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Re: Capital gains tax rates benefiting wealthy feed growing gap between rich and poor 

By: Decomposed in FFFT | Recommend this post (2)
Mon, 12 Sep 11 10:52 PM | 50 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Food For Further Thought 		Msg. 33378 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 33360 by oldCADuser)
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OCU,

re: "but irrespective of how the data was presented, don't you agree that 20% of a country's population controlling 84% of the wealth would appear to indicate that something is wrong?"

Probably. Maybe. I'm not sure. Read on.

What is wealth? I have a feeling that answering your question when we might not even agree on the definition of the word is an exercise in futility.

Three people have the same, decent job. One spends everything on essentials and assets that hold their value. The second spends his money on essentials and equities. The third lives it up and blows all of his excess money (and I know MANY people who live this way). He's got a beautiful house (rented), a great leased vehicle, the latest clothes, awesome vacation photos, and maybe a drug and alcohol problem too.

In 30 years, you've got one multi-millionaire, one guy with significant property holdings, and one guy wondering what he should do since he screwed up and didn't put aside enough for his future.

Which of the first two have wealth? And why do you think they deserve to be punished for making better life choices than person #3?

Is there a problem? Sure, there probably is. But not with the system. The problem is with person #3, who lacked the sense he needed to prepare for his old age needs while he was still young enough to do so.

That doesn't mean that the whole economic system is at fault. At some point, personal accountability for one's own life comes into play.

But I don't think you're a big believer in personal accountability, are you?




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: Capital gains tax rates benefiting wealthy feed growing gap between rich and poor
By: oldCADuser in FFFT
Mon, 12 Sep 11 8:49 PM 		Msg. 33360 of 65535

I didn't invent the idea of breaking everything into quintals (we can probably blame some Harvard MBA for that ;-) but irrespective of how the data was presented, don't you agree that 20% of a country's population controlling 84% of the wealth would appear to indicate that something is wrong?

I can remember when we looked at places like Venezuela or South Africa or other near 3rd-world counties and saw how a small privileged 'ruling class' owned everything and the rest of the people lived in near poverty and were seen as being exploited. How do we now look to others when they see the disparity in our wealth? Are we now being seen as a nation run by an oligarchy or worse? Do we have an obligation to start to undo this situation before it results in there really being blood in the streets? Don't forget, the 2nd Amendment applies to the 80% as well as it does the 20%.

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