The rich get richer and the poor get poorer...,

The saying is politically motivated. They saying basically means those that can least afford it are taxed higher percentages.

There is also a saying that the poorest 90% are taxed to support the rich 10%

 

If you recognize that having all this material wealth will not make you happy, then why do you keep trying in vain to make yourself happy with expensive goodies? Every thread you make you seem to talk all about the expensive Italian marble being installed in your very own personal mansion that your father is paying to have built for you, you talk about your Bentleys and Astons and Range Rovers that you father bought for you. That shit won't make you happy, so why become so obsessed with it?

Maybe you should consider trying to live a simpler life, a life without flashy expensive things. Constantly flaunting your wealth and all your expensive goodies is a turn-off to guys looking for a real relationship; you are not going to find a boyfriend who loves you- you are going to find a boyfriend who loves your money. Likewise you will find a lot of people trying to become "friends" with you, when their real aim is simply to become "friends" with your money.

So my suggestion to you would be to maybe try toning down the flashiness and the gaudiness, don't try to flaunt your exorbitant wealth. Sell the Bentley and donate the money to charity. Making a real difference in the lives of other human beings is far more fulfilling than showing off material wealth.


As for the saying...the truthfulness of it is self-evident. "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" is the way it's always been.

Most people who are wealthy are wealthy because they were born into families with means. Our entire system is stacked toward entrenching wealth among those who already have it while laying every obstacle possible to prevent poor and working class people from getting ahead in life. Meanwhile the middle class is being squeezed out of existence.

In the U.S., for example, we have someone like multimillionaire Mitt Romney. His father's money bought him into the top universities and business schools. His father's money provided him the startup capital to create Bain Capital, a private equity company which made even more millions for Mitt by destroying businesses and jobs of working class people. His father's money bought him the connections to get involved in politics. Mitt inherited vast wealth from his father, and was able make even more money by investing the money. Mitt betrayed just how out-of-touch he was with ordinary folk when he suggested to a group of young students that if they wanted to start a new business, they should borrow money from their parents, as if every young person has a multimillionare parent out there with a few spare millions to lend their son or daughter.

And to add insult to injury, mega-millionaire Mitt Romney pays a lower tax rate than does the single mom working two minimum wage jobs just to afford to put food on the table.

Money begets money.

What we need to do is radically change the system and redistribute wealth, we can start by taxing the rich at substantially higher rates to fund policies to help poor people move up the economic ladder.

 

Money is power, and while exceptions exist, I agree with the sentiment. Not only do you have to spend money to make money (a simple trend of capitalism) but the people with an offensively huge amount of wealth adjust the system to work in their favor. Why do you think their was a backlash against Standard Oil a century ago that resulted in anti-trust legislation? Corporations get powerful enough to rule entire markets, and you bet your bells they don't use that economic clout for altruism.

On the other side of the coin, if you have little money, life is disproportionately hard. I had to leave my job for school (attended in order to get money to become independent), and because both my income and direct deposit were cut off, my bank began hitting me with fees. That problem was solved, but if something else like a major car breakdown were to hit, I'm sunk. Somebody with a couple grand would have no problem overcoming it, but I have no such security. I can only post here because others are infinitely generous and I aim to pay them back when I graduate/get hired. "Stuff" is the last thing on my mind; even hobbies have fallen by the wayside since my money goes only to food and gas for my car.

Wow, this turned into a rant. But I do agree that the rich (I use that term loosely to mean the 1%) do all they can to amass more money than anyone could enjoy, the rest of society be damned.

 

I'm sorry you are having trouble finding a relationship is...believe me. :/ I do have a family who loves me though so that is something.

"...it's not at all my family on my dads side started with nothing like my great grandparents they worked hard and created a company and after sold it and made a fortune and then created another company that my grand parents kept going until they sold it off and my dad had his company and works for others as well so it's not easy but If you work hard and don't stop I assure you you will make it."

Having a company given to you is not the same thing as working hard to get there... it's just not. And if you are in a bad place in life getting things can be impossible if you don't have a support system from the government and loved ones.

 

Addendum to my views: I don't see it as a "democrat vs. republican" issue. Both of them raise taxes on the little people when they can, and republicans at the very least like to cut them for the ultra-wealthy with the philosophy that the benefits will "trickle down." Great in principle, but in reality (and a very shocking turn -.-) they usually decide to keep it. That would explain why profits are in the stratosphere and wages have remained stagnant or even dropped considering inflation. And I don't think raising the minimum wage would help much either, as the crony capitalists would raise costs for the end consumers and stay the course. :/

 

nvm

 

Not to be mean, but you are naive to the point where it is almost sad. The 1% is taxed less since they can hire accounts to find loopholes in the tax code for them. And they've also spent a lot of money lobbying in politics to make sure the tax code stays favorable to them. The low taxes aren't a reward for hard work, but a reward for simply being rich and making it so you stay rich. I come from a rather wealthy family, probably not in the 1% but in the top few percent for sure, and I know my family pays less taxes than some of my friends families who make way less than my parents. It's sick and really should change, I don't think the rich should be taxed out of all their money, but they certainly won't miss some of it.

Also when you have a business it is easier to lower taxes as you can write off a lot of things, i.e. artificially lower your income on paper, by saying they are for business when they aren't. Also by keeping your money in a business, the benefits are two fold, the corporate tax code is very easy to manipulate into paying little taxes, and since you personally didn't make the money, the business did, your personal income can be very low. People without the means to start a large business, or didn't inherit one, don't have the luxury of hiding their money in a company, which if it's a profitable company will increase your money.

 

It'd be nice to be rich...nah, I should rephrase that. It'd be nice to have something. I'm broke, jobless, carless, and I owe the govt money so they won't let me go back to college...It'd be nice to just have a place to put my foot on the ground. -.-'

I don't really care much for expensive things. I never understood flashy cars and the brand label clothing...personally, I'd be happy with a place to call my own and a modest car that could be respected. Sadly, teenagers don't make the best decisions and past me kinda screwed the pooch...oh well, what's life without something to overcome anyways? Sometimes I feel bad being stuck here with family. At 22 you should be self-sufficient...*sighs*

Anyways,

I have two things I want to address specifically.

1.) The only hard work that sounds like it was being done was by your father's father. This I'm assuming was at least back in the area of let's say the 50's somewhere along those lines? That being the case the rules were a little different. It was still tilted in the favor of the rich, but back then a person with dedication and a good idea could still make it in with the top dogs. This is 2014, and the rules have changed. Now, everyone gets screwed unless they're in that top percentile.

2.) You sound unhappy with things as they are. You want your family to be closer, and that means more to you than money ever could. I'm sorry that your family chases the almighty dollar. It's sad when people chose that route, it is. If you're family doesn't want to be that way, than create your own family that will be. Meet people, good people. Don't flash around your cash, just be yourself and learn to live modestly. In good time people will find their way to you, and good people too who'll be more than happy to take time out for dinner. :3

 

What Chip wrote is very true in regards to mega corporations like Wal-Mart (adding Amazon to the list). Alexander I don't know about your upbringing is in terms of wealth vs. poor, but it is good that you are potentially aware of the hardship people go through just to make ends meet.

We all love to think everyone is born with equal opportunities to be "successful" but in reality that is simply not true. Who you are racially, ethnically, and what your family's socio-economic background before you were born are all factors to the chance of how successful you can be in the future. Yes there have been cases where the poor got rich, but the chance of that happening is lower than the people who has got the money to educate and "buy" things so readily available to them - rich people got better and more options.

 

This is precisely the reason for my response to the older thread about your parents (i.e. yawn). There are only so many times you can say you really want to change and then go spend a thread ranting about your big house and fancy cars and money before it just gets boring to listen to.

I know you weren't thrilled with that response, but it is hard to have sympathy when you continually ignore very very good advice that awesome people here spend so much time giving you.

Not saying its easy either, but if you say you want to trade it all for money, I believe the ideology is there, but I also believe you would miss you money.

 

". Because yes it's hard to make it big but if you work hard ad keep trying I truly believe anyone can have money and e successful. "

Did you ever hear the response to that belief?

If success and wealth were truly the result of hard work, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.

 

Don't feel guilty friend. You didn't ask to be born into a rich family, and honestly most of us are happy that life's been financially kind to you. Not everyone is so lucky.

You have no reason to feel bad, it's not like you're using your wealth to do bad things to people. No, the reason we're all fired up is because of the question you asked in specific. A lot of us have been a little down on our luck, and some don't necessarily see a way to make any better of it.

You can't blame yourself for the place you were born at, and more than that you shouldn't feel guilty for it either.

You said you were unhappy with the wealth, so we were suggesting that you try and find a way to live more modestly instead of relying on money to make you appear as though you're doing well. (*hug*)

 

As you well know, being rich doesn't make you happy - even though it makes others jealous.

If you look at happiness versus income, the two are only correlated in the lowest ranges (eg, a minimum wage worker is happier than a homeless person, on average). Once you have enough money to live off of and meet your basic needs, having more doesn't make you any happier.

 

Alexander (*hug*)
Lots of lengthy posts so forgive me if I repeat what others have written.
Find a cause or charity you are passionate about. Volunteer. Learn about others struggles. Be compassionate.
Rent a small apt. Downsize your life. Find out what sparks your joy and makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.
You have a lot to give. I don't mean money. Share you. You deserve to be happy. Find out what makes you happy and do it!