[Monkei]

Has anybody been following this movement? These are the real out there groups that are probably more dangerous than terrorists.

They are all in with this close down DC parade of trucks happening tomorrow.

[ijusluvit]

Extremist groups are always scary to us middle class folks.

Any chance the 3 percenters are as dangerous to our democratic future as the 1%?
(That would be those who are gobbling the nation's wealth like pacman and systematically depriving the middle class of the spending power to make our economy strong again.)

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by ijusluvit

Extremist groups are always scary to us middle class folks.

Any chance the 3 percenters are as dangerous to our democratic future as the 1%?
(That would be those who are gobbling the nation's wealth like pacman and systematically depriving the middle class of the spending power to make our economy strong again.)

I guess you think wealthy people hide their cash under their beds so that it is never seen again.

The wealthy spend spend spend. Dining out. Hotels. Resorts. Vacations. Cars, boats, planes, jewelry, houses, insurance. They invest in businesses that employ millions.

They invest in funds that invest in mortgages so that millions of employees can get mortgages. They invest in funds that provide money to companies that loan money to ohter companies for capital equipment and expansion as well as start up funds.

Not to mention they pay about half of all of the income taxes in this country as well as huge chunks of sales tax and excise taxes.

In this country, you create as much wealth as you want. You just have to pay the price. Most people will not dedicate 100% of their time and energy to do what it takes. To say that the wealthy suck up all of the money sounds like 60s Berkeley rhetoric. Inaccurate then and now.

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by ijusluvit

Extremist groups are always scary to us middle class folks.

Any chance the 3 percenters are as dangerous to our democratic future as the 1%?
(That would be those who are gobbling the nation's wealth like pacman and systematically depriving the middle class of the spending power to make our economy strong again.)

I have always wanted to be a 1 percenter...never quite made it...but good for them.

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

I guess you think wealthy people hide their cash under their beds so that it is never seen again.

The wealthy spend spend spend. Dining out. Hotels. Resorts. Vacations. Cars, boats, planes, jewelry, houses, insurance. They invest in businesses that employ millions.

They invest in funds that invest in mortgages so that millions of employees can get mortgages. They invest in funds that provide money to companies that loan money to ohter companies for capital equipment and expansion as well as start up funds.

Not to mention they pay about half of all of the income taxes in this country as well as huge chunks of sales tax and excise taxes

In this country, you create as much wealth as you want. You just have to pay the price. Most people will not dedicate 100% of their time and energy to do what it takes. To say that the wealthy suck up all of the money sounds like 60s Berkeley rhetoric. Inaccurate then and now.

Amen! We have spent our whole life working toward being a 1 percenter but never quite made it. I hate to think where we would be without the 1%.
I mean really, who wants their goal to be in the bottom percent?

[graciegirl]

I have never heard this before moving here. As if achieving financial success is a bad thing.

Stealing from people is bad, but not working hard and risking your own money to gain success in business and employing people who you care about. I know of five people who would not retire and join their wives full time here because doing so would cause the people who worked for them to lose their jobs..

It simply is not true what some think. Not all financially successful people are bad or any different than anyone else. There are selfish ones and good ones, but not lazy ones for sure.

Not that I think I am one of the wealthy. Well I am, I have Sweetie and Helene. I have everything I want in this world. I do not begrudge anyone their financial success. I know it is the haves that keep the economy alive and their taxes pay a lot of welfare.

I now know what class envy is. We should all be proud of our independence and look with pride on what we have accomplished, taking care of ourselves and our own families.

The person who should take care of us, is we ourselves. The government shouldn't be our mother.

Envy is an awful thing and money does not keep illness or death or sorrow from happening. I have found that most of us have about an equal share of sad and awful things happen in our lives, no matter how we plan or what we do.

[NotGolfer]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I have never heard this before moving here. As if achieving financial success is a bad thing.

Stealing from people is bad, but not working hard and risking your own money to gain success in business and employing people who you care about. I know of five people who would not retire and join their wives full time here because doing so would cause the people who worked for them to lose their jobs..

It simply is not true what some think. Not all financially successful people are bad or any different than anyone else. There are selfish ones and good ones, but not lazy ones for sure.

Not that I think I am one of the wealthy. Well I am, I have Sweetie and Helene. I have everything I want in this world. I do not begrudge anyone their financial success. I know it is the haves that keep the economy alive and their taxes pay a lot of welfare.

I now know what class envy is. We should all be proud of our independence and look with pride on what we have accomplished, taking care of ourselves and our own families.

The person who should take care of us, is we ourselves. The government shouldn't be our mother.

Envy is an awful thing and money does not keep illness or death or sorrow from happening. I have found that most of us have about an equal share of sad and awful things happen in our lives, no matter how we plan or what we do.

Amen!!!

[ilovetv]

Watch this clip and see what you think of the illustration she gives at 2:06.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv5t6rC6yvg]Thatcher's Last Stand Against Socialism - YouTube[/ame]

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

Watch this clip and see what you think of the illustration she gives at 2:06.

Thatcher's Last Stand Against Socialism - YouTube

She makes an excellent point, We always hear about the gap between the rich and the poor becoming wider but the truth is that even though that might be true the poor are still better off than they were forty years ago.

Look at it this way. If the poor are at 3 and the rich are at 5, the gap is two. If the poor go to 6 and the rich go to ten, the gap is 4 but the poor have double their income exactly the same as the rich have. Even if the rich go to 20 and the poor go to eight, the poor are still better off then they had been. We are a country of equal opportunity, not guaranteed equal results or equal incomes.

Some would have you believe that because the gap is now 4 that the poor are somehow less well off.

It's like John F Kennedy said, "A rising tide lifts all boats."

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

She makes an excellent point, We always hear about the gap between the rich and the poor becoming wider but the truth is that even though that might be true the poor are still better off than they were forty years ago.

Look at it this way. If the poor are at 3 and the rich are at 5, the gap is two. If the poor go to 6 and the rich go to ten, the gap is 4 but the poor have double their income exactly the same as the rich have. Even if the rich go to 20 and the poor go to eight, the poor are still better off then they had been. We are a country of equal opportunity, not guaranteed equal results or equal incomes.

Some would have you believe that because the gap is now 4 that the poor are somehow less well off.

It's like John F Kennedy said, "A rising tide lifts all boats."

Ted Sorenson, Kennedy's speech writer, discovered this phrase used as the slogan of The New England Council, a regional chamber of commerce. It did not originate with Kennedy.

[Parker]

I like achievers. I don't like whiners. Earn your own.

[allus70]

If it is true that "A rising tide lifts all boats", how would one explain the fact that since 2009, 93% of all the income growth went to the top 1%?
Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened - Bloomberg

[jblum315]

[donb9006]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

She makes an excellent point, We always hear about the gap between the rich and the poor becoming wider but the truth is that even though that might be true the poor are still better off than they were forty years ago.

Look at it this way. If the poor are at 3 and the rich are at 5, the gap is two. If the poor go to 6 and the rich go to ten, the gap is 4 but the poor have double their income exactly the same as the rich have. Even if the rich go to 20 and the poor go to eight, the poor are still better off then they had been. We are a country of equal opportunity, not guaranteed equal results or equal incomes.

Some would have you believe that because the gap is now 4 that the poor are somehow less well off.

It's like John F Kennedy said, "A rising tide lifts all boats."

And where do you think the funds used to "lift the poor" to this new, higher, standard of living comes from? Everyone who isn't poor. It's costs both the rich and the middle class more and more each year to keep raising the poor's standard of living.

Originally Posted by allus70

If it is true that "A rising tide lifts all boats", how would one explain the fact that since 2009, 93% of all the income growth went to the top 1%?
Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened - Bloomberg

That's where the saying the middle class is being destroyed comes from. They keep paying more and more, as their income growth stagnates. If the poor are doing so much better, they must have gotten the other 7% in income growth.

I've read articles that say when ALL benefits are added up...free housing, food, healthcare, phones, spending money...some families make the equivalent of $60,000 a year.

It's a messed up system to be sure... I believe the 3%ers want to end this big government we have now, they see themselves as the new revolutionaries, ready to overthrow and start a new government. To be honest, the colonists had FAR fewer taxes and regulations from king George, then we have now with our government. Just saying...

[Peachie]

Originally Posted by jblum315

America no longer has a middle class. We have the super-rich and the poor, with the slightly better off poor struggling to remain above the abyss.

Given this statement, what are The Villagers, super rich or poor or struggling daily? And are The Villagers children super poor watching their parents live the good life here? That brush stroke is way, way too wide and gone astray.