bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “right community” = “appropriately connected” > > It was an attempt to point out that social > connections matter too, and not simply how much > cash you have in the bank. > > – > > > I don’t actually dislike wealthy people, although > I can understand that that last post reads as > though I do. I grew up in a family where one side > came from money (lots of it), and one side was > basically a middle class family who - although > they never were in danger of starvation - also had > to work and struggle for what they had. So, > interestingly, even though I put “marry into it” > because it seemed to be a category that needed > inclusion, I guess I witnessed that myself. > > And, I can also say that the “poorer” side of my > family has, on the whole, been far more generous > and loving to me than the rich side, many of whom > use money as a way to control and manipulate each > other. I find many wealthy people, in the family, > and elsewhere, complaining about “entitlements,” > when, in fact, they are the ones who walk around > shocked, shocked, that people don’t treat them in > the manner to which they feel socially entitled. > > My problem is not with the wealthy. My problem is > with a particular subclass of the wealthy who > don’t have an appropriate sense of the degree to > which luck has contributed to their position and > status and don’t understand how easily things may > have been different for them, through no fault of > their own. That may be the luck of inheriting > from a family. It may be the luck of being born > at a time when a technology like the personal > computer was ready to be accepted by the market, > and being in the community where you can take > advantage of that. It may be the luck of being > born in a country that allows you to use your > talents, or luck in being able to escape your > oppressors in a foreign country in order to launch > an enterprise here (or, somewhere else). > > When you realize how much of wealth and success > actually comes from luck - even for talented > people - and I’m not saying that talent doesn’t > matter. You also have to start asking yourself > how many people who are struggling have had bad > luck. And when you think of all the ways that bad > luck can affect people and how it can compound > over time, you start to realize that just because > you have money doesn’t, by itself, mean you > deserve it any more than anyone else. Some of > what you have is related to your work and efforts, > and some has to do with luck. > > Increasingly, globalization means that we are 1) > competing with absolutely every person and place > on the planet, and 2) we are living (courtesy of > technologies) in an increasingly “winner take all” > society. Winner-take-all means that the > difference between being #1 and #2 can be huge, > between #1 and #10 even more gigantic, and between > #1 and #1000 absolutely insurmountable. There > will soon be 7 billion of us to compete with, and > the winner will take nearly all. All of this > means that the tiniest differences in luck can > outweigh even enormous differences in skill, and > also that tiny differences in skill will create > enormous differences in results. > > When you realize this, you then start to recognize > that it is in society’s interest to reduce the > “winner take all” phenomenon, and part of this is > to make sure that the people who are not current > winners have some resources with which to compete > and innovate. > > Again, I’m not arguing that we need a society > where everyone has the same stuff and wears the > same clothes or some kind of socialist structure. > I abhor that too. But we do need a society in > which the very wealthy and the very poor and those > in the middle have some way to relate to each > other, and that those who don’t happen to have > won-and-taken-all actually do have a realistic > opportunity to advance themselves. > > Now, why shouldn’t people be able to benefit from > their luck. I don’t think that gains from luck > are so awful that everyone needs to be stripped of > those gains and we all have to live in exactly the > same conditions or anything like that. In fact, I > think that a lot of gains from luck should be kept > by those with it, and I think the gains from hard > work and talent should definitely be kept by those > who have put in the effort. > > So what I don’t like is when people who are > beneficiaries of wealth start to assume that > anyone who doesn’t have it must be lazy and > unworthy of compassion, help, assistance, or > opportunity. Maybe this is because the wealthy > part of my family came from “old money,” where the > concept of “Noblesse Oblige” was venerated (in > word if not always in deed). “Of those to whom > much is given, much is required.” > > If I am sounding extra anti-wealthy on this board, > it’s only because someone needs to stand up and > say that the world should not be simply “every > man/woman for themselves, grabbing whatever they > can get.” The signal quality of a professional is > that they are paid for the value that they create > for people, and not the power that they can > extract from people. Much of the wealth > accumulation in the US over the past 30 years, > particularly in the financial sector, have been > people who have not arguably created much value > for the economy, yet have been bailed out by the > taxpayer and, after taking money and paying > themselves handsome bonuses with it, have told > everyone else that they can’t have a social safety > net anymore because we’ve been too generous. Easy for you to say; if you had several hundred million dollars, I’m sure you’d feel like it’s way more fun to own a handful of mansions, ferraris, and regular prostitutes than to help sick children and improve communities and the lives of others. You might get a guilt trip every now and then. Not really a problem tho; cuz then you could just spend a few grand on a lavish charity ball. You and your rich friends could show up in overpriced suits, then circle jerk each other all night long and pat yourselves on the back for being such good samaritans.
magicskyfairy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bchadwick Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > Easy for you to say; if you had several hundred > million dollars, I’m sure you’d feel like it’s way > more fun to own a handful of mansions, ferraris, > and regular prostitutes than to help sick children > and improve communities and the lives of others. > You might get a guilt trip every now and then. Not > really a problem tho; cuz then you could just > spend a few grand on a lavish charity ball. You > and your rich friends could show up in overpriced > suits, then circle jerk each other all night long > and pat yourselves on the back for being such good > samaritans. what we do to amuse ourselves is our own business playing WOW and dancing in drum circles isn’t for everyone…
How did that quote end up looking like I wrote it???
i dunno, maybe Fox News had something to do with it
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How did that quote end up looking like I wrote > it??? haha, sorry. i think i tried to show it as a response to yours…
Like that Covidian/Medtronic merger?