How many types of wealthy are there?

[MikeK]

These right wingers. Wet dream after wet dream about money.

This is why they want to pass legislation to protect "wealth". Because they all think that one day, they will have "wealth".

Ask them how they will get this "wealth" and their eyes glaze over. Their breath slows. A single tear falls down one cheek to join the drool that's already falling in a steady drip. Then the delusion kicks back in. And they act like they never heard the question.

All they know is they have to protect their imaginary "wealth". Oh, it's real, they just haven't got it yet.

I believe that behavior to be an example of the same kind of tribalism that accounts for the rise of the Third Reich. By adopting the values and supporting the ideology of a perceived power structure a sense of assimilation takes place in the mind of the most powerless and insignificant.

As you have correctly observed, the vast majority of those who vigorously oppose a tax increase on the super-rich don't have a pot to piss in. And while many of them have sufficient intelligence to understand how incongruous their position is they adhere tenaciously to it because it affords them a sense of power.

 

[MikeK]

no one on gvt dole will EVER be considered ''the wealthy'' or described as ''wealthy'' though....

No, but they are wealthier then they would be without the gvt dole.

The problem i have is when those who are already getting something for nothing want bigger handouts by taking more from the "wealthy" because the wealthy can "afford it"


I agree with you, 250k should not be the bar of measurement. But someone who makes 50k a year sure looks wealthy to someone who is getting 15k a year on the dole.

What exactly do you mean by the government "dole?"

I collect Social Security. Am I on the "dole?" If so my reason for advocating increased taxation for the super-rich is not to increase my "dole," which I am perfectly satisfied with, but to help reduce the deficit and commence repair of the infrastructure -- which will create many new jobs.

The thing to consider if a much higher tax rate is imposed on the super-rich is they will still be rich. Of course they won't like it but it's not going to hurt them. They will still live a lot better than the rest of us.

 

[edthecynic]

It must really suck to live your life through the eyes of Rush.

In other words, you can't deny that the truly wealthy have no taxable income after adjustment.

Your saying that....not me. I was just making an observation about you.

You were deflecting to me because you couldn't rebut my post. You fool no one except yourself.

Your the fool....you live your life through the eyes of Rush. No deflecting on my end...it just didn't need a response IMO.

It just kills you that even your MessiahRushie admits that there is a level of wealth holders, well beyond the top 1% of wage earners, who pay no taxes.

 

[uscitizen]

I did not read all of the thread.

did anyone mention the most valuable wealth of all?
Being a good and kind person who helps others less fortuante and keepig a good attitude?
having a good and loving family?

This is not taught in college nor can it be bought with any amount of money.
priceless.

I have known people without a pot to piss in that were happy and good people.

Money can only rent temporary happiness.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Do right wingers understand that "inherited" doesn't mean, "Worked hard for"?

Do YOU understand that "inherited" doesn't mean "up for grabs by greedy liberals"? SOMEONE worked hard for that money, and it WASN'T YOU, so what makes you think you should have more of a claim on where their hard-earned money goes after they die than they do? You didn't even know them, so what makes you think you have ANY claim on it?

 

[Cecilie1200]

The top 5% has far more income than the bottom 50%.

No shit, Sherlock......And they pay the lions share of all the income tax.

And they wouldn't go broke paying another 5%. They never have before, and the top 2% are richer than ever before.

I see. So by your logic, it's okay if I go out and mug some guy driving a Porsche, because he won't go broke from giving me his money? He can afford to be robbed, so that makes it all right to rob him?

Nice moral compass. Needle's a little shaky.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Why the hatred for anyone who is born into a wealthy family?

Why this presumption of "hatred" for those who are born wealthy? Is this an introspective trait?

JFK was born wealthy. And while he was hated by some for his political effectiveness I don't think anyone hated him because of his privileged birth. He was widely revered and the loss of him was deeply mourned by many millions.

I dislike George W. Bush for the contemptible sonofabitch he is, not because he was born into wealth and power. If someone killed that bastard tomorrow I don't think too many tears would be shed.

Some wealthy people are very nice and some are rotten bastards. I think Jimmy Buffett is a nice man, so is Michael Bloomberg, but Donald Trump annoys the hell out of me. So my feelings toward these men is based on their personal characteristics, not their respective wealth. And I believe most people feel pretty much the same.

There also is a tendency to believe that criticism of excessive wealth and dislike of those who acquire it is rooted in jealousy. Again, I suspect this to be introspective projection. I will admit that I envy anyone who acquires enough wealth to lead a comfortable, secure, reasonably luxurious life, but I do not envy the greedy -- and greed is essential to the accumulation of excessive wealth.

First of all, I think you mean WARREN Buffett. Jimmy Buffett is a singer. And no, Warren Buffett's not a particularly nice man at all, from what I understand.

Second of all, how do YOU know what's essential to the accumulation of "excessive" wealth, whatever the fuck that is? You ever accumulated it?

 

[uscitizen]

Do right wingers understand that "inherited" doesn't mean, "Worked hard for"?

Do YOU understand that "inherited" doesn't mean "up for grabs by greedy liberals"? SOMEONE worked hard for that money, and it WASN'T YOU, so what makes you think you should have more of a claim on where their hard-earned money goes after they die than they do? You didn't even know them, so what makes you think you have ANY claim on it?

How do you know someone worked hard for that money?
they may have bought and sold slaves or drugs, etc. You do not know what you stated is a fact, but you state it as such.

and yes I have no claim on it.

 

[MikeK]

First of all, I think you mean WARREN Buffett. Jimmy Buffett is a singer.

You're right and thank you for correcting my embarrassing error.

And no, Warren Buffett's not a particularly nice man at all, from what I understand.

I've never met the man. I've seen him interviewed twice on television and he seemed very pleasant and not at all arrogant. But I'd like to know what your understanding of Buffett is and how you came by it.

I've never met Trump, either, but he seems like a smug, arrogant snot who loves having his ass kissed. If anyone has a different impression of Donald Trump I'd like to know what that is, too.

Second of all, how do YOU know what's essential to the accumulation of "excessive" wealth, whatever the fuck that is? You ever accumulated it?

Wealth is the ability to afford a fine home, fine cars, university tuitions for one's children, vacations, a life of leisure and access to good medical care. Any normal, rational individual who cannot be content with that level of wealth is categorically greedy.

Greed is synonymous with gluttony. The luxurious lifestyle I've outlined above may be metaphorically thought of as a full plate and anything more than a full plate is excess. I (tentatively) believe that twenty million dollars could more than adequately sustain such a lifestyle so I consider anything beyond that level of wealth to be excessive.

If you could afford such a lifestyle would you want more? If so, why?

 

[MikeK]

I think the question is WHAT is wealthy?..a question I have asked here several times and received one answer,$ 500.000. Does it matter how they got it?

To me, truly wealthy means that one has enough assets to live without working.

$500,000 is well off, but not wealthy, imo.

I agree. But how much money do you think you would need to live without working? What level of luxury would you require?

I've arrived at the idea that anything between one and twenty million dollars is wealth and beyond twenty million is excessive wealth. But that figure is subject to review.

 

[edthecynic]

Do right wingers understand that "inherited" doesn't mean, "Worked hard for"?

Do YOU understand that "inherited" doesn't mean "up for grabs by greedy liberals"? SOMEONE worked hard for that money, and it WASN'T YOU, so what makes you think you should have more of a claim on where their hard-earned money goes after they die than they do? You didn't even know them, so what makes you think you have ANY claim on it?

As I have shown so many times CON$ are always on both sides of every issue.

Abvove the CON$ claim someone other than a Lib inherited money and Libs want to steal it, but when CON$ bash Libs CON$ claim Libs are the inheritors. Only yesterday mAnn Coulter was making the claim on HanNITWITy's radio program that Libs are the richest of the rich and inherited their money, so apparently Libs are trying to steal their inheritance from themselves.

 

[editec]

A friend of mine (a rather successful landscape painter by profession) once quipped.

People used to create wealthy by hard work.

Now most great wealth seems either be inherited from somebody's else's past labor, or borrowed from somebody else's future labor.


Sadly, there appears to be a lot of truth in that observaton

 

[MaggieMae]

Do right wingers understand that "inherited" doesn't mean, "Worked hard for"?

Do YOU understand that "inherited" doesn't mean "up for grabs by greedy liberals"? SOMEONE worked hard for that money, and it WASN'T YOU, so what makes you think you should have more of a claim on where their hard-earned money goes after they die than they do? You didn't even know them, so what makes you think you have ANY claim on it?

But how many people had to work hard in order for that "someone" to reap the benefits of the labor?

 

[MaggieMae]

No shit, Sherlock......And they pay the lions share of all the income tax.

And they wouldn't go broke paying another 5%. They never have before, and the top 2% are richer than ever before.

I see. So by your logic, it's okay if I go out and mug some guy driving a Porsche, because he won't go broke from giving me his money? He can afford to be robbed, so that makes it all right to rob him?

Nice moral compass. Needle's a little shaky.

No need for all the drama. Top wage earners paying a higher percentage didn't just start yesterday. You should have been complaining 60 years or so ago. Now, it appears it's all the fault of "liberals." Horseshit.

 

[MaggieMae]

First of all, I think you mean WARREN Buffett. Jimmy Buffett is a singer.

You're right and thank you for correcting my embarrassing error.

And no, Warren Buffett's not a particularly nice man at all, from what I understand.

I've never met the man. I've seen him interviewed twice on television and he seemed very pleasant and not at all arrogant. But I'd like to know what your understanding of Buffett is and how you came by it.

I've never met Trump, either, but he seems like a smug, arrogant snot who loves having his ass kissed. If anyone has a different impression of Donald Trump I'd like to know what that is, too.

Second of all, how do YOU know what's essential to the accumulation of "excessive" wealth, whatever the fuck that is? You ever accumulated it?

Wealth is the ability to afford a fine home, fine cars, university tuitions for one's children, vacations, a life of leisure and access to good medical care. Any normal, rational individual who cannot be content with that level of wealth is categorically greedy.

Greed is synonymous with gluttony. The luxurious lifestyle I've outlined above may be metaphorically thought of as a full plate and anything more than a full plate is excess. I (tentatively) believe that twenty million dollars could more than adequately sustain such a lifestyle so I consider anything beyond that level of wealth to be excessive.

If you could afford such a lifestyle would you want more? If so, why?

I've never heard of anyone saying an unkind word about Warren Buffett. Cecilie thinks he's a bad man because he tells it like it is.

 

[Cecilie1200]

First of all, I think you mean WARREN Buffett. Jimmy Buffett is a singer.

You're right and thank you for correcting my embarrassing error.

And no, Warren Buffett's not a particularly nice man at all, from what I understand.

I've never met the man. I've seen him interviewed twice on television and he seemed very pleasant and not at all arrogant. But I'd like to know what your understanding of Buffett is and how you came by it.

I've never met Trump, either, but he seems like a smug, arrogant snot who loves having his ass kissed. If anyone has a different impression of Donald Trump I'd like to know what that is, too.

For starters, Warren Buffett is a disingenuous, manipulative user, which never endears people to me. While I'm sure being manipulative to a certain extent is required for anyone to become extremely wealthy, not everyone is dishonest about it. Buffett is. That whole, folksy, "I'm just supporting this because it's the right thing to do" schtick is a baldfaced lie, designed to get idiots to support laws that end up pouring money into his pocket. Yeah, it's legal, and it's even ethical, but it doesn't spell "nice person" in my book.

At least Donald Trump is upfront and honest about what he is.

Second of all, how do YOU know what's essential to the accumulation of "excessive" wealth, whatever the fuck that is? You ever accumulated it?

Wealth is the ability to afford a fine home, fine cars, university tuitions for one's children, vacations, a life of leisure and access to good medical care. Any normal, rational individual who cannot be content with that level of wealth is categorically greedy.

Greed is synonymous with gluttony. The luxurious lifestyle I've outlined above may be metaphorically thought of as a full plate and anything more than a full plate is excess. I (tentatively) believe that twenty million dollars could more than adequately sustain such a lifestyle so I consider anything beyond that level of wealth to be excessive.

If you could afford such a lifestyle would you want more? If so, why?

First of all, who appointed YOU the arbiter of what "wealth" is, what "greed" is, and what "excess" is? And where was I when this election was held? And by the way, are you going to answer my question as to what's necessary to accumulate "excessive" wealth?

If I had created a business which afforded me a luxurious lifestyle, yes. I would continue to run that business and to try to expand it and grow it. Why? Because it's more likely than not that I created that business NOT to get the money - not primarily, although obviously I would have wanted it to make money - but because I felt strongly about what I was doing, and because I enjoyed it. Why should I stop doing something I love and care about just because someone like you has arbitrarily decided that I'm wealthy enough and should retire and do nothing else productive, for fear that I might make more money?

By all accounts, Warren Buffett does what he does - and has since he was in elementary school - because he really enjoys the challenge. That's fine by me. I don't begrudge it to him. My issue with him is solely his dishonesty in how he presents himself, not the fact that he's incredibly wealthy.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Do right wingers understand that "inherited" doesn't mean, "Worked hard for"?

Do YOU understand that "inherited" doesn't mean "up for grabs by greedy liberals"? SOMEONE worked hard for that money, and it WASN'T YOU, so what makes you think you should have more of a claim on where their hard-earned money goes after they die than they do? You didn't even know them, so what makes you think you have ANY claim on it?

But how many people had to work hard in order for that "someone" to reap the benefits of the labor?

Unless they were slaves in chains, they got compensated for their labor, so spare me the sob story of "exploitation".

 

[Cecilie1200]

And they wouldn't go broke paying another 5%. They never have before, and the top 2% are richer than ever before.

I see. So by your logic, it's okay if I go out and mug some guy driving a Porsche, because he won't go broke from giving me his money? He can afford to be robbed, so that makes it all right to rob him?

Nice moral compass. Needle's a little shaky.

No need for all the drama. Top wage earners paying a higher percentage didn't just start yesterday. You should have been complaining 60 years or so ago. Now, it appears it's all the fault of "liberals." Horseshit.

It's the liberals I'm complaining about, Sparky, not the rich people. And by and large, it's the liberals who holler for higher taxes to "soak the rich", not conservatives. If you manage to get some wobbly conservative on board the higher taxes train, I'm just as willing to bitch about him.

 

[Cecilie1200]

First of all, I think you mean WARREN Buffett. Jimmy Buffett is a singer.

You're right and thank you for correcting my embarrassing error.


I've never met the man. I've seen him interviewed twice on television and he seemed very pleasant and not at all arrogant. But I'd like to know what your understanding of Buffett is and how you came by it.

I've never met Trump, either, but he seems like a smug, arrogant snot who loves having his ass kissed. If anyone has a different impression of Donald Trump I'd like to know what that is, too.

Second of all, how do YOU know what's essential to the accumulation of "excessive" wealth, whatever the fuck that is? You ever accumulated it?

Wealth is the ability to afford a fine home, fine cars, university tuitions for one's children, vacations, a life of leisure and access to good medical care. Any normal, rational individual who cannot be content with that level of wealth is categorically greedy.

Greed is synonymous with gluttony. The luxurious lifestyle I've outlined above may be metaphorically thought of as a full plate and anything more than a full plate is excess. I (tentatively) believe that twenty million dollars could more than adequately sustain such a lifestyle so I consider anything beyond that level of wealth to be excessive.

If you could afford such a lifestyle would you want more? If so, why?

I've never heard of anyone saying an unkind word about Warren Buffett. Cecilie thinks he's a bad man because he tells it like it is.

No, I think he's a bad man because he's NOT telling you how it really is. He's telling you what you want to hear, and you're eating it up with a spoon while he laughs at you all the way to the bank.

 

[Saikron]

Most of the work that goes on in this country that I would call "hard" doesn't actually pay very well.

Most of the time the more money a person makes/has the less hard work he has actually done.