a selfish rant about the filthy rich

[Bertha Venation]

The filthy rich need to share.

Many of us DUers are in dire straits due to unemployment, poor health, etc. Bills are late. Foreclosures loom. Creditors won't stop calling -- until the phone is shut off.

Many people across the country are far, far worse off. Some don't have food. Or health care. Or heat. Or warm clothing. Or even a place to live.

Would it be too damned much to ask the bloody filthy rich of this country to pony up a few lousy bucks to individuals they know of who are hurting or suffering?

</rant>

[DenverDem]

1. They will share or The People will share them (with extreme prejudice).

Corrections will be made one way or the other.

[4morewars]

2. Don't hold your breath !

It's more theses rich a-holes want !! When is enough, enough ?

[SiobhanClancy]

3. Evidently..

My brother-in law is a multimillionaire and he let his cousin end up in a homeless shelter when her unemployment ran out. As soon as we knew about it,of course,we got her out of there and she is no relation to us. I think you're a disgrace,Frank,if you're reading this:(

[frank frankly]

41. hey, not me! right?

I have very little $$$!!!!

:hi:

[Adams Wulff]

4. I think it was Oscar Wilde who once said..

"Religion is the only thing that keeps the poor from eating the rich."

Why do you think they are trying to push the right wing Xtian agenda on the entire population?

[Beaker]

6. actually, it was napolean who said it.

i think.

[CanuckAmok]

5. Let me be the first to say "duh".

That's why I have no sympathy for Martha Stewart, Dem or not. People like her, I mean super-rich people, regardless of political affiliation, think the rules of fair taxation don't apply to them. They have the money to finance protecting their money, and they only pay when they get caught. To these people, there's no such thing as "enough". Why anyone is allowed to have more than a few million dollars in personal wealth is beyond me. I know that's the basis of capitalism, but the kind of wealth these people have is surreal. These fortunes are so vast they defy description. They should be taxed extremely heavily.

[denverbill]

7. Some things never change.

"All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations

"No society can surely be flourishing and happy when part of the members are poor and miserable."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth Of Nations

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. More like the opposite. They'll PAY to f**k you.

Wolfpack mentality. If the other wolf manages not to starve to death, he'll compete with me and I risk losing my Head Of The Pack position. Therefore, the more miserable everybody else is, the better.

[ALago1]

9. Didn't you get the memo?

If you are poor it's your own damn fault. There are no other variables that create poverty other than a non-willingness to work!

Of course I am being sarcastic and totally agree with your sentiment.

[grannylib]

18. That was the topic of one of Chimpy's essays in college - the poor are

poor because they are LAZY according to our compassionate conservative pResident...if he had not had Daddy's rich cronies to bail him out of every business failure he has ever had, he'd be living a hand-to-mouth existence too...

[BiggJawn]

39. Got that memo in Feb. 1982...

I have TRIED to be "friends" with wealthy people.It's impossible, we don't worry about the same things. Even with kids, there's no common ground, they're like another species. Not even common hobbies. I got a new spocket for my "classic", they just bought their ump-teenth carbon-titanium bike, They just bought a $13,000 Ham Radio, took a $20,000 glider-flying "getaway", etc.

Hope they're tasty with Stubb's Sauce.

[Marius]

10. I agree with you 100%.

I have no healthcare, money, unemployed, and I barely get food each day. :cry:

[Bertha Venation]

11. Welcome to DU, Marius.

If you were near Washington, DC, you could raid our pantry. Sorry I can't offer anything else.

[Bertha Venation]

12. This is what I don't understand about the right-wing's POV.

Why do many right-wingers really believe it's about the desire to work, or the lack thereof? Generally, people aren't poor or in bad shape (i.e., scarily behind on the bills) because they're lazy. There are honest-to-god reasons: unemployment, injury, illness (of astonishing varieties, all valid), and just plain bad luck.

Why can't people see this? And why is it so god-damned difficult to HELP?!

[CanuckAmok]

14. Not just that, but...

In order for their to be 'winners', there have to be 'losers'. Not everyone in the world can be a multimillionaire, or even moderately wealthy; the economy couldn't support that. Ambition has precious little to do with it. Rich people are rich BECAUSE poor people are poor. Poor people are poor BECAUSE rich people are rich. Anyone who can't see that is a moran.

[camero]

15. Oh thank god

Here I thought I was the only one who thought that.

[GCP]

40. Repukes believe life is a zero sum game

That's why most of the rich are repukes, they figure they've got theirs and to hell with everybody else.

There are, however, the super-rich such as the Rockefellers who do have a conscience. nd Bill Gates' dad belongs to a group called Responsible Wealth who don't agree with tax cuts (including estate tax cuts) for the very wealthy. They agree with a living wage, also.

Link: http://www.responsiblewealth.org/

[damnraddem]

13. Why not a filthy rant ...

about the selfish rich?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. Harrison Ford's divorce settlement

was over 100 million dollars. Poor guy got ripped off bigtime.

[Susang]

37. Huh?

What does that have to do with this thread? He and his wife (now ex) are actually quite generous with their money in terms of donations and charity.

As for their divorce settlement, you do know she earned quite a lot of that money herself. She was the screenwriter and producer of E.T. The Extraterrestrial.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. I'm glad to hear that they're generous with their money...

I wasn't aware of that.

But really, don't you find it pretty astounding that anyone's divorce settlement could add up to 100 millionfucking dollars when most people in this country won't earn 1/100th of that in their lifetimes?

The disparity between rich and poor is becoming gargantuan in proportion. How many of the filthy rich actually do something to narrow that gap, as opposed to offering band-aid solutions?

[Nikia]

17. Some rich people help other out personally

I think that this used to be common because the rich actually did personally know poor people thta weren't their house servants. I ersoanlly know rich people or their benefactors who have payed employees during time off due to illness and even helped with medical bills, bought others gas/food/clothing, excused rent for several months, and paid college tuition/application fees for people who they thought were promising. These aren't extremely famous people and maybe not what you consider filthy rich, just richer than most of us. Some of them prefer to give charity to people who they see rather than large foundations like most of the "filthy rich do".

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. "Luxury Fever".

A friend has this book to read and has told me a bit about it from glancing through it.

Apparently, it IS too much to ask of them, according to the author. I have not yet read the book, so cannot comment knowledgeably.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684842343/qid=1078868895/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-3594251-7741753?v=glance&s=books

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[camero]

21. Hmm that's funny

Why aren't I fat? I don't drink or do drugs.

[MacCovern]

24. You're busy working on your Camaro....

and that gives you a little bit of exercise.

but seriously, not everyone in the USA is fat, but a much higher
percentage than it used to be, and food prices, from an historical
perspective are at an all time low.

[camero]

26. lol, I wish I could say that.

I was very active til I was in my 30s. Then illness caught up to me. Call it death from overwork. :)

[ALago1]

22. Did you ever think that...

...the "lard asses" might be the ones with an overabundance of excess funds, and thus spend it on fatty foods?

I've seen very few overweight homeless beggars in NYC (where I work)

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[camero]

25. Think maybe it might have something to do

with what's in that cheap food? Surprisingly, people rant on about obesity and never question the safety of our food supply. Figures.

[Piltdown13]

27. Cheap food?

As far as I'm aware, it's not that food in general has become less expensive -- the real problem is that junk food, including fast food, is oftentimes cheaper than healthy, nutritious food. Certainly the grocery stores offer sales and specials on junk a LOT more often than on healthy staple items.

[CanuckAmok]

30. That's a pretty spurious argument.

I don't disagree with what you said, but you'd also be hard-pressed to find visible minorities in historical television; that doesn't mean they didn't exist.

TV shows then and now represent a narrow margin of "acceptable" body types and ethnicities. They have never been accurately representative of this society.

[Bertha Venation]

33. Lardasses. Fatsos. Blubber butts.

This kind of shit is unacceptable. It is possible to discuss obesity without using such slurs to characterize obese as lazy, slothful gluttons.

[CanuckAmok]

28. Worthy of a whole other thread.

Perhaps "hungry" wasn't the right choice of words, but "malnourished" is. "Cheap" food is often empty calories and deadly carcenogens.

People who can't afford to 'eat well' or who aren't educated in nutrition are certainly not being allowed to be healthy.

[Bertha Venation]

35. I grew up on food stamps.

Food stamps will buy anything that's considered food. I do not consider to be food the things my parents bought with food stamps: white bread, bologna, processed "cheese food," cupcakes, donuts, sugared breakfast cereal, snack crackers, cookies, doritos, potato chips, cheetos . . . . I barely consider canned vegetables to be food, yet until I was 19 that's the only kind of vegetable I was aware of, with the rare exception of potatoes, and corn on the cob in summer. Fruit was watermelon when it was in season, or fruit cocktail in syrup.

IMO food stamps should be invalid for junk and processed foods. But then, not everyone on food stamps lives somewhere where they can cook.

:grr:

[Deja Q]

29. I see a lot of food in grocery stores that has already started to spoil

There is an overabundance of food.

There's also an overabundance of a society that keeps people penned to a chair for 9 hours per day, on a strict daily regimen that puts bottom lines over people.

[Nikia]

31. My sister was hungry and thin when she was poor

Perhaps, it was her fault for not asking for help from family, freinds, or any kind of social or charitable service. She had been kicked out of college for not paying tuition and was working part time. There was literally almost no money left after paying rent. She only had a few dollars per week to spend on food. When she finally came home, she was less than 90 ponds (5'4''). A few months later, she was a much healthier, 120 pounds.
We feel bad for those who do not have the option of "coming home". That is why charities that feed the hungry are so important.

[Bertha Venation]

32. Your response has nothing to do with this thread.

Nothing whatever.

[CanuckAmok]

34. Mine?

why not?

edit: sorry, BV, I misread the thread.

[Bertha Venation]

36. No worries, Pinky Paws.

;)

[Vladimir]

42. Not selfish at all

merely correct. Progressive income tax, 95% on all income above, oohh, lets say 200,000 buck per annum. And that's being generous :)

V