USA is an Aristocracy!!!

I'm not sure if anyone here has read the Forbes world richest people well actually i'm sure someone has. I read dont remember if it was in Forbes but i also heard it on the radio how 5 percent of the USA owns more than the other 95 percent and that got me wondering on the USA then actually is an aristocracy if only a select fewown more than the rest of the population. Only two percent of the USA populations are millionaires kinda makes you wonder where the land of oppurtunity has gone.

I would be curious to hear of any country at any time in history where the powerful few didn't control almost everything. When has it ever NOT been that way?

It took you that long to figure it out

I've seen American luad the Greco platform of democracy many times; Women had no economic/civic freedoms; and Slaves had no freedoms at all; it was controlled by the rich elite.....

Deep

Originally posted by Kaiser617
USA then actually is an aristocracy if only a select fewown more than the rest of the population.

According to that definition, every society on the face of the planet was an aristocracy. Not a very useful definition.

Only two percent of the USA populations are millionaires kinda makes you wonder where the land of oppurtunity has gone.

Looks like its going to the 2% of people able to finagle the oppurtunity out of it

Most of the names on that list are self-made and several just within the last 20 to 30 years. The Google people just within the last month. To say there isn't an opportunity to make your own fortune isn't true. If you have a good idea and are willing to work to make it happen anything is possible. Work being the key word.

Something most people seem to overlook is that you can be successful and comfortable without being a millionaire. Poverty has happened in the past, is happening now, and will continue in the future. We throw $40K a year away for every person below the poverty line. Has it done any good? Should Bill Gates give everyone a million dollars just because he can?

Am I the only person that doesn't feel uncomfortable that people are super-wealthy? I like the option being available to me to become one, even if the odds of it are very, very slim.

Most of those lists are not worth the paper (or screens) they're written on. Was a thread on this topic about 2 months ago.

Basically, some "self-promoters" enjoy being on such lists. People like Bill Gates, Ted Soros, Warren Buffet, the Rothschild family, and the late Sam Walton revelled in freaking people out with how much they supposedly own.

Others, such as the Krupp family, the Queen of England, etc., go to extreme lengths to keep their names from appearing in such lists.

I visit a lot of financial chatrooms, and was laughing recently with a dude who wondered why the infomerical tycoons never make the list. You know, people like Carlton Sheets, Dave Del Dotto, Anthony Robbins, and Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad/Poor Dad). The hilarious thing is that it turns out when those guys talk about their multi-million dollar homes, they actually rent them!!!!

That whole bit about 5% of the population owning 95% of everything is a myth. Have a look at this book: "The Millionaire Next Door". It does contain statistical information on America's millionaires. Some of the more interesting facts are that the average american millionaire does not have a swimming pool, drives an american-made car that is an average of 8 years old, and does not have a college degree. Also, never spent more than 75 dollars for a wristwatch, and own no more than two suits, neither of which cost more than $280.

Do you know what the most common occupation of American millionaires is, given on their tax return? Auctioneer. Number two is "owner of janitorial service."

I lookked on snopes for the number of percentage that "owns everything else in america." I checked on Snopes and several other sites. I cannot find a single documented statistic. If you can, I'd appreciate it.


Oh, yeah. the most important statistic in that book is that the average american millionaire reports that he inherited less than $1000 of his wealth. I cannot remember the exact number, but I believe that at least 3/4 of millionaires were raised in middle to lower-class households. A disproportionate number of them are immigrants, especially from Russia and Greece. Anglo-Saxons and those of German descent were under-represented, as were Blacks, compared with their proportions of the US population.


[edit on 27-9-2004 by dr_strangecraft]

i think it a big problem

i watch these MTV cribs with all the rap/basket/football/celeb stars, with their millions, they seriously have too much money, wasting on excesive stuff. wasted money, that could be contributed to a worthy cause, gets wasted cuz these millionairs feel like blowing it all on a buncha crap that is going to help no one. how many cars does one person need? if i had that money sure i would buy my self some nice stuff, but i would contribute a lot of it to SCIENCE cuz that is what will make me happy to see progresion in my life time and knowing i did what i could to help, these people are just so arrogent they think that life is about how many cool cars you can get. they are sorely mistaken...

[edit on 27-9-2004 by sturod84]

In the intro to "The Millionaire Next Door" the authors give statistics on rock, rap, and sports stars. Only about 25 players for the NBA had a net worth of 1 million or more. The rest are renting, and have mortgaged their assets off to buy that "crap."

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft



That whole bit about 5% of the population owning 95% of everything is a myth. Have a look at this book: "The Millionaire Next Door". It does contain statistical information on America's millionaires. Some of the more interesting facts are that the average american millionaire does not have a swimming pool, drives an american-made car that is an average of 8 years old, and does not have a college degree. Also, never spent more than 75 dollars for a wristwatch, and own no more than two suits, neither of which cost more than $280

Hey....your describing characteristics of Ralph Nader..(my candidate)
...also known to say that the Govt is Full Of oligarchs

I guess, as opposed to Aristocrats!

Originally posted by sturod84
i watch these MTV cribs with all the rap/basket/football/celeb stars

I agree, and (after reading drstangecrafts post) would include the entire sports industry (thats where the money goes anyway). I wish that there was a 5$ tax on tickets to professional sporting events. I think its silly for cities to spend money on stadiums when schools are falling apart and most of the population is only quasi-literate.

I agree completely Nygdan. Every time I have seen a metropolitan "event" stadium built, there is matching taxpayer dollars. Usually mayors blather on about how it's all good for business. In a pig's eye. I think even a mediocre journalist could find out why any mayor would back a new stadium that drives up tax rates. It ain't about the citizens. But then, newspapers and TV news desks would loose access to city hall, and get scooped forever after.

Dan Rather's Career (and that of CBS News) tanked a long time ago. And it all goes back to his exchange in '71 with Nixon. For those of you to young to remember, Nixon was holding a press conference at the white house when the news about Vietnam was particularly bleak, and Nixon was becoming hated by the left. Nixon was taking questions and said "Next, yes Mr. Rather?" And the other journalists applauded at his name. Nixon joked "Dan, are you running for something?" And Rather quipped: "No, Mister President . . . are YOU?"

After that, CBS cameras were not allowed at the White House until the Carter Administration. Reagan kicked 'em out again for 8 years as well, as I recall. CBS has been third ever since.

Now the point of that marathon down memory lane was to point out why you'll never get the goods on why sports stadia ever get built, or who really owns what.

Ever notice on "Cribs," that they hardly ever show an A-list celebrity/billionaire. Not Brad and Jen, or Bill Gates, or Prince Bandar or Jennifer Lopez. Only the wannabees. The 2nd bassist for Electric Mayhem, or the keyboardist from Nightstocker.

Originally posted by PistolPete
Am I the only person that doesn't feel uncomfortable that people are super-wealthy? I like the option being available to me to become one, even if the odds of it are very, very slim.

You are absolutely not the only one who doesn't hate the rich. There is a kind of aristocracy in America, composed of old money families. The Kennedys do not strictly fit this model, but they are coming close as the years go by.

In America, most of the wealthy are not men of leisure. They are hard-charging, hard-working innovators who laugh at the idea of a forty-hour week. These people never stop working. That's the primary difference between the kind of aristocracy we might refer to as having here in America and a real aristocracy.

Consider the following definitions:

Definitions of aristocracy on the Web:

a privileged class holding hereditary titles
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn


the most powerful members of a society
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn


A form of government in which a minority rules under the law.
www.nelson.com/nelson/polisci/glossary.html


Political theory that advocates the rule of "the best" whom it identifies, generally, with a hereditary upper class. Contrast: autocracy, democracy, oligarchy.
members.aol.com/lshauser2/lexicon.html


The cold shade of the aristocracy - i.e. the unsympathising patronage of the great. The expression first occurs in Sir W. F. P. Napier's History of the Peninsular War. The word "aristocracy" is the Greek aristo-cratia (rule of the best-born).
www.bootlegbooks.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/data/63.html


a class of people who hold high social rank
lc.ust.hk/~sa/glossary.htm


The cold shade of the aristocracy - i.e. the unsympathising patronage of the great. The expression first occurs in Sir W. F. P. Napier's History of the Peninsular War. The word "aristocracy" is the Greek aristo-cratia (rule of the best-born).
ppcl.chungnam.ac.kr/my/references/phrase/data/63.html


n. governmnet by a small, priveleged hereditary class, drawn from the leading families of the state
www.jeanchretien.net/data/0055.html


government by a few with special privileges, ranks or positions; rule by an elite few who are above the general law; a group who by birth or position are �superior to everybody else� and who can make or apply laws to others but consider that they themselves are not affected by the laws.
www.lipoet.com/gloss.htm


Hereditary ruling class in ascriptive structured societies where social position is determined by birth.
www.jdar.org/dico/dico/A.htm


a class of hereditary nobility in medieval Europe; a warrior class who shared a distinctive lifestyle based on the institution of knighthood, although there were social divisions within the group based on extremes of wealth.
www.trenam.net/wcivone/glossary/total%20glossary.htm


Upper social class of noble rank, title, or birth, traditionally lands owners usually
www.cbe.ab.ca/b836/curriculum/social/socialgloss.html


en.wikipedia.org...