Elite Psychology

[MikeK]

I was reading tonight that some 1%ers ARE aware that there is historical precedent for so much wealth concentrated in the hands of so few. Many take to living in virtual isolation. Some are speaking out saying the 1%ers (those who are NOT already doing it - many are) need to be more loyal to their home countries. Otherwise, the people could really finally get fed up when the middle class gets so thin you could see through it.

Widening gap between rich and poor threatens to swallow us all | Emma Seery | Global development | guardian.co.uk

What is needed, and the only chance we have of recovering from the job these right-wing corporatists and plutocrats have done on us, is another FDR and an aggressive Progressive Congressional majority. We need people like Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, Eliot Spitzer, Alan Grayson, and other radically committed opponents of excessive wealth.

But I don't see it happening anytime soon, mainly because of the preponderance of ignorant, indoctrinated, Joe-the-Plumber types who choose to remain blind to what the neo-Conservative movement, beginning with Ronald Reagan, has done to the middle class and to the Economy. These brainwashed Tories will stubbornly continue to vote against their own best interests.

For the past three decades the American people have been engaged in a political civil war which vastly serves the interests of a privileged few.

 

[Obamanation]

This link doesn't do it justice but it's almost bedtime so I can get up early to go back to work and make a 1%er's life better...............

QUOTE]

There is the problem... I go to work to make my life better. I guess it's all in how warped of a liberal mind you have.

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

This link doesn't do it justice but it's almost bedtime so I can get up early to go back to work and make a 1%er's life better...............

QUOTE]

There is the problem... I go to work to make my life better. I guess it's all in how warped of a liberal mind you have.

So do I and millions of others. Reading on a topic makes one liberal?

 

[Obamanation]

This link doesn't do it justice but it's almost bedtime so I can get up early to go back to work and make a 1%er's life better...............

QUOTE]

There is the problem... I go to work to make my life better. I guess it's all in how warped of a liberal mind you have.

So do I and millions of others. Reading on a topic makes one liberal?

No, believing that you go to work to make the life of a rich person better, rather than the TRUTH that you go to work to make YOUR life better --- that is what shows that you have a warped liberal mind....

 

[Agit8r]

It's really interesting reading in the book I'm finishing up "Plutocrats" to see what the 1% thinks about the Western middle class. In a general consensus, they more or less say "well, you've had your party." One said it was better for 4 Americans to sink below the middle class level if only ONE Chinese or Indian person rises to the middle class. THESE are the people who buy our politicians! Do some reading on it and see what we're really up against. This link doesn't do it justice but it's almost bedtime so I can get up early to go back to work and make a 1%er's life better...............

1% to Middle Class: ?Stop crying, you?re better off than ever!? | Change to Win

I haven't read that particular book, but is sounds like it jives with my understanding; that a good many of the world's wealthy see fit to appoint themselves the governors of the platonic republic they envision. It certainly would explain Romney's guiltless lying, as he surely felt it his "noble" duty.

 

[Barb]

Making it up? Excuses? Fictional? Obama? Bush? Blaming others? Look, I get that most people here just want to exchange insults about other people's party and beliefs - kind of a smart-ass competition where we try to be more cute than the other smart-ass; after all, that's all we hear in the media.

If I'm so wrong, why are books being written about it, hey? If I'm so wrong, why is it happening regardless of who the politicians are? If you want to stick your heads in the sand because you don't have the witherall to study or read, just say so. If you dont' care, say so. If you wanna play Sean Hannity and Michael Moore, have at it. Jesus H Christ! The world's evolving - the economy is evolving, and all you motherfuckers want to do is talk about Sarah Palin and guns and other non issues that really don't have a direct impact on the huge change forces at work in this world. Sad.

I don't belong to a political flock. And you are whining because other people have overcome poverty to become wildly successful.

So why can't you?

Ah, the great American (distant) Dream

Economic Mobility Project - The Pew Charitable Trusts

and from them:

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment - Pew States

The study finds that while families at every rung of the economic ladder experienced unemployment, their ability to withstand and recover from losses differed dramatically:

Low-income families and those of color had both the greatest risk of job loss and the least access to resources to buffer negative effects.
Families who had some unemployment not only lost income while not working, but also experienced longer-term wealth losses.
Those without personal savings and kinship support frequently used resources they had allocated for their children's education or their own retirement to fund short-term needs.
Those who experienced unemployment between 1999 and 2009 were 1.3 times more likely to have suffered a loss in wealth during the decade than other families.
Family Interviews

The stories in this report provide rich detail on family's efforts to patch together a variety of resources and strategies during periods of unemployment, including: household financial assets; family, friends and kinship networks; credit, debt and loans; and assistance from government and community-based organizations.

They highlight that unemployment and the trade-offs it requires affect families’ short-term economic security and their long-term mobility prospects.

and

Income and Wealth in America Across Generations - The Pew Charitable Trusts

This interactive tool by The Pew Charitable Trusts’ economic mobility project displays not only which Americans are more likely to exceed or fall short of the income and wealth held by their parents, but—for the first time—by how much.

and from NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/u...ise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

WASHINGTON — Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil religion.

But many researchers have reached a conclusion that turns conventional wisdom on its head: Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. The mobility gap has been widely discussed in academic circles, but a sour season of mass unemployment and street protests has moved the discussion toward center stage.

“It’s becoming conventional wisdom that the U.S. does not have as much mobility as most other advanced countries,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue with that.”

At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.

Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes.

 

[editec]

The meme of the 1% is a big BIG part of the problem.

It is NOT the 1% that are the problem. The 1% includes our doctors and businessmen who make their money HONESTLY by providing all of us with the goods and services we need.

The parasittic class that is wrecking our economy is a very tiny group of people, folks

Its about .0001% of the population ripping off the other 99.999%.

That's about 300 people who have control over the monetary system.

 

[Obamanation]

The meme of the 1% is a big BIG part of the problem.

It is NOT the 1% that are the problem. The 1% includes our doctors and businessmen who make their money HONESTLY by providing all of us with the goods and services we need.

The parasittic class that is wrecking our economy is a very tiny group of people, folks

Its about .0001% of the population ripping off the other 99.999%.

That's about 300 people who have control over the monetary system.

Well shoot, if it's only 300 and they aren't progressive, gay, black, hispanic, women, or Obama supporters --- we could just BURN 'EM ALL!!!

Problem solved!

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

So do I and millions of others. Reading on a topic makes one liberal?

No, believing that you go to work to make the life of a rich person better, rather than the TRUTH that you go to work to make YOUR life better --- that is what shows that you have a warped liberal mind....

Boy this is GREAT! None of the rest of us need to post anything - we can just all sit back and have your pantywaste ass put words in our mouths all day. Or on a different level - fuck your mother you motherfucking putz! I've worked two jobs for over 30 years and got all my undergrad, graduate and post graduate work done while working full time, as has millions of others. Take caution in who you talk down your stupid fucking nose to, bitch.

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

The meme of the 1% is a big BIG part of the problem.

It is NOT the 1% that are the problem. The 1% includes our doctors and businessmen who make their money HONESTLY by providing all of us with the goods and services we need.

The parasittic class that is wrecking our economy is a very tiny group of people, folks

Its about .0001% of the population ripping off the other 99.999%.

That's about 300 people who have control over the monetary system.

They have control over who makes the laws, but I don't think the monetary system directly. Only deep pockets can buy the politicians we get to "choose" between. McCain and Feingold and some others wanted to fix that problem, but you see what happened to them.

 

[editec]

The meme of the 1% is a big BIG part of the problem.

It is NOT the 1% that are the problem. The 1% includes our doctors and businessmen who make their money HONESTLY by providing all of us with the goods and services we need.

The parasittic class that is wrecking our economy is a very tiny group of people, folks

Its about .0001% of the population ripping off the other 99.999%.

That's about 300 people who have control over the monetary system.

Well shoot, if it's only 300 and they aren't progressive, gay, black, hispanic, women, or Obama supporters --- we could just BURN 'EM ALL!!!

Problem solved!

The fact that people like you imagine the MASTERS give a fig about party politics is why they are impervious to social justice.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Making it up? Excuses? Fictional? Obama? Bush? Blaming others? Look, I get that most people here just want to exchange insults about other people's party and beliefs - kind of a smart-ass competition where we try to be more cute than the other smart-ass; after all, that's all we hear in the media.

If I'm so wrong, why are books being written about it, hey? If I'm so wrong, why is it happening regardless of who the politicians are? If you want to stick your heads in the sand because you don't have the witherall to study or read, just say so. If you dont' care, say so. If you wanna play Sean Hannity and Michael Moore, have at it. Jesus H Christ! The world's evolving - the economy is evolving, and all you motherfuckers want to do is talk about Sarah Palin and guns and other non issues that really don't have a direct impact on the huge change forces at work in this world. Sad.

I don't belong to a political flock. And you are whining because other people have overcome poverty to become wildly successful.

So why can't you?

Ah, the great American (distant) Dream

Economic Mobility Project - The Pew Charitable Trusts

and from them:

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment - Pew States



and

Income and Wealth in America Across Generations - The Pew Charitable Trusts



and from NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/u...ise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“It’s becoming conventional wisdom that the U.S. does not have as much mobility as most other advanced countries,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue with that.”

At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.

Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes.

How many have moved from the bottom to the middle?

How many have started with nothing and maybe didn't get to the 1% but were very successful?

Let's face it you want to find an excuse why you're a failure.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I wasn't banking on 10%. 10% is an historical trend. How do you think they get investors for the stock market? Just hope that everyone is happy to fund corporate expansion? This is the system that our economy is based upon and if they can't reasonably assure that some growth will come of it, it's finished.

I gave you the historical average. It's not 10%.



You don't know shit about me, Sparky.

I am so fucking sick of you whining idiots. If you want more than what you have go out and fucking get it. No one is stopping you. You just want to blame someone else for what you didn't do right. You are where you are because of your decisions and no one else's.

The fact is that a lot of economic expansion and industrial efficiency has been gained through technology and the contributions of people at all levels through the 'continuous improvement' paradigm. The people at the top were entrusted with running the ship, plotting a course and avoiding the pitfalls. They've taken all of the increased productivity and distributed it amonst themselves and given practically nothing back.

See that's your problem. You trusted other people to look out for you.

I hope you learned your lesson.

I know plenty about you. No kids, no dependents (at least none that you feel the least bit inclined to assist) and no gratitude for the breaks you've received from others. You're just like these sociopathic pricks that you defend. You probably even profit from the fucked up state of our medical system (that's my one bit of conjecture here).

Breaks from others?

Sorry but no one helped me do anything I have done. And so what if I don't have kids? That's got nothing to do with anything.

I make my money by providing a valuable service in my community. That irks you doesn't it?

And I'm not defending anyone I'm simply calling out you fucking whiners.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I wasn't banking on 10%. 10% is an historical trend. How do you think they get investors for the stock market? Just hope that everyone is happy to fund corporate expansion? This is the system that our economy is based upon and if they can't reasonably assure that some growth will come of it, it's finished.

I gave you the historical average. It's not 10%.



You don't know shit about me, Sparky.

I am so fucking sick of you whining idiots. If you want more than what you have go out and fucking get it. No one is stopping you. You just want to blame someone else for what you didn't do right. You are where you are because of your decisions and no one else's.

The fact is that a lot of economic expansion and industrial efficiency has been gained through technology and the contributions of people at all levels through the 'continuous improvement' paradigm. The people at the top were entrusted with running the ship, plotting a course and avoiding the pitfalls. They've taken all of the increased productivity and distributed it amonst themselves and given practically nothing back.

See that's your problem. You trusted other people to look out for you.

I hope you learned your lesson.

Fuck you! You helped highjack this thread so you could spout off your playbook "American Dream" bullshit lines and that's not what the hell I started this thread about to begin with. Yea, no one knows shit about you but you seem to want to put words in everyone else's posts and mouths. Start your own goddamned thread.

You're playing the blame game again. Man up you pussy.

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

The meme of the 1% is a big BIG part of the problem.

It is NOT the 1% that are the problem. The 1% includes our doctors and businessmen who make their money HONESTLY by providing all of us with the goods and services we need.

The parasittic class that is wrecking our economy is a very tiny group of people, folks

Its about .0001% of the population ripping off the other 99.999%.

That's about 300 people who have control over the monetary system.

Well shoot, if it's only 300 and they aren't progressive, gay, black, hispanic, women, or Obama supporters --- we could just BURN 'EM ALL!!!

Problem solved!

The fact that people like you imagine the MASTERS give a fig about party politics is why they are impervious to social justice.

That's not totally true about giving a fuck about social justice. Many do and they are not obligated to. Some call it "self taxing," when they, say, build a millions of dollar museum, donate to a symphony, or Bill Gates donating millions and millions to AIDS research. There's great people doing great things. I dont' get where this got turned into a diatribe against the 1% when in reality they've always been around in one form or another. I'm more interested in seeing the economic dynamics at work . They are, as you say, the "masters," and greatly influence what's going on. I think it should be paid attention to.

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

I gave you the historical average. It's not 10%.



You don't know shit about me, Sparky.

I am so fucking sick of you whining idiots. If you want more than what you have go out and fucking get it. No one is stopping you. You just want to blame someone else for what you didn't do right. You are where you are because of your decisions and no one else's.



See that's your problem. You trusted other people to look out for you.

I hope you learned your lesson.

Fuck you! You helped highjack this thread so you could spout off your playbook "American Dream" bullshit lines and that's not what the hell I started this thread about to begin with. Yea, no one knows shit about you but you seem to want to put words in everyone else's posts and mouths. Start your own goddamned thread.

You're playing the blame game again. Man up you pussy.

I don't argue with empty skulls.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Well shoot, if it's only 300 and they aren't progressive, gay, black, hispanic, women, or Obama supporters --- we could just BURN 'EM ALL!!!

Problem solved!

The fact that people like you imagine the MASTERS give a fig about party politics is why they are impervious to social justice.

That's not totally true about giving a fuck about social justice. Many do and they are not obligated to. Some call it "self taxing," when they, say, build a millions of dollar museum, donate to a symphony, or Bill Gates donating millions and millions to AIDS research. There's great people doing great things. I dont' get where this got turned into a diatribe against the 1% when in reality they've always been around in one form or another. I'm more interested in seeing the economic dynamics at work . They are, as you say, the "masters," and greatly influence what's going on. I think it should be paid attention to.

Self taxing?

All those things are charitable write offs.

 

[KnobbyWalsh]

The fact that people like you imagine the MASTERS give a fig about party politics is why they are impervious to social justice.

That's not totally true about giving a fuck about social justice. Many do and they are not obligated to. Some call it "self taxing," when they, say, build a millions of dollar museum, donate to a symphony, or Bill Gates donating millions and millions to AIDS research. There's great people doing great things. I dont' get where this got turned into a diatribe against the 1% when in reality they've always been around in one form or another. I'm more interested in seeing the economic dynamics at work . They are, as you say, the "masters," and greatly influence what's going on. I think it should be paid attention to.

Self taxing?

All those things are charitable write offs.

I just knew inside that empty skull there was a liberal 1%er hater.

 

[zeke]

I don't belong to a political flock. And you are whining because other people have overcome poverty to become wildly successful.

So why can't you?

Ah, the great American (distant) Dream

Economic Mobility Project - The Pew Charitable Trusts

and from them:

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment - Pew States



and

Income and Wealth in America Across Generations - The Pew Charitable Trusts



and from NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/u...ise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.

Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes.

How many have moved from the bottom to the middle?

How many have started with nothing and maybe didn't get to the 1% but were very successful?

Let's face it you want to find an excuse why you're a failure.

How many moved from the bottom to the middle? With the decline in middle class numbers and wages, I would say that far fewer moved from the botton to the middle than used to be able to do that.

You ever read any of the recent articles about how much harder it is for young people today to move up in their economic lives? Probably not.

And how many did start out with nothing and moved to the top? Who were not professional athletes. Or actors. Or musicians. Obviously not enough.

Wouldn't it be great if YOU had numbers to back up your fantasies?

And before you insult me with some bullshit comment about how I should have worked harder, let me get out front of your coming insult and just say fuk you.

 

[Skull Pilot]

That's not totally true about giving a fuck about social justice. Many do and they are not obligated to. Some call it "self taxing," when they, say, build a millions of dollar museum, donate to a symphony, or Bill Gates donating millions and millions to AIDS research. There's great people doing great things. I dont' get where this got turned into a diatribe against the 1% when in reality they've always been around in one form or another. I'm more interested in seeing the economic dynamics at work . They are, as you say, the "masters," and greatly influence what's going on. I think it should be paid attention to.

Self taxing?

All those things are charitable write offs.

I just knew inside that empty skull there was a liberal 1%er hater.

I don't hate rich people. They've done nothing to me. I am merely pointing out the idiocy of your "self taxing" statement.

If they were "self taxing" they'd write a 7 figure check payable to the United States Treasury not a symphony.