1. Wealthy people do not have your best interests at heart.
2. The well-to-do feel deserving of their riches and see no need to excuse themselves for having such material wealth—which gives them a sense of being exceptional and entitled, disconnected from ordinary people.
3. The goal of the well-off is to keep their money and grow it. You are not part of that formulation because you are not necessary to achieve their goal.
4. If you earn income that places you in the middle class or lower, you will not improve your circumstances by aligning yourself with the rich, including voting the way they may vote and thinking the way they think.
5. Although you may be told that “you, too, can be rich some day,” it most likely will not happen. That is why the rich make up less than two percent of the U.S. population.
6. Fortune 500 companies have determined they can achieve their goals by using labor from all over the world. In fact, they prefer to pay a fraction of what an American wage earner expects, so they employ workers in third-world countries. Consequently, you are meaningless to them as a worker.
7. The economic system in America is designed to keep your wages and earnings adequate enough to buy the goods and services that corporations want you to. However, you will never earn sufficient money from your employer to rise into the top economic tiers.
8. If you support tax cuts for the rich because it’s only “fair,” no worry. The wealthiest Americans, including corporations, have legions of accounting experts to rely on so they experience little or no tax burden anyway. By the way, it’s the middle class which pays the bulk of income tax to the states and the federal government.
9. Since your time in the cradle, you’ve been trained to want the things corporations want you to desire. Eventually, you may find that you cannot afford those items and you will feel badly about yourself—like a failure and a loser. You’re supposed to feel that way.
10. You’ve grown up with myths: “American is the land of opportunity.” “Anyone can make it in America.” “There’s still something called ‘The American Dream.’” It’s effective propaganda, but it has nothing to do with the real world and your real life. Best option is to step over the bull**** and forge your own way.
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Amy McMullen
Thoth
Stu Pot
libbyliberalnyc
Alan Nothnagle
profkeck
Salon.com
Comments
I agree wholeheartedly. Having worked and literally busted my butt to be a member of the lower middle class. Hell, I might have been among the working poor and just worked too hard to know it.
Truth is the Tea baggers still haven't figured it out yet. Not that they ever will being steeped in all that American exceptionalism and all. Pardon the pun or not!
Rated.
Wealthy people do not have your best interests at heart
Are you serious? In addition to lumping people into groups by gender, color, creed, we need to add financial status, too? Just another shade of prejudice.
Your words definitely say more about you than anyone else. Ever read about some of those dirty nasty wealthy people that give millions to help others because they *don't* feel disconnected and because they do feel fortunate?
The things we believe color our world. I'm sad for you if you believe these things...
1. Rich People don't have your best interests at heart? - America, capitalisms show pony, is the most charitable nation in all the world. USA 28.67 billion to 2nd place France at only 12.43 billion.
The majority of those contributions come from those "EVIL" rich people, how can anyone call the work of Bill Gates/Warrne Buffet self centered and not focused on the betterment of the whole, instead of the individual.
2. They feel deserving of their wealth. Do you or do you not feel deserving of your little paycheck? Did you or did you not work for it(unless you are a moocher and live off the government....which wouldn't surprise me). When you put in your 40 hours a week at Burger King, you've earned that paycheck, and you deserve to keep it. Just like a person who has spent years of hard work putting themselves in a position to earn their paycheck. What kind of hypocritical neanderthal thinks that someone should feel guilty for making good money. How does that make them not ordinary people. No one I know of is supernatural, rich or poor.
3. Really, its bad to want to grow an investment? How does that make sense? How can you substantiate the claim that non "rich" people are abscent from the equation of someone of wealth making money? So for a guy who owns a printing company figures out that if he buys a new printing machine, he can net another 2 million a year in profit, and doing so will require another 5-15 jobs being made available to run said press...how is that not including those of non wealth. Hrm..seems you are wrong again.
4.) Incorrect.....by voting with a group of people who are dependant on ever increasing government subsidies and handouts, the middle class only hinders the opportunity to have disposable income to invest. Every government program costs money, and the more we give away, the more it costs. Rich people don't work 40 hour work weeks. They work as long as it takes, and take risks, that don't always pay off. They save and sacrafice. When you are trying to get ahead, it will be harder if you are having less disposable income due to more social programs caring for the non contibutors of society.
5. Chances are that you will not be the most intelligent person ever, therefore you should never go to school....that makes about as much sense as your "over looked truth" makes. The reason only 2% are considered "rich" is because its HARD. When I go to the beach and see guys with rediculously chisled bodies, I'm not angry at them for the time they spend in the gym, their avoidance of processed sugars and other healthy eating habbits. The hours upon hours spent working on their physique, while I shred this lame ass argument of yours. Nothing that amazing comes easy. It doesn't mean you should quit.
6. There are companies that find cheaper labor, and use it. It is a part of business. A business is an entity designed to generate wealth. If it costs less money to open and run a factory in Mexico after paying for tarriffs or other taxes, then fiscally it makes sense. But that would make no sense to you. Out of the Fortune 500 you speak of, how many of them use the third world country labor you speak of. I'll wait, just so we can get a percentage.
7. This one is kind of a repeat from your earlier points of some mysterious conspiracy to ensure you are "kept down" by the man. That evil rich guy that invinted Dell computers came from so much didn't he. Oh ya, wait, he started building computers in a tool shed in his back yard as a side job, and turned it into a big company. That's right. Or that college drop out from the Seattle area that had a love of computers and is now number 1 or 2 wealthiest person in the world. Capitalism is the only system that allows/permits someone from nothing to make millions/billions. Sorry that whole being held down by the man is pretty much owned by the civil rights movement, please give it back.
8.) Top 1% of all income earners pay anywhere from 33-37% of all income taxes for the whole country. Top 10% pay 68%. So that leaves the bottom 90% paying 32% of the tax burden.....ya your argument makes sense. Keep trying.
9.) ....you are trained to want things? Or is it just normal to want stuff in general. Feeling sad or inept because you cannot get something you want is more of a personal problem. For me, and other like minded individuals, when there is something out there we want, we make it a goal, and work for it. If we want it bad enough, we don't stop till we get there. Just because you think you are a failure because you can't afford a 7 bedroom villa on the beach on your fast food salary, doesn't mean that others feel the same way...btw you pretty much are a failure.
10.) Starts out as absolute crap, then ends with the one thing I've tried to say in several of my counter points, those individuals who are well to do, did forge their own way. Mark Zuckerberg (facebook guy), Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Google guys, and thousands of others, forged their own way. EVERYTHING ELSE YOU SAID BEFORE YOUR LAST SENTENCE WAS TELLS THE READER TO GIVE UP AND FOLLOW THE MASS. Your message is nothing more than hate mongering, and class envy. Who wouldn't want to be Bill Gates? If you honestly believe in the last sentence you wrote, about forging your own way, then you wouldn't spout such ignorance about rich people, if given the opportunity, your path would be a successful one. Don't hate on people that make more than you. See what they did, see if you can copy it or improve it. Try, try again, and if it fails, try again. If you give up, blame no one else but yourself because it is true not everyone gets rich who tries, but no one gets rich who gives up.
I am middle class. I work my butt off. I work 20-40 hours of overtime/double time a week. I am saving my money. I am not spending all my cash on stupid things. I am not going into debt, I pay off debt. I'm making good financial decisions. You want a hint, maybe if you stop going out for beers, you could put that money in you checking account, save up and try to start a business or make a solid investment....but nah...it's so much easier to just bitch about how much everyone else is keeping you down, and how you never had a shot in the world....have another cold one, while I go back to working my butt off so I can help pay for your social programs that take care of you. Lord knows if I don't do it, you're not going to pick up the slack.