The world's richest families' staggering wealth

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Necrobile

He spends $20 and you're spending $5.15?!

I only spend $4.

From where I stand, you're both doing it wrong although you're bit about buying a machine has real merit, and we're seriously thinking about a Keurig or something like it.

Like I said, I rarely ever go to Starbucks, but when I do I buy a cinnamon dolce latte, which after taxes and what not is around $5.15. It's not bad for an occasional expenditure, most of the time I just use my keurig with the reusable filter. I love that thing and use it at least 2-4 times a day, depending on if my wife wants a cup as well.

I would definitely recommend one of those with a reusable filter, it saves a lot of time and money. It's going to be a very sad day when mine finally kicks the bucket, but it'll also be a happy day because that will then give me an excuse to buy an espresso machine.

originally posted by: blueman12
Hey.. trickle down! The rich are working very hard to make our lives better. Trust in the elite!

If you are typing on a computer online, living in a climate controlled dwelling, have access to water food in the home you are elite.

A person who drives a 2005 Honda Civic is also elite. Just as elite as the 2019 Cadillac owner. Now, the 2005 Civic owner likely would rather have the Cadillac and can't afford it but that is not poverty. That is the desire for better stuff.

a reply to: dfnj2015
The Rothschild's are only 1 world war away from losing their cash cows.

Livin one Generation to anotha

Clearly Humanity is at risk.....the saviours of Humanity will be the ones who repatriate all of the worlds wealth and redistribute it completely.

It is a clear crime against humanity for any one person or one group of private people to control this much public wealth which can by proy be used to change and impact the entire Planet.

a reply to: dfnj2015


A couple things pop out in your rant.

One. You say things seem expensive to you..
I imagine you haven't been to very many foreign countries.
Check out the price of a gallon/liter of gas in Britain.
Check out the housing prices.
Check out Australian prices for goods.

It's fun.....

Second. You say the rich dont pay taxes....
Not true but let's go with it....
Do you honestly believe that if you taxes the crap out of the rich that you would ever see the benefit from the taxes? Do you expect a check?

originally posted by: Stupidsecrets

originally posted by: blueman12
Hey.. trickle down! The rich are working very hard to make our lives better. Trust in the elite!

If you are typing on a computer online, living in a climate controlled dwelling, have access to water food in the home you are elite.

A person who drives a 2005 Honda Civic is also elite. Just as elite as the 2019 Cadillac owner. Now, the 2005 Civic owner likely would rather have the Cadillac and can't afford it but that is not poverty. That is the desire for better stuff.

What is even more ironic is that he is too dense to see how those innovations "trickled down" to the masses and thus made their creators very rich.

It is like if created some tool / widget. That tool widget changes the world by making everyone's lives easier. I get immensely rich from that widget because I can sell billions of them.

They ignore how great my widget is and how it changed their lives, but just focus on the fact that I am now immensely wealthy.

Instead of figuring out how they can make a better widget or some other widget that people want, they just bash me for my success.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dfnj2015
Oh, what is the proper number then?

Not $700 trillion. There is no way you can have that much wealth and not have people be able to see the holdings since it's nearly ten times the entire world's GDP and ownership of stocks is widely available when you have majority control and they'd need to have majority control of every major corporation ten times over to even get close to that silly number.

Use your head.

They have the 700 tril in 10's and 20's stuffed into garbage bags in their basement.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: ketsuko
I am also not consumed by greed and envy...

There are worse things to be consumed by than greed and envy...….like me for example.

Oh hhhhhhyes

a reply to: dfnj2015


This is a video of a young lady coming from Australia to Los Angeles...

The first couple of minutes has her in a convenience store amazed at the cheap candy...
Skip to around the seven minute mark and she goes to Walmart...

a reply to: dfnj2015

I do think wealth disparity is worth discussing

However, some people seemingly would whether the wealthy lose money even if it means the poorer get poor as well; in other words hatred for the rich outweighs compassion for the poor





But I find the way you made this thread interesting

You seem to focus on your own situation

Correct me of I’m wrong, but didn’t you just this week call kavanaugh a sexual assaulter with not proof, and show you don’t care if he as an individual is ruined based on unproven allegations?

So it seems a bit much for you to now be playing this “woe is me” routine


Or put another way, you might be poor , but be thankful people don’t follow your ideology and ruin your life by calling you a gang rapist

a reply to: dfnj2015

The top 1% of income earners in the US pay about 35% of all taxes. Some people's total tax rates when factoring in city, state, and federal can approach 50%. The bottom 50% of US citizens don't pay any federal income taxes. In fact, the poorest 3% or so actually have negative tax rates meaning they are getting money from the government, not paying taxes.

Yes, some very wealthy who don't work w2 jobs and have a lot of investments can pay lower rates. However, that is because they are paying capital gains. The reason cap gains is lower is because those investments are at risk of loss and that money has already been taxed before. The Feds want people investing their money. Businesses need access to that capital to grow.

The thing is those rules are for anyone. If you have any investments you pay cap gains. A lot of these people are retirees. Not just Warren Buffet.

IF anything the Feds need to reduce the tax rates on wage income. It is a crime that it is so high.

a reply to: Necrobile

Grody on the dolce thing... But props on the Keurig. I've had 5 or 6 and have never abused them and the longest one has lasted me is the one I have now, which I got from my in-laws for Christmas last year. Shortest one lasted me about a month. I got it last year for my birthday on Jan 2 and by February I was successfully brewing half a cup with the full cup button. I've never had much luck with them.

originally posted by: dfnj2015

Let's see 700 trillion is 700 thousand billion. A billion is a thousand million. So 700 trillion is 700 thousand thousand million. Or 700 trillion is 700,000,000 million. Almost a billion million dollars. A very expensive Latte at Starbucks costs $20. That's 35 billion Lattes. How many Lattes can one person drink in one lifetime????? Maybe my Latte math is off. This is higher math for me. Whatever the real number is it's a lot of Lattes from Starbucks!!!

You have no idea how much I appreciate you condensing this down to Latte's... Finally math we can all agree with. Personally I'm a $9 Latte type of guy. So I could retire on 280,000 Latte's + 140,000 for actual Consumption so a grand total of 420,000 Latte's please!

originally posted by: LSU2018
a reply to: Necrobile

Grody on the dolce thing... But props on the Keurig. I've had 5 or 6 and have never abused them and the longest one has lasted me is the one I have now, which I got from my in-laws for Christmas last year. Shortest one lasted me about a month. I got it last year for my birthday on Jan 2 and by February I was successfully brewing half a cup with the full cup button. I've never had much luck with them.

Keurigs suck, but they are good enough when time constrained. Mine usually last a few years. I have a keurig compatible filter. Grind my own beans. A lot cheaper than buying k-cups.

Nesspresso is a way better machine/coffee imho but I don't like that you have to order everything online.

Apparently people here look at the now as if it exists in a vacuum and isn’t subject to progress or trends.

The fact of the matter is that over time the percentage of wealth as profits continues to increase, and the percentage to wages decreases. This is unsustainable but let’s all ignore that and what it portends because you must just be jealous, and not appreciative of your rich status that you owe to the generosity of your masters. Also, whenever the rich have something, they worked hard and earned it. Whenever you have something it was generously bestowed by your bosses.

Apparently everyone here is ok with oligarchs and dictators, as that is largely the system they support, and they either fail to see, or have no issues with the system creating more monopolies, amassing more money and power in fewer hands, and allowing the wealthy elite full rein to subvert governments, societies, laws etc to their own benefit because they earned it.

There’s no stupid here, just move along, take your cup o soylent and make your way to the assembly line. And don’t forget how nice the current emperors new clothes are.

a reply to: pexx421

Could you point out at what point in human history that poverty hasn't existed?
Or maybe when a few elites didn't have more power than the average person?
I would really like to learn of this eutopia.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: dfnj2015


A couple things pop out in your rant.

One. You say things seem expensive to you..
I imagine you haven't been to very many foreign countries.
Check out the price of a gallon/liter of gas in Britain.
Check out the housing prices.
Check out Australian prices for goods.

It's fun.....

Second. You say the rich dont pay taxes....
Not true but let's go with it....
Do you honestly believe that if you taxes the crap out of the rich that you would ever see the benefit from the taxes? Do you expect a check?

You mean like when we taxed the hell out of the rich for the new deal? And got 40 years of prosperity, growth, and a great middle class? That lasted until Reaganism dismantled it, ushering in 40 years of decline for the middle class, deindustrialization, and returning inequality? Who would have thought.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: ketsuko

Thank you, Clarice.

I'm thinking along the lines of foie gras and veal.... Combined, but with a baby.

Bet you both order the Impossible Baby Whopper or the Beyond Baby Taco.

Whatever you eat, I hope it's fresher than this old joke!

a reply to: dfnj2015

Your OP kinda made me feel bad for you and I am not a particularly empathetic person. But it raised a question as well.

You have already told us you live in NJ and you complain about the high taxes and high prices, which are probably a result of high business taxes. How come you dont research and move to a lower tax state? Used to be Americans were very mobile. Not so much these days and its hard to understand why.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: pexx421

Could you point out at what point in human history that poverty hasn't existed?
Or maybe when a few elites didn't have more power than the average person?
I would really like to learn of this eutopia.

As I said, people here apparently can’t recognize obvious trends, and have no issue with telling you to ignore a continually deteriorating situation. If you have an issue with our societies movement back towards feudalism then obviously you are just greedy and ungrateful. We should just sit idly by while our betters eventually buy up everything, and kick us to the slums on the fringes of society, the way the vast majority of people live in most Latin American nations.

. Want to know why all the immigrants are coming to the USA? They’re fleeing unfettered capitalism.