Quote:
Originally Posted by DAVES
The wealth gap? My personal truth. My dad was an injured WWII COMBAT vet. He served two tours of combat duty. Poor? We lived in a city housing project. My dad worked hard
and increased his income. I have first hand knowledge of what poor is. Today, people who are not working demand to live better than my family did.
As stated, today our poor, live far better than I did. Wealth gap? The poor have improved their living conditions. The wealthy have also gotten wealthier. What we called the robber barons, actually had greater wealth than the top 1% does today.
A major reason is the income tax and the inheritance tax. Roosevelt, (FDR) the creator of our current big government, actually inherited his huge wealth.
What I have, I EARNED. I inherited a little almost enough to pay the taxes some think I pay too little. My view, all should experience poverty. I gave me unique view. You can
earn your way out of poverty so long as you decide failure is not an option.
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The US ranks about 30th on world lists for upward mobility and quality of life. The Scandanavian countries rank in the top ten. US people knock the Scandanavians - calling them "socialists". US people typically do NOT look at lists of where the US ranks worldwide because they assume that the US is at the top of everything. The US and China DO have the highest GNP, but the US ranks very LOW in qualities that are important to the average person. PLEASE look it up. It will SURPRISE you! People rationalize and say that those lists are not important because they will NOT be honest with themselves as to the TRUE nature of the US. The US WAS in the top ten BACK in OUR DAY (those fine fifties from say 1945 TO 1965). And we ALL still believe in that myth.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have greater wealth than the lower 40% of US citizens. Roll that around in your brain cavity and state a conclusion. I doubt if you were being honest that it would be much different than my conclusion.