Where are the rich coming from?

reply to post by D.E.M.


Hmm.. you misunderstand the American economy..

Its not bad exactly, for everyone, and it was especially good for the rich this decade so far.. in fact, this is where the problems are coming from.

The gap between the rich and the poor is accelerating at an alarming rate.. the Middle Class is what is disappearing .. not the Rich.

In fact, every year this decade has BROKEN a new record for how many millionaires created that year.. the rich have never been richer, and there have never been so many.

The poor class is growing as well.. especially since the dollar declines and what was once lower middle class is pushed down into that bracket.. thus the gap gets bigger.

So it should not surprise you there are numerous wealthy people with nothing but time on their hands.. it was all consolidated from the Middle Class.

reply to post by Rockpuck



I think you sort of touched on something that is very important. If you asked many ATS posters they would say that this century has been pretty bad for the US economy. However, even in this terrible time the USA continues to create more 'new' millionaires than any other country - the key word in that phrase being NEW. Since 2003 the new millionaire list goes up an average of 20% each year. There are opportunities out there for the people who want to seize them.

So 95 % of Americans are just lazy or uneducated and have no ambition nor motivation to be millionaires.

There you have it.

reply to post by zerotime

Maybe consider where the "highly successful" would be without the labor and consumption of those that don't share their entrepreneurial aptitude/acumen i.e., the vast majority on the middle/lower tiers.

Consider yourself fortunate ZT.

In the near future, I think many will come to appreciate that time is their most valuable commodity...our most precious asset.

Spend it wisely folks

For one, I have never in my life heard of a "multi-billion" dollar ski resort...

[edit on 3/10/2008 by The Quiet Professional]

Help wanted: "The client is seeking a development analyst for its multi-billion dollar ski resort development in Colorado".

Apparently only $1BB is currently committed to the Revelstoke project, but I think the OP's concern was one of quality, rather than quantity.

reply to post by zerotime


It's not about wanting to seize them, but being able to seize them. It's very, very few rich folks who are born poor. Most rich folks already had a decent middle-class upbringing, usually upper-middle-class. Saying poor people are poor because they don't want to work is disgusting. Try being poor and try seeing just how hard it is to get from day to day. See how much time and money you have to invest in something with decent returns.

reply to post by dave420


Granted, but are there not many people who could do better if they worked harder or got a better education?

Originally posted by dgtempe
So 95 % of Americans are just lazy or uneducated and have no ambition nor motivation to be millionaires.

There you have it.

No.

I would say that 35-40% of Americans would be Far .. far better off... with a little quality education and if they quite being lazy.

I would say 99.9% of all Americans would be financially better off if they 1. Consulted a financial planner, where most people loose money is they have no idea how to handle their own cash flow.. 2. Worked harder.

Even the richest rich person could work harder and make more money..

The current economy has been driven by greed. Why is the gap getting bigger between rich and poor? First and foremost corporations holding back money in reserves instead of pay increases.

Secondly.. over consuming. Middle class people put their entire financial welfare in their property.. well many bought when they shouldn't have. Even if they could sell it today and make a profit.. they wont.. because how often do NORMAL people move? Not to often.. many just moved for the sake of moving thinking since now was the best time, move out of their 50-100k mortgage with 10 years left and move into a 300k house with 30 year ARMS.

Smart.

Aside from that problem, the Middle class STILL did not yield.. feeling invincible.. they went on a spending spree and racked up trillions in credit card debt.

Why? Everyone had to fill those new houses with the latest trends, new cars.. plasma TV's all the while not puting nearly enough away for retirement or saving for major expenses like critical illnesses or college education. Let alone rising food cost and oil.. instead of re-budgeting for rising expenses they put it all on Credit.. then defaulted on the credit, their homes and essentially canibalized their own credit..

Then get mad when the credit industry has problems, and people get evicted. Its not rising interest rates falling.. no, thats not pushing people out of their houses. Its because of the problem I said just above.. people bought what they simply could not afford. Folks who could shell out 1200 a month on a mortgage and live happily bought to much and paid nearly 2k a month, put all the other expenses on credit cards, when they maxed those out tried to sell the house, couldn't, and walked out.

So.. sorry..

It may be the industries fault for predator lending.. but only to an extent.

The majority of the blame is not to the industry, nor is it to the Bush Administration (sorry to tell you DG) but instead, its on the Greed culture of America, and the middle class who essentially #@% themselves over.

Originally posted by dgtempe
So 95 % of Americans are just lazy or uneducated and have no ambition nor motivation to be millionaires.

There you have it.

I'm not sure what percentage of Americans are lazy and uneducated but much of the middle class here in Ohio are uneducated - I don't mean stupid. A good chunk of middle class here in Ohio are factory workers who never went to college but instead got a job at their local plant. Now, a lot of those factories are shutting their doors and these people have no education and no trade skills so they are left scrambling for whatever is left. It is the equivalent of when the mining fields shrank to almost nothing and left mining ghost towns all over the US.

I really do not understand why you have so much hostility on the issue. What I have said seems reasonable, get a good education and make wise decisions with your money. Wealth isn't about how much money you have in the bank. It doesn't do any good to have 10 million dollars if you house cost 20 million. Wealth is defined as financial independence. It doesn't matter if you are 20 years old or 60 years old - if you can stop working today and you still have the wealth to continue your current lifestyle for the remainder of your lifetime then you have achieved financial independence.


reply to post by dave420


Where in the world did I say that the poor are poor because they are not working hard enough? I grew up POOR and I am made it. I'm not Bill Gates but I live a very nice life. All the hard work in the world won't amount to a hill of beans if you don't spend your money wisely. I always love it when someone tells me they work hard all week but have no money to spend. Then I see these same people partying and getting drunk and high every weekend. Buying 50 inch big screen TV's by putting it on a high interest rate credit card, playing online poker or other computer games. It's a joke.

All of my business ventures cost me a few hundred dollars to start. The most expensive was my book publishing business which ran me about 5 grand - about the cost of one of those big screen TV's.

Just since January of this year I sculpted out ornament for car owners - It took me about a week and I am not an artist. I made a mold of that sculpt and cast up pieces to sell. I got everything that I needed from this supplier: www.smooth-on.com... I made almost 6 hundred extra dollars last month on those castings and I am proud of that fact.

Why can't any of you write and publish you own book or mass produce a small item for resale? Do you have 2 functioning arms?


reply to post by OBE1


Time IS the most valuable commodity and always has been. That's what I'm trying to get across. Most people want to waste time complaining about how it is impossible for them to do better. People want to waste time and money on entertainment, getting drunk or high on the weekend, watching worthless TV or sitting on the Internet all day long. None of those things are bad IF you can afford to do them.


IMO the sad truth is that there are people who are destined to be unhappy in life. Not because other people are holding them down but because they have built up psychological barriers. Excuses for why they can’t use a different road in life. It’s easier to feel bad and complain then to get up and move forward.

reply to post by zerotime


How "poor" were you? How stable was your home environment? And how does one person's personal experiences speak for millions of other people?

Originally posted by dave420
How "poor" were you? How stable was your home environment? And how does one person's personal experiences speak for millions of other people?

What difference does it make? For every hard luck story there is a person with an identical background who made it out of their bad situation and did better in life. Home environments and being too poor are just excuses. Very few people are born with a perfect life. I do not believe that the vast majority of Americans , especially middle class Americans, have such terrible backgrounds that it is somehow impossible for them to better their current situation in life. Poorer folks and folks who lived much harder lives than myself have went on to become much more successful. It is not luck and it is happening right now in this economy.

The OP Asks; Where Are The Rich Coming From...


the kids going to University aren;t the Rich... the parents are.


I don't throw a big net out there to explain the big picture,
I can only give you 'One- for instance', it's up to your mind-brain
to extrapolate, or to follow through with the thought....


There is a major corporation out there in the mix, the name of the Corp.
is Booz Allen Hamilton ->

this particular Corp. (oligarchy) has 300 Vice-Presidents....


read more, and gain some insight about the top-heavy nature of today's
[military-industrial complex] western business world... @

www.corpwatch.org...


this article is focused on the BoozAllenHamilton and the Carlyle Groups,,,
aka, 2 of the many stables of 'Elites'

reply to post by dgtempe


So 95% of Americans are not interested in bankrupting the country for thier own obsesive hobby of collecting more than they need?.......the country would be much better off if that figure was 100%