Sunday, February 10, 2008

Have's, have nots. The spread is getting bigger.

There are almost 300 billionaires in the United States. Japan is the next on the list of over the edge wealthy people at 29! You either have way too much or struggle to make it here. Sad that this recession/depression times seem to shine upon the problem of our economy, and no one cares. If I were a 20 some odd year old, I would be way vocal about my economic future. Not good.

11 comments:

Rose said...

If you lived in an oppressed country you would give everything you had just to live here. Even if you had to live under a bridge. You are blessed just by being here.

So you don't have a yacht? But you live in a house with hot and cold running water and lights that turn on when you push a button - CAN YOU IMAGINE what the kings and queens of old would have given for those things? They would have launched their armies to try to get these niceties.

It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. I count myself lucky to live here, no matter what.

Back on your topic, though, if you have a 20 something, tell 'em to put away as much as they can in an IRA type saving thing - look at the compounding charts - if they start at 20, they become millionaires. You and I, we are too old to have the compounding help us, would have been nice if we had known, eh?

Anonymous said...

the fact that we have alot of rich people is something that we should be complaining about?
doesn't it point out that it's easier to get rich here than anywhere else?

that said, im all for unionization and as a small business owner, i wouldnt bark at a raise in the minimum wage....

Anonymous said...

Thank you rose! I'm truely blessed to have been born in this country. I'm one of the financialy poorest people I know. However, I consider myself to be rich in what matters. Money is nothing without loving relationships. I know I'm loved and cared for. Do the rich know if they're loved for themselves or being used? They got rich with their focus on getting more money not good relationships. More never made me happy when I had it. Honest, loving relationships gives me more joy than a new car ever could. I'd rather be loved living in a shack than rich and lonely in a mansion; scared of losing my money and not trusting those around me. Getting minimum survival needs met is important; "Maslow's hiearchey of needs", but anything more is meaningless if one's heart is not at peace.
More money is not the answer to an empty heart. My heart is full. Love ya Rich, you are an awesome man with a good heart.
PS sure are some ugly nasty people that write on your blod. Sad that they don't realize they are showing their inner misery. I hope they find a better way.

Greg said...

The gap is widening along with a decline in public education. Poorly educated people live among us in poverty, draining the social services budget as hundreds of billionaires "starve the beast" with tax cuts and war debts.

It's not so far from medieval Europe to modern America. A couple of more tax cuts may just do the trick.

Rose said...

By focusing on what you do not have, Greg, you are missing the best thing of all - appreciating what you DO have. You Have Carol, a wife you got to choose for yourself, not an arranged marriage, you have your health, and you can choose your doctor, you have the business of your choice, you live in a beautiful place - yeah, you have to work for it, but it beats being a caveman having to scrape out an existence.

Anonymous said...

Rosie, you forgot to add that we have a Thrice (3) democratically elected DA! And we have a blogging system that allows any Paranoid Schizophrenic to post her delusions about him freely!

Greg said...

It sure does beat being a cave man, Rose!

Rose said...

Yeah, Greg, I'll take it any day.

Rose said...

I remember on a trip to Mexico, seems like we were on the plane, but more likely the bus taking us from the airport to the hotel, going by houses with kids playing, and people in the doorways. Goats and chickens running in and out. The houses had no glass in the windows, and they had dirt floors. Some people on the bus were talking, and I remember thinking how sad it was that they judged the worth of a person, of a life, by having or not having - things like floors and glass doors - yet the kids were happy, and I imagined the wealth of spirit in that place.

That there would still be love, and honor, ethics, and goodness. Maybe a richness that the people in my group could never achieve.

We had people grow up here through the depression who had very little, but look at all the amazing things that came out of that group of people.

I'm with you 5:51.

Anonymous said...

Rose, put down that kindergarten history book you take your ideas from. All the older people I know who acomplished much in their lives struggled through the 1930's but weren't on the dole or in the WPA.

The low brow Okies who arrived in SoCal kept their backward ways, until they moved up to Humboldt and were there considered model citizens. McKinleyville is still called Oklahoma-by-the-sea.

I'd guess the majority of the down and outers from the 30's remained down and out. All those alcoholics and trailer trash of the 1960's were slag that the Depression uncovered.

Rose said...

What?