" You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. "

That kind of thinking can cause Civil War.

In fact was Abraham Lincoln


Mike F

"Destroying the rich".
That's rich.



- Lee

Originally posted by mmiichael
" You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. "

That kind of thinking can cause Civil War.

In fact was Abraham Lincoln


Mike F

maybe if you had some data that showed how the wage earner has benfited from the wage payers vast increase in wealth over the last 20 years, this would ring true. if a wage earner cannot get an increase in pay, that at least matches inflation every year, then the wage earner falls behind.
this is not as complicated as every business and investment person tries to make it. and not everyone who is a wage earner is as dumb as a rock as the MSM keeps trying to portray them.
this crisis was caused by leveraging 40,50,100 to 1, mortgages in the form of SIV's and CDS's, that had absolutely no government oversite, rules, regulations, or laws, to protect against massive financial collapse. it was a ponzi scheme created by the investment houses of the world, and they had full knowledge of what they were doing, and spent millions in lobbying governments to look the other way, and "NOT INTERFERE WITH THE FREE MARKET WITH OVER-REGULATION". i agree with the person that said a few CEO's should be killed, have their balls stuck in their mouths, and hung from the rafters of the NYSE for all to see every day as a "GENTILE" reminder of what happens to people that cause such massive destruction of economies and to millions of people's lives. since over 30 thousand people are killed on our roads every year..i think this is a small sacrifice.

Actually if you absolutely eradicated the rich with extreme prejudice it would create a vacuum allowing for lower classes to rise up to fill it. Of course it doesn't solve the problem but it would make the poor feel a bit better.

no not the best solution nor even a practical one, but is it really any worse than having the casino repay you your losses. After all, every bit of money that has been lost in the markets and loans carried the risk of loss.

No different than gambling really. Except Wall St. is somehow more special than the rest of us that have to walk away from the table with our heads down and our hands in now empty pockets. Hell I wouldn't worry a bit about asking to hit me when I had 17 at the blackjack table if I knew the pit boss didn't collect when I drew the five of diamonds.

The source of wealth are the working people (including the expertise of the rich too), not the rich (especially those who get rich by executing force).
If you destroy the rich (in material possessions and rich in authority) you will correct the unfair distribution of wealth, that's all.

Thanks for the scoop on this quote. I'm not American and really don't know what to make of it. But Lincoln's name on it caught my eye. Maybe the only important American figure that isn't regularly accused of being in the pocket of the wealthy. I'm someone here will disinform me of that assumption.

With ATS members trying to outdo each other by coming up with attention grabbing subject lines that would make tabloid papers blush, I though the change of pace would be refreshing.

There is some kernel of truth in the sentiment, though, in that when the Gran Revolucion comes in America, whose going to put together the infrastructure that creates jobs, product, and profits?

Everybody seems waiting to tear down what's standing, but I hear little about what will replace it.


Mike F

I understand the reasons that pillaging the rich will not help the poor.

But I no longer hold the belief that we should allow unlimited wealth.
We live in a time where industrializaiton makes it possible for us all to share the highest standard of living ever experienced.

Instead the rich rape and pillage the foundations of our society undermining the security and prosperity of the rest of us. This clearly must end.

I have no problem with capping the total income of executives to 100 times the total income of the least paid employee of the corporation.

There should be a complete set of rules in place which put an absolute cap on personal wealth.

We should be pursuing every legal approach possible to remove the wealth from those persons who have robbed our collective wealth.
And setting an example of them by imprisoning them and reducing them and their familys to poverty. They should be out in the street with the people they have put there, as an example for posterity.

Not all rich people are mean.
And not all poor people are good and inocent.