[Kosh]

Found this recently, highlighting the abuses of the wealthy elite, including a "greedy bastard of the month" section (this month's winner is the former mayor of Detroit who had multiple corruption scandals). Looks like fun.

[Liberator]

It's a cute site.  Disagree with some of it, and agree with some of it, so it's pretty nice.

[Locutus of Borg]

I suggest that we rise up against the Bourgeoisie immediately!

[iamzack]

class warfare ftw

[Inquisitor]

What makes someone "rich"?

[Nuke]

self sustaining cashflow

[Liberator]

What makes someone "rich"?

Well there's the question of the millennium.

Rich is when you don't have to worry about your finances if a major illness or accident happens and you can't do anything to make money for a while.

Rich is not spending every dime you make on toys and stuff every day of your life.  Do you know how many so called "rich" people are in hock up to they're perfectly manicured eyebrows?

[Locutus of Borg]

Rich is someone who has more than you

[Aardwolf]

self sustaining cashflow

I'ma go with this one.

[Nuke]

if you have so much money that simply keeping it in the bank generates enough interest to live comfortably on, then id say you're rich. though i very much doubt many rich people just sit on their money and do nothing their whole life. many of them are die hard workaholics.

[Bob-san]

if you have so much money that simply keeping it in the bank generates enough interest to live comfortably on, then id say you're rich. though i very much doubt many rich people just sit on their money and do nothing their whole life. many of them are die hard workaholics.

Or are very familiar with the concept of mutual funds. Or make sufficient annual income from dividends.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

if you have so much money that simply keeping it in the bank generates enough interest to live comfortably on, then id say you're rich. though i very much doubt many rich people just sit on their money and do nothing their whole life. many of them are die hard workaholics.

They are either die-hard workaholics to the point where they become filthy rich before hitting 30, or they're living off on a very rich person's legacy.

From what little I know since I started by internship, being a freelancer in the film industry is a very rough path to being rich. If I remembered correctly, the freelancer I spoke to last Saturday told me that she knows how to stretch a few projects' pay - each usually taking about two days to a week to complete - to last for several months.

[Mars]

Who's rich you ask?

Look at the L curve distribution

[Bob-san]

Who's rich you ask?

Look at the L curve distribution

What's more interesting to consider...

The estimated world GDP is about $70,650,000,000,000 and the world has approximately 6,800,000,000 residents in 220 countries. The average person makes $10,390 or so. The USA's GDP is about $14,441,000,000,000 and has about 309,000,000 residents. That's about $46,730 per capita; a household of 3, on average, makes $140,200 each year. Luxemburg makes an average $94,400 per capita, Norway $76,700, If you want to talk about rich, talk about Americans and many Europeans.

[Mars]

Except in reality, excluding the outliers of the incredibly rich, the average income  in the US make $35,000 or so. The 3 or 4 times more that a US citizen makes compared to the world average is paltry compared to the incredible amount the wealthy make compared to the normal people.

Also, it's a countries responsibility to regulate what happens within it, not without it. I did not ever vote to decrease African wages.


FINDING SOURCES, PLEASE WAIT.

Okay Wikipedia says you're mostly right. That said, I think that the US should really concentrate on the world inside its borders for once.

[Bob-san]

Except in reality, excluding the outliers of the incredibly rich, the average income  in the US make $35,000 or so. The 3 or 4 times more that a US citizen makes compared to the world average is paltry compared to the incredible amount the wealthy make compared to the normal people.

Also, it's a countries responsibility to regulate what happens within it, not without it. I did not ever vote to decrease African wages.


FINDING SOURCES, PLEASE WAIT.

Okay Wikipedia says you're mostly right. That said, I think that the US should really concentrate on the world inside its borders for once.

And you're mostly right about the GDP being extraordinary compared to median household incomes being much less than mean income per capita. To be honest, there's plenty of opportunity to be well above that median income line. Hell, by the time I'm 21 or 22, I'll at least be close to the median $52,000 (before student loans, of course). And that's with a bachelor's degree. If people want to make money, it's been proven for hundreds of years that being educated pays (even if you learned very little and walked away $80,000 in debt and with a piece of paper). Seriously; look at business. Hell, look at mutual funds accountants, managers, and analysts! A 25-year-old kid making $70k+? $100k+ by 30? Plus loads of benefits. If you want to be a poor artist, get an art degree and freelance. I'm sure you'll have fun, but getting a complete joke degree (or an associates) will not make you a "have".

[Kosh]

Except in reality, excluding the outliers of the incredibly rich, the average income  in the US make $35,000 or so. The 3 or 4 times more that a US citizen makes compared to the world average is paltry compared to the incredible amount the wealthy make compared to the normal people.

Also, it's a countries responsibility to regulate what happens within it, not without it. I did not ever vote to decrease African wages.


FINDING SOURCES, PLEASE WAIT.

Okay Wikipedia says you're mostly right. That said, I think that the US should really concentrate on the world inside its borders for once.

That's definately true, people forget the wealthgap when they look at that number. This isn't a new thing for those of us who pay attention. The biggest problem is housing and healthcare costs have gone up way above and beyond inflation.

[SpardaSon21]

So, do you have a plan for decreasing the wealth and income disparity among Americans?  Because it seems to me "fixing" this situation would require some very hefty redistribution policies, and those will kill wealth generation in this country, meaning no new wealth will be created to be redistributed.  Personally, I have no problem with the wealth disparity as I don't give a **** if someone really is that much wealthier than me as long as my standard of living isn't too far off from his, and really, I don't see those 1% wealthiest with hover cars, moon vacations, android servants, and immortality serums.

Oh, and interesting fact is that 43.4 percent of Americans pay no net federal income tax.  That means 65.5 million out of 151 million either pay nothing in federal income taxes once deductions are taken into account or are receiving funds from the government in excess of what they paid.  Source

[Mars]

I believe that the system is inherently flawed. I'm *gasp* a socialist, if you must know Sparda. I think that pure capitalism can only lead to a kind of feudal system ultimately, and that a system like Sweden's is the best. However, in order to get to that point, we'd need to let go of our weaponized culture and addictive consumerism.

[SpardaSon21]

I'm not going to argue in favor of pure unrestricted capitalism, not even Adam Smith believed in that.  I am going to say that too much government intervention in the marketplace can and will retard productivity since the more regulation there is the more companies have to jump through hoops for the smallest things.  My state of California is a prime example of government run wild with regulation, and you can hear the flushing sound as we head down the toilet all the way in New Mexico and the state of Washington.