Evidence that the Meritocracy is Made Up of Poor People

I saw this and found it interesting:

www.commondreams.org...

Many wealthy Americans believe that dysfunctional behavior causes poverty. Their own success, they would insist, derives from good character and a strict work ethic. But they would be missing some of the facts. Ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, and between wealth and a lack of empathy for others, and between wealth and unproductiveness.

The poor, along with a middle class that is sinking toward them, make up the American meritocracy. Here is some of the evidence.

1. The Poor Don't Cheat As Much

2. The Poor Care More About Other People

3. The Rich Focus on Me, Me, Me

4. The Poor Give a Greater Percentage of Their Money to Others

5. Entrepreneurs are in the (Sinking) Middle Class

Of special note to you "Job Creators" and "Trickle Down" afficinados:

With the demise of the middle class, entrepreneurship is decreasing. According to a Brookings Institute report, the "firm entry rate," a measure of new firms and thus of entrepreneurial startup activity, fell by nearly half in the thirty-plus years between 1978 and 2011. America's average entrepreneur is 26 years old, but most of our 26-year-olds are burdened by student loan debt.

The actual article at: www.commondreams.org...

...contains links to source material - for you background junkies.

This has been obvious for ages now. Not that a good majority of the really poor haven't earned their economic position all by themselves.... Harsh but true

I have seen people slave their youth and lives away chasing that pipe dream. You start to get financially comfortable and the man swoops down out of no where and finds a way to suck you dry. Hard work gets you a comfortable life but one needs to maintain that ethic to stay afloat. It's hard taking time off from the real world to go back to school and better yourself. It can be done but you will be in so much debt you will never catch back up.

Where do you put small business owner? They are entrepreneurs and make up the bulk of job creators in this country. When we talk about leaving people more of their own money with which to invest and hire, we're often talking directly about them. They would be part of this sinking middle class, no? My own employer is a small company run by a pair of brothers, small business owners, entrepreneurs who started and built it from the ground up.

Oh come on!

The wealthy pay the bulk of the tax load. The rest of us are just a bunch of lazy free loaders with only ourselves to blame.

In case no one noticed, I was being extremely sarcastic.

Most small employers are supplying jobs for people. They pride themselves on this yet many times the workers think they are greedy because they don't pay well. I supplied work for my employees, trying to make sure they had a full weeks pay. If there was no work, I started little projects to keep them working so they could keep earning money. I faithfully paid into unemployment so they could have some money if I didn't have work, making sure they had enough weeks to qualify. Because of this, I never made good money in the business, I just made enough to survive and if we had not had some money to start with, I would never have been able to make it.

Most employers of small businesses are like I was. In a small town it is a sign of prestige supplying work for the local people. Now big corporations are not always like that, but some still are. For some it is not about making money it is about supplying jobs to your local people. It is a community bond with society.

The new rich do not have this bond, they try to spend their money in their elite group, supporting their kind, not the normal guy. Some of these elite do have workers that rely on them though, but they usually do not have a bond with their workers, they are just numbers.

Buy local to keep your people working, buy stuff produced in this country, a country of our people. Canadians are our people too, we share a long boarder. It cannot be one sided though. By all means choose to keep people in our communities working by supporting honest local businesses instead of shopping on line for everything. The few bucks more you spend keeps more of your friends and neighbors working.

I have never, ever, ever met someone who supplied, gave, or created a job for someone....

At best, they begrudgingly hire some extra employees when their business takes off, and realize that laws prevent working the current employees to death for under minimum wage with no overtime.

So get over yourself first off...you want to see a "job creator", then look no further than the crap you purchased...you buy stuff, which means more stuff will be made to sell, which eventually gets someone somewhere to hire someone to help

Now

What defines a small business? I seen listing where the Koch brothers is considered a small business (well, series of). Its a meaningless word (thanks for making another word meaningless btw). But again, nobody is making jobs out of love..its out of necessity.

Known this all my life. Melting pot, scum floats to the top, good meat and potatoes at the bottom. Poor are infinitely more ethical than the psycho's that rise in this world.

Even running a corporation or a business is a draconian structure. They make money by slaves who's work barely afford a home, and for some jobs, they have to choose between eating and rent. This is beyond psychopathy. It is the face of pure evil. And promotions occur via ritual sacrifice in many instances. Reality.

Wealthy are amongst the universes worst villians, and all that can attributed with imagination to what that would mean, applies in many cases, fully.

There is no compromise, you cannot leave this system, these levels as a soul, if you believe that you can sacrifice free sovereign beings to your economic models, to your beliefs about economics, to your beliefs about politics, to your beliefs about religion, to your beliefs at all.

One homeless person is unacceptable since, that is a sovereign being who can stake land anywhere and build and you don't own them. Understand again, THERE IS NO COMPROMISE WITH ETHICS, NONE.

In other words, the IOU that would be waiting for all who support the torture and suffering others go through, is going to be freaking enormous. All the homeless, all the mentally ill on the streets, all the children in inner cities with the dreams taken from them, some of them hooked on drugs young and prostitutes, all the prostitutes, all the sex slaves, all the abused children, all the starving, all the civilans blown apart in wars, all those who have suffered unending pain, its going to be a huge surprise waiting for people who actually thought other weren't their own beloved family and that they could put false artificial systems before their well being and the well being of nature and this planet.

Half the world is starving to death, and even in our countries few are doing well. Most who die in war are civilians and countless children, blown apart and murdered.

Picture that as your child and please grow up and stop it.

Its like being the ultimate draco, you get to live, work and water your roses, watch the football game, via this ongoing ritual of lining up millions of people each year, children and executing them. Only that would be fast for some of them.

How could anyone not demand and live in a wonderful equal world, sharing the hard work, looking after those who can't, treating everyone equally and well, developing high clean tech to take over the manual stuff, and flourishing on creative, and limiting work to small parts of the day, spending alot of time with family and friends.

We don't have to reinvent the wheel a thousand times in every century. Time to move on, I'd say.

The ethics, the morality of the wealthy is predator, draco. But they have most of the middle class roped right into the same ethics. The ones most awake are the poor.

Sorry for this ironic comment but....

That's right on the money.

As always working on giving of an illusion of being needed and worth much is a better for a career that doing the actual work needed to be done.

To choose low karma or overly materialistic wealth by becoming parasitical in nature? The materialistic wealth is very shiny and looks good at first glance. While the other path do not look as nice on first glance but shines from within.

Namaste.

Ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, and between wealth and a lack of empathy for others, and between wealth and unproductiveness.

I think there are people who engage in unethical behavior and who have a lack of empathy for others in all areas of society ... rich and poor and in between. I don't think any one group has more or less selfish people than others.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

Ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, and between wealth and a lack of empathy for others, and between wealth and unproductiveness.

I think there are people who engage in unethical behavior and who have a lack of empathy for others in all areas of society ... rich and poor and in between. I don't think any one group has more or less selfish people than others.

I do believe there are selfish people at the bottom but I do believe being manipulative and selective blindness is a trait that makes people succeed in accumulating wealth. There are certain things I morally cannot justify doing and therefore tie my hands to do things that others have done and have accumulated wealth with.

A poor person is called crazy, nuts, etc.,

A rich person is called eccentric.

A poor person takes care of their family.

A rich person pays someone to take care of their family.

I could go on but I'll spare you all.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

I think there are people who engage in unethical behavior and who have a lack of empathy for others in all areas of society ... rich and poor and in between. I don't think any one group has more or less selfish people than others.

Stealing, let's say, for survival of self and family is a whole different thing then doing it, for fun and profit.

According to the references in the article (and my own limited experience of people) those on the bottom depend on others for survival because they live it daily. I know too, that driven to desperation, they will honestly tell you that they will do what is necessary to support their live and the lives of those they love (and ufortunately, their habits that our society promotes as a Fix to Fear). On the other hand, the wealthy, deluded that they are 'self-sufficient' don't depend on people nor care about them (i.e. "if you don't like it, leave"). Their Fix for Fear is money.

Two entirely different sets of circumstanses with two different intentions.

What would you do to feed your child? Wealthy people don't have that particular ethical dilemma, their dilemma is often how to remain 'human' at all, how can you be compassionate from a distance, without ever experiencing material, survival fear. They experience fear but don't respond with compassion but, often, with rage and hatred and abuse those around them.

What a complete load of rubbish.

This website is a progressive propaganda outlet. The anti-rich, wealth envy and villification of success is displayed in plain sight for anyone honest enough to admit it. Someone seriously believes that brain scans of wealthy people looking at pictures of poor people show the wealthy person sees the poor as a thing???? WHo are these so called wealthy people who sat in for that brain scan?
I call BS on this whole arguement. You anti wealthy and anti rich, keep on patting yourself on the back and telling yourself that you are in your condition because that rich guy cheated. Its not because you are a drug addict or because you didnt graduate highschool. No thats not it at all. Its not because you had 5 kids that you could not afford. Its not because you work at a McDonalds and cant seem to get to work on time ever! Its not because you skip out on work to go get your hair and nails "did". Its not because your car payment is more expensive than your apartment and financed for 10 years. Its not because you and everyone you hang out with has been to prision. Its not because your big plans for the future always start with "one day I am going to find a bunch of money".....Its not any of that. Those things are all just the normal way to live...No its because that evil rich guy put off having children or a family to go to college. Graduated with a degree in something usefull (not a degree in Diversity studies!) built a business. Hired a buch of people to work for him. Put up with their terrible work habits and endless personal drama because he actually could still operate with them running at their peak of 40% efficency. Saved a little bit of his money that he didnt put back into the business. Didnt go on costly vacations, didnt make poor investments in get rich quick schemes. Didnt drink or smoke his money away. Stayed married to his wife and didnt cheat on her. That evil rich guy did all of that so you know he has to be a cheating heartless greedy so an so that got where he is on the backs of the poor!

Give me a break!

One thing I can attest to from personal experience. 10 years as an income tax accountant - over 2,200 returns under my belt. Almost without fail (note the almost) the more income a person has, the less likely they are to contribute to charity. Gotta love the man with $300k+ income and the $25 charitable donation.