Why do you hate the rich?

[BIGUN 1,051]

I hate people who don't hate everyone equally.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Amazon 7]

Quote

And the ones that pay for most of our infrastructure, defense, and charity that make this nation great deserve our thanks and appreciation.

Oh really.. Man.. you are definitely on the hook line and sinker with that one.

Ever notice how much of their " charity and philanthropy" is not for the poor but for other very well to do people..??

Last I checked the middle class are the ones paying all those taxes that support infrastructure and the GOP begrudges the money going to that even and our defense.. they are good with giving most of our money to that sector.. but GEE guess who really get s the money since the RICH are the ones that own those companies. The rich have become the REAL takers.. TRICKLE DOWN is a complete and utter lie which hasactually been a FLOOD upwards.

[lawrocket 3]

Quote

I do harbor some ill will towards those who paint the wealthy as hard workers and the poor as lazy.

Me, too. Just like painting the wealthy as lazy, worthless criminals who take from the hard-working sons of toil.

It's not that cut and dry. Despite what groups seek to foment.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[xsniper 1]

lawrocket

Quote

I do harbor some ill will towards those who paint the wealthy as hard workers and the poor as lazy.

Me, too. Just like painting the wealthy as lazy, worthless criminals who take from the hard-working sons of toil.

It's not that cut and dry. Despite what groups seek to foment.

Now we are getting somewhere. We should be careful with those "wide brushes".

[quade 3]

Boogers

So why do you hate the rich?

Why do some people fall back into posting habits so obvious it's ridiculous. Work with us here and at least make an attempt.

But to answer your question, I do not begrudge "the rich" per se. I celebrate those who actually lived the American Dream and worked their way from rags to riches as long as they didn't commit crimes or trample their fellow man to do it.

However, in a country where supposedly "all men are created equal" it bugs the shit out of me when just because somebody was born to the right parents, he believes has the birth-right to tell others what to do.

We supposedly live in a democratic republic; not a kingdom.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[billvon 2,395]

>It's about demanding change from a group of people you're not a member of
>after convincing yourself said change will improve the world...

Exactly. Lots of poor hate the rich; if we could just tax them more they would solve all our budget problems. Lots of middle class hate the poor; they are all welfare moms with Obamaphones who feel they are entitled to big screen TV's. Lots of conservatives hate gays; they are family-destroying activists who want to teach kids to go gay.

In general it's easy to hate the "other guy", blame him for all your ills and demand he change. A lot harder to see the problems in yourself and change them.

[masterblaster72 0]

NWFlyer

I'm also pretty disappointed by the systematic dismantling of the American middle class that's taken place over the last few decades because of a whole host of economic forces, and political and social choices we've made as a nation, because I feel that is more likely than anything to be the undoing of this society, and will continue to breed hatred and resentment ... aimed in all different directions at all kinds of groups.

My sentiments exactly.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[Cajundude 0]

Why would you hate the rich? That makes no sense to me. If someone works their butt off and makes a bunch of money, so what! When this question is posed I can see where there could be jealousy, sure, if you are a .com millionaire and made your money quick, I could see jealousy but good for you! If you were born into a family with money, I could see jealousy but good for you! You were a member of the lucky sperm club, the sibling didn't choose that! But to say you hate the rich because they are rich is just retarded.

As far as the tax rate, whey should rich people get taxed more?Because they worked harder and need to support the lazy?

I am in agreement with shropshire, if you are a dick, you are a dick. And if you are a dick just because you have money, you are a special kind of dick.

For anybody bitching, get over it and get off your lazy ass and make some money yourself! (I am not rich nor do I hate the people that have more money than me because that would make zero sense no matter how they got it…)

[Coreece 190]

normiss

I've always thought it was simple envy.

I can see rich people "hating" other richer people due to envy...but even then, that's still just envy, not hatred.

I'm big on definitions, so the jist of my post is to define what hatred really is.

So, what's hatred?
Webster:
"a very strong feeling of dislike"
"prejudiced hostility or animosity"

To be honest, I think Webster takes it too lightly. What is it that really differentiates hatred from dislike, prejudice and hostile animosity?

Personally, my philosophical beliefs of hatred are more closely related to murder rather than dislike, prejudice and hostile animosity.

Many people have hostile prejudices/dislikes, but I believe hatred takes it to that next level...the level between prejudice and murder.

It may sound ridiculous, but Christ equated hatred to murder....but why?

Hatred is the same feeling someone has before they kill someone.

Hatred is wanting someone to die for your own benefit. Having the balls to actually go through with it is murder.

We will all be judged...we shouldn't fear various human judgements against us that are all based on insufficient information. We are so preoccupied with how others view us and actually get offended when some stranger doesn't approve of our lifestyle...who cares?

We should be more fearful of the judgment of God who judges based on the truth of who we really are. If you really want someone to die, but don't have the balls to do it yourself, then expect to be judged as a murderer.

It's no different than the perfect analogy of someone who hires a contractor to murder their spouse - if caught, they are still guilty whether their spouse dies or not....


So having said that, do I hate richer people?

No, I just feel sorry for those who base their entire existence on satisfying some bullshit persona of achievement/elitism, as if they actually control anything in the real world. They believe they have some significance in the same world of a universe they deem as godless and insignificant.

Where's your crown king nothing?

Metallica - King nothing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSb2A4mXtg
Wish I may
Wish I might
Have this I wish tonight
Are you satisfied?

Dig for gold
Dig for fame
You dig to make your name
Are you pacified?

All the wants you waste
All the things you've chased

*And it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger
But there's no one around

**Just want one thing
Just to play the king
But the castle crumbled
And you've left with just a name

Where's your crown?
King nothing***

Hard and cold
Bought and sold
A heart as hard as gold
Are you satisfied

Wish I might
Wish I may
You wish your life away
Are you pacified

All the wants you waste
All the things you've chased

[*--*** Repeat]

I wish I may
I wish I might
Have this wish I wish tonight

I want that star
i want it now
I want it all and i don't care how

Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish
You may regret it

Careful what you wish
You just might get it

Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger
But there's no one around

[*--*** Repeat]

[** Repeat]

Nothin'
No, you're just nothin'
Where's your crown, King Nothing?
No, you're just nothin'
Absolutely nothin'

Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are...

[NWFlyer 2]

BIGUN

I hate people who don't hate everyone equally.

That's it mister. No more burger & brat invites for you!

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[BIGUN 1,051]

NWFlyer

***I hate people who don't hate everyone equally.

That's it mister. No more burger & brat invites for you!

Nope. Ya gots to... I'm supposed to bring the wine next time.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Amazon 7]

masterblaster72

***
I'm also pretty disappointed by the systematic dismantling of the American middle class that's taken place over the last few decades because of a whole host of economic forces, and political and social choices we've made as a nation, because I feel that is more likely than anything to be the undoing of this society, and will continue to breed hatred and resentment ... aimed in all different directions at all kinds of groups.

My sentiments exactly.

Pretty much mine as well. Eventually those who supported those who have taken everything will come to realize reality.. if they are smart enough to figure it out.... 'Murica'

[kelpdiver 2]

NWFlyer

I am, by world standards - wealthy, and by American standards, doing well, though I'm hardly wealthy. I have worked hard and taken advantage of opportunities that have come my way, but I don't feel that I am inherently more deserving; a lot of the opportunities that were available to me were pure luck based on the circumstances of my birth.

Do you think you are doing better off than the median for people with your set of circumstances?
Do you think you put in a higher level of effort than the median for your set of circumstances?
And if so, why do you think you don't deserve it?

I see plenty of people who don't work very hard at all. In the dotcom boom, any monkey with a pulse could make great money in Silicon Valley. Waiters were quitting left and right to become "web designers." It was a glorious time full of undeserved wealth. And then the crash came.

Those who did nothing but collect paychecks got put out to pasture. An ex-girlfriend thought she deserved to be an director, but had done nothing to warrant any sort of title over worker bee. They ended up having to leave the Bay Area, or go back to being waiters, or whatever they did before. Those who took advantage of the opportunity and spent time in and out of the office learning newer technologies and putting in the extra mile, they get kept during the non boom eras.

Is it is 1:1 mapping? Of course not. There are still lazy winners, and hard luck losers. But in aggregate, you make your success in this industry through effort and delivered results.

[NWFlyer 2]

kelpdiver

***
I am, by world standards - wealthy, and by American standards, doing well, though I'm hardly wealthy. I have worked hard and taken advantage of opportunities that have come my way, but I don't feel that I am inherently more deserving; a lot of the opportunities that were available to me were pure luck based on the circumstances of my birth.

Do you think you are doing better off than the median for people with your set of circumstances?
Do you think you put in a higher level of effort than the median for your set of circumstances?
And if so, why do you think you don't deserve it?

I didn't say I don't deserve it; I'm just no more or less deserving that someone who wasn't born into my set of circumstances (American, native English speaking, white, above average IQ, with parents who valued and prioritized education, raised in an intact family in comfortable economic circumstances, in an area with excellent public schools, with a college fund adequate to cover 4 years at state university provided to me by my parents). I had nothing to do with any of those things other than to be fortunate enough to be born/raised in them.

As for my set of circumstances... by objective measures back in the day (grades, college/grad school acceptance) I suppose you could say I put in more effort than the median, but not the highest level of effort.

Since then, I never jumped on any "boom industry" gravy train. I've reached my current level of economic success in a relatively slow and deliberate way. I've always valued work-life balance over a ridiculous paycheck, and I work in an industry that isn't really geared towards ridiculous payouts. I work hard, but certainly no less hard than people making significantly less money than me. There's probably plenty of people who make way more than me that don't work any harder than I do. Others have made a different work-life balance choice and are willing to put in 80-100 hour weeks for a larger payout.

I currently work for a (very large) not-for-profit organization. I'm paid well and I have excellent benefits, and so long as I stay employed there, I should always be able to maintain a comfortable upper-middle-class lifestyle. But there won't ever be any giant payout like I might find at a company that offered me stock options and later went public or was sold for a princely sum.

I also happened to choose an industry and a skill set that (thus far) the market continues to value. I can't claim that was any kind of deliberate plan when I started working in this industry 22 years ago, and when I stayed in it after grad school ended 17 years ago. I have friends from college who chose differently, and they find themselves in their 40s having to reinvent themselves, to varying degrees of success. I haven't had to do that - because my industry has grown, I've been able to just grow my skills in the same general areas.

Point of all that is... I don't feel undeserving, but I'd never pretend that a different set of circumstances and any number of choices made/not made along the way might have set me on a very different path. I'm grateful for where I am, and happy that the choices I've made have led me here, but I don't pretend to be any kind of extra special person to have gotten here.

(TL:DR version: I was born on third base but harbor no illusions that I hit a triple!)

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[billvon 2,395]

>As far as the tax rate, whey should rich people get taxed more? Because they
>worked harder and need to support the lazy?

Because
1) they can afford to pay more without harm
2) it harms the economy less to tax rich people than poor people.

>I am in agreement with shropshire, if you are a dick, you are a dick. And if you are
>a dick just because you have money, you are a special kind of dick.

Definitely!

[mistercwood 287]

NWFlyer

(TL:DR version: I was born on third base but harbor no illusions that I hit a triple!)

This, exactly this. I have no problem with someone who is rich because they worked their arse off to get it. I equally have no problem with someone who is born into wealth and then takes that and runs with it. I DO have a problem with any person who thinks they're better than me just because they were born rich...

You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly.

[wmw999 2,120]

Quote

TL:DR version: I was born on third base but harbor no illusions that I hit a triple!

What she said. Except I might not have worked as hard in school as NWFlyer. Except for school, yeah, I was born on or close to third base. I did run with the ball after that, but I knew which way to run, too.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Darius11 12]

i cant answer you pole.

What someone did to get there money is what matters.

If your not a scum bag good for you, enjoy it may you get more.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[Boomerdog 0]

I don't hate the rich. It is I believe, a waste of my time along with the physical energy wasted along with the diversion of mental thought required when I could be working more on how to improve my lot. I have no sympathy for those who have attained their wealth by ill gotten gains. One could only hope the law will catch up with them. But there are those out there who have worked their @$$E$ off and legitimately made their fortune.

Envy and hate are two sides of the same coin. In my belief, both are sinful and for those here who don't like the word sinful, here's another...EVIL. It seems to me counterproductive to engage an evil against those (the ill gotten gains types) who have also committed and evil in their actions and behavior. Two opposing evils does not produce righteousness.

[mirage62 0]

Someone posted earlier about the American dream being dead. I started working in 1983 after school. I'm not in a sexy industry, office supplies, copiers and network services. I own my on company, currently employ about 28 people.

IMO the American dream is far from dead. BUT the idea that you have to take risk, work HARD over a long period of time seems to be.

My children are well educated, I save hard (and have for years) I don't and never carried credit card debt, ALL toys are paid for in full at time of purchase. I drive a 14 yr old truck - because I chose to fly a 10 yr old 182.

Personally I agree I should pay more taxes, and I do.

The thing that is lost, it seems is that the real AMERICAN dream is built over years. In my case over 26 years. There IS an eliment of luck in my life, but there was also the above - education. I paid for it but I got student loans. I worked from age 13 on. In my early years my normal work schedule was 7:00am - 7:00 pm.

Does it ALWAYS work out? No. But I was never promised that it would. I was promised I would have the oppuritnity.

The American dream is still here, it's just been deemed gone by some because it not achieved as fast as modern society likes.

Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

[Darius11 12]

I mostly agree with you. I am an imigirent who came to this country with 1000$ and no support. I worked my ass off got the dream had it for many years then again lost it all when the ecnomy went to shit. Last year i was working 70-75 hrs a week to make ends meet.
It takes hard work, smart decisions, sacrifice, AND LUCK.

I don't think the dream is dead i do think it has become much harder to attain then a few generations ago. I speak to older guys 60-70s and they really didn't work any harder then i did but homes, land the stuff that gives you wealth was much cheaper in there time and much less of a portion of there income then it is now.
The same position might have paid 25% less then it equivalent but homes were 1/10 of what they are now. Things cost more money now.

At the end of the day you have to keep trying and make what you want there are no guarantees.

As related to this thread i think when people break the rules and just generally make there money of the pain of others suck. We have seen such companies and people get away with it so i think its natural for people to think the system is fixed, and it takes a lack of humanity to make money.

They dpon;t see the small business owner who is working 7 days a week, they see enron.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[mirage62 0]

Your comments are so true.

As an example for me. I just got back from the 222 way attempts (money spent, what fun)

Spent the morning w my family. In just a bit I will head to the office to catch up on work missed.

The American dream isn't easy - it takes work.

When my father w dying he gave me this piece of advise. "Son go to work, work your business most people wont really do that" Now to my Dad that was the 7-7 thing 5 days a week and 1/2 a day Sat.

And you CAN lose it (I know I can) - just like the poster above said. But I'm willing to beat that if the drive is still there he'll get it back and yes, some luck.

Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

[wmw999 2,120]

Thanks for these posts, guys. The ability to defer gratification is a powerful thing, and it's a significant piece of many people's success.

I think all the mass media and cheap small stuff makes it harder these days than it used to be, there's so much temptation out there, and it's easier to gratify with the small stuff.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kelpdiver 2]

wmw999

Quote

TL:DR version: I was born on third base but harbor no illusions that I hit a triple!

What she said. Except I might not have worked as hard in school as NWFlyer. Except for school, yeah, I was born on or close to third base. I did run with the ball after that, but I knew which way to run, too.

I think both of you are overstating your situations if that's 3rd base. Sounds more like a nice lead off first.

[NWFlyer 2]

kelpdiver

***

Quote

TL:DR version: I was born on third base but harbor no illusions that I hit a triple!

What she said. Except I might not have worked as hard in school as NWFlyer. Except for school, yeah, I was born on or close to third base. I did run with the ball after that, but I knew which way to run, too.

I think both of you are overstating your situations if that's 3rd base. Sounds more like a nice lead off first.

It all depends on what you're comparing it to I suppose, but if all you got out of that post is a desire to quibble over where on the diamond I was born, you kind of missed the point (besides, that was a tongue-in-cheek throwaway line that I didn't even make up!).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke