We all are slaves dust1n. You see, we where not born rich so we will have to work our entire lives.

I own my company and have employees, but guess what? My customers are my boss. Everyone has a boss and if you don't please them, you don't eat. It is as simple as that.

You see, the thing is, when you get a wife and children, they depend on you to satisfy your customers. It is not about you any more.

You have no idea how many times I have just wanted to quit and get away from all the demands in life. It's not about me however, I have responsibilities and I am man enough to meet my responsibilities or die trying.

I have to ask you one question, who ever told you that life was going to be fair or you would have this wonderful life? Life sucks and then you die. He who dies with the most toys wins. :slap:

What are you getting at? I guess I should have said, "I can be a dead end job wage slave, who is also incapable of making basic ends meet, for the rest of my life."

I'm not concerned about working for the rest of my life, I'm concerned with making enough to live comfortably, and concerned with everyone else's ability to also to do so.

 

[Kathryn]

You can live comfortably enough by most mankind's standards in a very small apartment or a hut, with no electricity and no running water - never drinking a single soft drink or eating a single meal at a restaurant - 99 percent of mankind has done so since the Stone Age. What makes you so special?

So I'm not sure you really mean you just want to live comfortably. I think you mean that you want life's luxuries - and that's a whole other matter entirely.

Face it - the vast majority of humans have to work a significant ratio of their waking hours in exchange for food, clothing and shelter. Anything else is a luxury and in my opinion any day that you don't work at SOMETHING at least 8 hours is a day off and a true rarity - you're lucky to get one day of rest a week.