The new Banana Republic -- the USofA

reply to post by malcr

Poor(Bad, Inept, Flawed) Education as in, "If you can't afford it don't buy it"

I agree that businessmen want to make as much money as possible, but that doesn't mean that other people should aspire do being more and to sit around all day reading conspiracies of rich people and how they "own our destiny" BS

Warren Buffets, Bill Gates etc create jobs... We need more people like them and to learn from them, they will tell everyone their "secret" so why don't we get more businesses to challenge and to create jobs?

And the point of this is? I'm quite comfortable with my pay and lifestyle that I've earned. My parents were/are poor so I paid and loaned my own way through college. Now I make a good salary, have a house and two cars and two kids. All because of my own hard work not because of anything someone gave me.

Am I supposed to be jealous that I don't have millions in the bank and a private jet? Maybe someday I will, and that is the beauty of America. If you want it it's there for the taking.

Originally posted by kykweer
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Capitalism creates the chance for everyone to be inspired and useful to the economy.

This is simply untrue, and the proof is all around you, provided you don't live in a gated community.Go to Alabama or Mississippi and show me how capitalism has inspired the people there.It has not.It has used them as capital.

In capitalism, anything can be capital.People,war,misfortune and loss are all forms of capital.Yes that's right 'loss'.That's why you can make short trades.Other peoples loss is your gain.If you can make your losses someone else's like Donald Trump does so well, ,you gain.

Too many people have a cutesy definition for capitalism.And what amazes me is how many people claim to be proponents of capitalism are actually on the wrong end of it.I heard a guy who has lost his home and his marriage recently claim he is a rabid capitalist.I had to laugh and tell him that the rabid capitalists are the guys who took his house and a big part of why he's getting divorced.

reply to post by buddhasystem

Why bellyache? This has become the trend now in America. Curse, rave, rant, blame, crib.

So what are YOU as an American, doing to set things right?

Originally posted by TheBandit795
The rich use their money to create more money; they have that money work hard for them. They take calculated risks to ensure that they are practically guaranteed a ROI. They diversify their income.... They know that this is real safety and true income.

Of course, nearly all investments ultimately have to do with taking still more money from the middle class.

High yield interest bearing accounts create interest because the money is loaned to the middle class at extortionate rates and the interest goes back to the banks and their big investors.

Stocks yield dividends because companies cut corners and suppress wages to maximize profits so they can pass still mor money on to the investors.

And the majority of these investment vehicles are set up in such away that the small investor is all but guaranteed to feel discouraged. Unless you poured a ton of money into the system you aren't going to see a hell of a lot in return. If all you can afford is to put 20 bucks a pay check into some investments then you are stuck waiting for long term returns, desperately hoping to have something that will resemble a non-destitute retirement.

Meanwhile, the people who can throw a million dollars of old family money into the money machine will see considerable returns by the year's end.

So, yeah, the game is rigged.

The people who understand the real structure of The System are dying off. People born in to the ruling eschelons do not understand the importance of a large, content and productive middle class. I have faith that TPTB know how to maintain balance, but the more I look at it the more I realize that the newer generations will not. We may, indeed, be JWF.

Time will tell.

reply to post by TheBandit795


What about the individual who has no interest in putting forth effort to invest? Is it really the individuals responsibility to be seeking the next dollar? Isn't true that our society is set-up in such a way that only those with the motivation to make the next dollar are truly rewarded while those who have different interests like being a nurse, artist, musician, etc all have to depend on an employer to get by?

It's not that I'm too stupid to invest and make money, it's that I don't have any interest in it. And you may say, "well, than that's your decision" but in reality, the system could be set-up in a such a way where you can be successful without having to put tons of time and energy into educating yourself on the basics of investing.

reply to post by blah yada


Ok then what else do you propose? Given you don't get the freedom to make your own wealth. Any successful communist countries?

Originally posted by blah yada
.I had to laugh and tell him that the rabid capitalists are the guys who took his house and a big part of why he's getting divorced.

That sounds so vile, why would you laugh? Anyway it's human nature to blame your surrounds and not accept blame for your own actions.

If everyone stopped looking to blame someone or something else for how bad their situation is and focused on making things right for themselves this country would be a lot better off.

It is only your fault if you give your money to the banks. Do you use credit cards and borrow money? If your answer is yes, because I am not reach. Then do you know how to delay gratification and save your money if you want to buy something? This would take the banks power over your life away.

It is only your fault if you are not happy with your job. Didn't you accept the terms of the hire, why didn't you try harder in school or go to college? You could move somewhere else couldn't you.

I am really tired of hearing people whine about how bad things are for them and how they shouldnt have to do the hard things to get ahead. How do you think the wealthy got wealthy? They either inherited it from someone that had to work their butt off to get it, or they worked their butt off.

If you use the excuse that there are no jobs anymore and you don't have the money to move, I ask you why didn't you save more for when bad times came?

GROW UP!

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income

Typical far left biased crap coming out of the New York Times. They didn't bother to give the WHOLE story ... that the top income earners also pay almost all the taxes in this country. A disproportionate amount. The author is a looter .. a thief .... a spread-the-wealth instead of a create-the-weath far left winger. Take from those who have more just because they have more ... write an article that is lopsided and doesn't give the whole story .... ignore that the rich pay MOST of the taxes in this country.

The only fair tax is a FLAT TAX.
Everyone pays the same percentage no matter how much or how little they make.

As for the New York Times opinion piece ... .... another incomplete and biased piece of agenda.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income

Typical far left biased crap coming out of the New York Times.

They didn't bother to give the WHOLE story ... that the top income earners also pay almost all the taxes in this country. A disproportionate amount. The author is a looter .. a thief .... a spread-the-wealth instead of a create-the-weath far left winger. Take from those who have more just because they have more ... write an article that is lopsided and doesn't give the whole story .... ignore that the rich pay MOST of the taxes in this country.

The only fair tax is a FLAT TAX.
Everyone pays the same percentage no matter how much or how little they make.

As for the New York Times opinion piece ...

.... another incomplete and biased piece of agenda.

That's quite ironic seeing as the New York Times is owned by the richest person on the planet or rater a major shareholder

Nice post, OP. The problem is, it is the middle class who puts the people in political office that push the agenda of the rich. This has been the case for many decades and I have little hope it will change until the USA hits rock bottom.

But I'm not totally confident it will change even then. The economic problems that we have now have been quite successfully blamed on the champions of the middle class, and the segment middle class that wants a more equitable distribution of wealth.

reply to post by TheBandit795


One problem. Most of the working class, and I mean most, does not have access to means of production.

We are literally forced to sell our physical capabilities for many years before we have the opportunity to afford a mode of production. How do you expect a poor black man to diversify their income? Sell crack on the corner?

Ultimately the system we live in is inherently flawed (I would go as far as to say money is a problem as well, there are to many obvious cons when motivation is able to be controlled). I believe we should address the Democratic Republic as well, almost immediately it went into the hands of rich speculators (I am referring to the late 1700s). It is hard to believe the American citizenry is actually cared about in government when the ratio between the elect and the electors are this far apart. We need far more rigid safeguards protecting the citizenries interests. Hell total democracy would be cool, or is that to similar to Anarchy?

Originally posted by laiguana
I've been seeing this statistic brought up many times. It doesn't seem like one that is mentioned in the mainstream media all too often however.

Ever wonder why? You see, conspiracy or not, the upper class doesn't want the people to wake up. As somebody else alluded, Americans have their heads buried in iPods, Xboxes and Wii (at least those who can afford these), and know next to nothing about how the society functions or where it's going. The only thing they do comprehend is when some tea-drinking retards start chanting slogans again the Govt, with inherent message that the Govt plots to steal money which can otherwise be used to upgrade iPods, Xboxes and Wii.

Originally posted by Marulo
reply to post by TheBandit795

 

One problem. Most of the working class, and I mean most, does not have access to means of production.

We are literally forced to sell our physical capabilities for many years before we have the opportunity to afford a mode of production. How do you expect a poor black man to diversify their income? Sell crack on the corner?

Right on, brother. It's pretty asinine to claim that the poor are poor because they didn't choose their investments wisely. Heck, what's there to invest to begin with?

reply to post by buddhasystem


It is pretty ridiculous. Particularly because he said he understood the trend. Obviously there are huge discrepancies in the wealth distribution. Obviously what he was talking about costs money, who the hell does he think we are?

Even if we had the money, in most cases I am sure it would require you to risk most of your savings. It is nice to think that all Americans still have that opportunity to move up the social hierarchy. I guess ignorance is bliss

reply to post by buddhasystem


Yes. Of all these conspiracies, one thing I think I can believe in with the utmost confidence is this ruling class debacle.

I wonder, how many of us would actually agree on finding finding those responsible for keeping us down and hanging them. We wouldn't just hang anybody, but I can think of at least a thousand people in our government or the top 5% of the wealthy who should be shot. We got to keep it to people on the lines of Wolfowitz, Brzezinski, or Rupert Murdoch etc.

Although I got to give it to Zbig Brezizinski. The world population is going to present a whole nother' issue in the coming decades. He would have done humanity and the earth a favor if he could actually manage to kill us all.
Of course its all speculation

reply to post by 547000

Originally posted by 547000
I'd love to be a poor person in America over a rich person in a Banana Republic.

Didn't you just read that the U.S. is now a banana republic??? Besides, a rich person in a so-called "banana republic" lives the life a poor person in the U.S. can only dream of.

reply to post by jjkenobi

Originally posted by jjkenobi Now I make a good salary,

What Would You Do if Your Income Disappeared?


Watch this video about the 99ers, who are well educated, and were hardworking people.. Yet they've been unemployed for 2 years..

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt

And the majority of these investment vehicles are set up in such away that the small investor is all but guaranteed to feel discouraged. Unless you poured a ton of money into the system you aren't going to see a hell of a lot in return. If all you can afford is to put 20 bucks a pay check into some investments then you are stuck waiting for long term returns, desperately hoping to have something that will resemble a non-destitute retirement.

You can take calculated risks, it's possible to gain 5% per month in forex or in managed portfolios. They do exist, and there do exist some with a low entry level but remain hidden from the public. Of course there are risks involved, but nothing in life is without risk.