Will you feel bad for the rich?

[TwixVoy]

Part of me wonders how the regular "rich" (not the filthy rich 1%) are going to handle the next stage of this depression that may see their wealth wiped out. I see a lot of great depression era suicides coming down the line. These people are so completely out of touch with the rest of the world it continues to amaze me.

As some may know from previous posts I had started a new career as a telecommunications technician a few months ago. This has me going to many peoples homes. My territory happens to be the ultra rich part of the city.

I go to mansions on a daily basis surrounded by gates and full of house keepers.

I had one rich (clearly millionaire) lady go psycho on me today. I told her we were going to have to run a new drop (line) to her house in order to fix her internet. I told her it typically is done by the next day. She went ballistic. Started telling me it was an "emergency" that she have internet, that she needed it done RIGHT NOW, and that she didn't know what she was going to do. What was her emergency that required the internet be working RIGHT NOW? She couldn't use her Itouch on the internet for 2 days.

I just wonder what these people are going to do when their wealth evaporates just like the great depression and they find themselves living like the rest of the country does.

Personally I don't think I will feel bad for them.

[Naturyl]

1. The mac dad will make you, daddy mac will make you, Kriss Kross will make you...

JUMP JUMP.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. So what happens when your predictions turn to be wrong?

and here is a free hint, the people you are dealing with have ENOUGH money that for the most part they will not end losing all. That my dear is the UPPER MIDDLE CLASS... not the wealthy.

History books and all that might help.

By the way all economic indicators say we are NOT even close to a depression. Go find the definition because it is not one.

By the way we did get close to one in case you are wondering, and no, they would not lost their shirts either.

[Hannah Bell]

3. thank god it passed.

[Naturyl]

4. You're right, of course.

The image of them jumping from very high windows was delightful for the moment I allowed it to persist, but you are of course correct. Absent a truly progressive tax structure, they are untouchable and will do just as well (or better) during a depression as they do the rest of the time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Why I am all for a progressive tax rate with those folks getting a 70% rate

I am nice willig to go to JFKs rate and not FDRs of 90%.

[Naturyl]

10. Generous of you.

Really, it is. I'm not quite so forgiving. Let's nail them to the tune of Ike's 91%.

[anonymous171]

5. Hell no. They are lucky we aren't getting the guillotine out right now. nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

7. Yes they are lucky we aren't lynching people who are different from us.

[me b zola]

79. Hugely inappropriate analogy.n/t

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

94. How is that?

Lynch mobs have been dishing out vigilante justice for quite some time.

[me b zola]

108. You are talking about two different things

Lynching people for "being different"--and from that I gather you are talking about African Americans

and lynch mobs dishing out vigilante justice.




The people who have lynched other people because they "were different" were not seeking anything to do with justice.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

110. The people different from us was a reference to the rich.

[phasma ex machina]

106. Faux pas noted by Madame Defarge. nt

[me b zola]

111. Pssst

I was not supporting the post that the poster that I was responding to responded to.

[anonymous171]

86. It would be self-defense. nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

96. All rich people pose an imminent threat to your life.

[anonymous171]

98. If the financial situation of the nation continues to decline, then yes.

[Dreamer Tatum]

102. Horseshit nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

107. How exactly do they pose an imminent threat?

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. The unrec is mine. If "rich" as you define it is "millionaire", then we're not on the same team.

My net worth is right at the point of "millionaire", but only because I own my own house. So you're saying that my hard work, dilligence, and more than a little luck puts me in the category of "rich".

I can't get onboard. Sorry. I live day to day, week to week, and month to month. My new wife and I clip coupons. We live in the dark, with our only nightly light provided by candles. I just had five chords of wood delivered (and stacked them myself). That alone will save us over 3,000 dollars in utility expenses between now and April. We're pinching pennies until they fucking scream. I've been told that I'm so tight that I squeak when I walk (by my nephew, who expected me to pay for his lift ticket, dinner, and place to stay when he came up the mountain to snowboard).

If your beef is with people who claim to be "millionaires", you're barking up the wrong tree. I earned my assets as a credentialed teacher in the state of California, and supplimented them by selling real estate.

I wear sweatshirts and Levi's, and drive a five year old Chevy Tahoe. I recycle. I do more than most to help the environment (see paragraph two, sentence five).

After all is said and done, I don't WANT you to feel bad for me. A quick search will show that I've worked food lines during the holidays and have donated what I could to those less fortunate than myself.

[Naturyl]

9. Cheapskate does not equal not rich.

Grats on your "hard work" and "diligence." Earned, earned, earned, right? And now, you're trying to pass yourself off as "struggling." LOL. Yeah, my people are familiar with people like you. You are the ones that hire my people to do a low-paying job and then don't want to pay, because "money is so tight." Admitting to $1m net worth and then trying to get on the boat with those of us who make 20k a year, 15k a year, or 7k a year (in my case)? Nah, peddle that shit elsewhere. Clipping coupons doesn't make you poor. My wife's multi-millionaire aunt does the same thing, shops at thrift stores, and trots out the same hilarious arguments you just made.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. As a teacher, with a Full Time Designated Subjects teaching credential issued by

the State of California, the MOST I made in a single year was $46,000. I didn't reach that level until my seventh year as a teacher. Tell me that as a teacher, I didn't do "hard work". Tell me that I didn't have to spend any of my hard earned money on supplies for my class. Tell me that I didn't buy books for adult students who couldn't afford them. Tell me when I couldn't afford to buy them on occasion, that I didn't walk into the bookroom at my school and literally steal them in order to allow students in my classes who couldn't afford them to stay in my class. Ask me how many times I paid for Microsoft Office software for students who couldn't afford it.

I'm not rich. I am simply able to claim a house that I own outright. Tell me that I didn't scrimp and save to be able to send more than the mortgage payment every month by burning candles rather than light bulbs.

Earned, earned, earned is right.

I got out of the Navy in 89 after nine years of service with a high school education, from a public school on the edge of East Los Angeles.

I'm nobody special, just someone who was in the right place at the right time, and had the right skills. I went from refinery worker to student (after a third knee surgery) to teacher at the very school I went to to learn a new trade.

Fuck you and what you think is hilarious. I AM Mr. Bootstrap.

Lastly, I hire no one to do menial work for me, as I do my own menial work. I vacuum my own floors, scrub my own toilets, and cook my own meals.

Who would "your people" be?

[Libertas1776]

16. I agree,

if California is anything like New York, owning a house that is closing in on a cool mill if not a million itself doesn't mean jack squat about your personal income. I'm sure you were fiscally responsible enough, worked hard enough, and maybe even lucked out enough that you now own your own house (as I understand it) Of course, that doesn't automatically mean you are a member of the filthy rich class. I think there is a prevalencey here on DU to automatically equate anyone who has a little to considerably more, of which was earned through hard work and time, with the filthy rich blood suckers who make there dough screwing people out of their life savings etc.

[Naturyl]

21. Alright "Mr. Bootstrap," fair enough.

Look, maybe you are okay. I don't know, because I don't know you from Adam. What I *DO* know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that there are a TON of people who have $1m+ net worth who say the same sorts of things you do in order to claim how "ordinary" and "struggling" they are. I don't know your life story, and for all I know, maybe you've done decent things all your life. However, I *DO* know many of the people who make the same claims, and I know they are selfish "me-first" sort of people who think because they clip coupons (out of garden-variety cheapness and miserliness), they deserve some kind of "regular guy" badge of honor.

My people (meaning my family) are self-employed housepainters. Yeah, they are those people who slap colors up on your walls. They have done good, honest work all their lives, and if they ever made more than $20k a year doing it, I can't recall when. Their business doesn't employ anyone but themselves and they aren't commercially "successful" because they don't like price-gouging and ripping people off. They have done a thousand jobs for a thousand millionaires, at least 900 of whom have complained about the (very reasonable) prices, delivered the check late, canceled the job altogether because they found a drunken son-in-law to do it for free, etc. These are people who have "earned" every dime they have managed to extract from their millionaire cheapskate employers. People who have spent their lives on 30 foot ladders, inhaling toxic fumes, doing heavy lifting, and listening to the self-justifying "sob stories" of people who spend more in one night at Red Lobster than they budget for a year's entertainment.

So yeah, "Mr. Bootstraps," congratulations. You made it to a million. How about the others who are yanking just as hard (or harder) on those mythical "bootstraps" and are just wearing themselves out, wondering where they will get the money for a new pair of boots? I'm not asking you to have pity or sympathy. Far be it from that. Just don't try to pretend you are one of them, because you most emphatically are not.

[cherokeeprogressive]

At this point, I am not. In that you are correct. However, I'm just a high school educated stoner

from Southest Los Angeles County. I attended Long Beach State University for three semesters AFTER I got my teaching credential. When I satisfied the requirements of my credential, I quit BECAUSE I could no longer afford to attend.

I don't have to pretend ANYTHING, cuz I'm NOBODY special.

[Hannah Bell]

50. i think the distinction is, he doesn't have income of a million, he owns property valued

at a million.

it might be he bought it long ago for much less.

does that property provide him with an income stream? i don't know. but at least as he tells it, he got his property through his own work, not through inheritance or by having other people work for him.

at any rate, he doesn't appear to control the commanding heights of the economy, even, for example, in his own state.

i know several millionaires. but only in property, not in income stream. they all started with a bit of an edge in the property & connections department, though.

the heirs of two of them for sure will dissipate their holdings in the next generation.

this doesn't typically happen to the folks who control the commanding heights. their fortunes endure for centuries.

[lukasahero]

84. It's hardly worth the waste of breath

People here don't understand the difference between worth and income. They just know someone has more than them and hate them for it.

There is a class war but those with true wealth don't have to fight it because they keep the have-less and have-even-lesser's fighting among themselves. :(

[Sherman A1]

90. Bingo!

Well Said.....

[csziggy]

91. Being a "millionaire" does not mean as much as it used to

If you own property, in many areas the value has inflated so much, even with the current downdip, that property could easily be worth a good percentage of a million dollars. Your family are house painters - have you valued your equipment recently? Add up the price of what your professionally required equipment is, vehicles and other necessities to do business - even your clothes count. I would bet it would surprise you. Your family may not make it to the million dollar level but I'd be very surprised if it was not a good portion of a million by the time you add it up.

Sometimes the borderline "millionaires" have been lucky or just in the right place at the right time. More often, they have worked hard for what they own and deserve to enjoy what they have achieved. Just because they have reached some arbitrary plateau based on a number that no longer means that much is no reason to be so contemptuous of them.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

114. Wow bitter much. You are the one considering killing them.

[Taitertots]

23. Something doesn't add up

You claim to have never made more than $46,000 a year. Yet you also claim a net worth over a million dollars. In less than 30 years how did you make more than $1,000,000 after expenses.

$46,000 * 30 years = $1,380,000

So where did your millions come from?

[cherokeeprogressive]

27. Wow. I own a house. I have a spouse who brought her own money to the table.

I was a Realtor (yes, Realtor) part time while I taught, and full-time afteward.

Millions? MILLION(S)? Wouldn't MILLIONS imply that my "net worth" was more than TWO million dollars?

[Taitertots]

51. So you made more than $46,000 a year?

There is no way that making less than $46,000 a year you have an asset value over a million dollars. Would you care to admit to your actual income.

[Hannah Bell]

53. i don't see what the mystery is. i have friends who never made over that,

but have property worth a million.

property values increase over wages if you hold long enough.

i kick myself for not buying land here when it was $1000/5 acres, cause it's now $50K/5 acres. that's more than wages have gone up here in the same time frame.

[hack89]

80. How much do you think a million dollar(today) property in CA cost 10 years ago? nt

[mainer]

65. My dad never made more than $40,000 a year. He was a millionaire

Yes, it's possible. And his house was never worth more than $200,000 while he was alive.

[C_Lawyer09]

104. Are you stupid?

Read his post again. You could make a million bucks investing wisely.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

92. You don't need to apologize for your net worth.

There are some embittered people here that turn their rage and hate toward individuals rather than the system that is
responsible for the state of the economy. Some people inherit money, win the lottery, bought a house on the cheap
in a great location, won a lawsuit for severe injuries and so on. They and you don't need to explain or apologize for that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. As a Sailor in the United States Navy, my wife and I had enough money on our first anniversary

to buy a pack of cigarettes and a six pack of Milwaukee's Best. We had to WALK to the fucking liquor store from our trailer park.

Wanna know something? We had no ill feelings toward ANYONE or ANYTHING. I guess we were too young to know real hate.

We sat in the dark and drank beer out of our wedding glasses and smoked cigarettes.

That night, we went to bed in our 14x70 trailer HAPPY.

[Naturyl]

28. Well, all criticism aside, you have good taste in beer.

Milwaukee's Best is indeed the "best" of cheap beers. Every broke person knows this, so you get some cred points there. :)

Touching story about the 14x70 trailer of your youth. I'm 34 years old and go to bed in my 14x72 every night. Will continue to do so until it falls down. My parents, who have worked hard all their lives and are pushing 60, will also be going to bed in their single-wide tonight, and presumably for the duration. That's just one part of the difference... but again, grats on buying the best cheap beer. That is one thing all of us do have in common... although I presume you don't drink it anymore. :)

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Yeah well, at the time my ONLY objective was to show my wife a good time.

It was all I could do, all I could muster. Looking back on it, it's not something I'm proud of.

She deserved tons better than that, but on my salary as a military E-3, it was the best I could do for her.

For what it's worth, would my military pay have been better, she might still be my wife, and the daughter we had together might still be a major part of my life.

[Naturyl]

32. If she left you over money, you're better off.

God, that's insulting to all of us who have nothing. "If my pay had been better." Really, do you know what that would make this woman? Hint: there's a word, but I won't say it. I'm not here to attack you, just to offer an alternative perspective.

If she would have been part of your life had you made more money, you have every reason to be thankful she ISN'T part of your life. Plus, now that you are worth a million, who really has the last laugh?

Don't ever pay for love. Don't ever pay for a wife. Don't ever think you should have to pay for those things. It insults yourself, women, your ex, and the whole human race. Love is not a commodity and if you can buy it, it's not real.

If your daughter isn't a major part of your life, it isn't because you didn't make enough money. Are you supposed to be SOLD the company of your own daughter? Of course not. Don't blame yourself. Blame the real culprit - materialistic values.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Yeah well, life is what it is.

I own a house that was once worth close to a million dollars. It's not worth that now. But, I didn't buy it to make money on it, I bought it because I loved its location and what it represented. I put every penny I had into it. It will always by mine, and no one can take it from me for any reason other than non-payment of property taxes, which are nothing to sneeze at.

I'm not rich, no matter what you think of me.

Have a good night.

P.S., I have no ill will toward the woman I married at 21 who had bigger and better hopes for her life. She grew up as the daughter of a management person at the South Gate General Motors plant in So. Cal. After our divorce, she got pretty much what she wanted, which I could never have given her as a Sailor. It is what it is.

[C_Lawyer09]

101. Your comments are disgusting

And suggesting he does not deserve his million bucks is why some fiscal conservatives get annoyed with the Democratic party. The L.A. teacher worked the American dream, how the hell do you know he pays people to do his work for him? I have two relatives whom are millionaires. One was a long haul truck driver for thirty five years working 80-90 weeks, and one was a beauty college operator. I belonged to the SERTOMA organization when I lived in WA state. We were Democrats and Republicans. All of us raised over 30k in one year for those with audio disabilities. You should learn not to make uninformed generalizations.

[earth mom]

15. Try having to go and GET THE WOOD, SPLIT IT and STACK IT.

That's what my hubby has to do to get our wood for heating.

Your frugality is really nothing new or amazing to many of us DUers and most of the country these days.

Frankly, while my husband and I don't have but a small fraction of your wealth, I feel rich these days because my husband has a secure middle class union job and we have a roof over our heads.

Which is a helluva a lot more than many people have these days.

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. I live at the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest. I could go and get "my own wood".

I chose not to. That choice helped a person who shares this paradise with me to put food on his own table, or pay his rent/mortgage/car payment.

I don't have "wealth", I have a home unencumbered by a mortgage, and nothing more.

[earth mom]

19. I really don't think the OP was talking about you. But about the mega rich who think nothing

of those they have exploited and used to get where they are.

[lukasahero]

87. Actually, the OP specifically excluded the 'mega rich'

I'm trying to find out then, who exactly they are talking about...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

115. Um, if you're not filthy rich (and you're not) why are you getting so offended

on their behalf?

[dysfunctional press]

31. and would you be "wiped out" by a depression?

it doesn't sound like it- so i don't think that you are among those that the op mentions.

[mainer]

64. My dad worked as a cook, 70 hours a week, all his life.

And when he died, he had a million in assets. All because he never went anywhere or spent anything. He drove the same car for 30 years, changed his own oil, grew his own vegetables in the backyard. He just kept tucking his money into the bank and stock market and never touched it. He never flew in an airplane, and the only vacations he took were spent fishing on the dock.

I feel sad that he knew so little enjoyment in life. All he knew was work work work.

But yes, he died a millionaire.

[Double T]

11. Let them rot in their own hell.

The Dark Ages of the Past will be their Greatest Depression reality.

[Hamlette]

13. how is their wealth going to evaporate?

is the market going to crash?

I won't feel sorry for the woman in your story but what do you consider rich? I've worked for the state all my life, and every year I've put away some money for retirement. I've lived modestly, had only one child, new car every 12 to 15 years. I've got a nest egg that you might consider rich. Were I to lose it all, would you feel sorry for me?

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. Not at all. Your nest egg is obviously comprised of things you stole from those less fortunate than

you.

For some, it's a zero sum game. What you have, you've taken from the mouth of someone less fortunate.

[Hamlette]

20. but you would feel sorry for me if I'd spend lavisly my whole life

and run up huge debt. As long as I don't have anything now (but debt) it means I've not taken from the mouth of someone less fortunate?

So where does that end? If your stomach is ever full, for one minute of one day of your life, are you not taking from the mouth of someone less fortunate?

Wack. Or communist. Same diff. Same result.

[Naturyl]

37. "Zero sum game" is a RW taking point...

You know this, right?

And yeah, I happen to believe (as do many progressives) that the Earth's resources and their derivatives belong equally to all by moral birthright. So in my view (and that of more than a few fellow progressives), whenever one person has appreciably more than another, it constitutes theft from everyone.

Heh, call me old school. I unashamedly represent every right-wing nightmare, and every dream "liberals" once had but have since abandoned.

[AlienGirl]

40. It's actually a term from game theory. I learned it from sociologist Alfie Kohn, in "No Contest"

...in 1989 or so, when I had a huuuuge crush on him.

Tucker

[Silent3]

66. If pompous self-righteousness and taking pride in oversimplifying economics...

...could be considered part of "the Earth's resources", you're clearly hording far too much of this stuff to yourself.

[anonymous171]

112. LOL The rich have turned non-zero-sum game into their own little talking point

Ever hear the phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats"?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

47. I reject the zero sum game logic of the Spanish Theory of Value

I believe in the English Theory that new wealth can be created.

[pokercat999]

57. Ah, actually a lot of very smart people think the market

IS going to crash. When, is the real question. If we only knew the "when", we could be, dare I say it, rich.

[earth mom]

18. The rich can suck it! And I'm talking mega rich who have exploited others to get their

ill gotten gains.

I don't harbor ill feelings towards actors, musicians or people like Al Gore or Michael Moore.

But banksters, wall street gamblers, corporations-I will be happy to see them suffer and pay for their evil deeds! :evilgrin:

[BillDU]

22. Observation

You could get a similar reaction in a poor neighborhood.
I'm sure records would substantiate that.

[BillDU]

25. Jab

The rich are just "you" if you get it together.

[Taitertots]

26. The depression only benefits them

Why do you think the corporate owned government keeps supporting policy that make it unavoidable?

[proteus_lives]

29. Some will, some won't.

Those who don't know how to handle their money will be wiped out but many won't be.

I don't understand the point of this post. Why do these people deserve your smugness? Individuals you knew personally I could see but I don't understand why you feel gleeful about the potential misfortune of others. It would mean less work for you, an IT guy and all.

[TwixVoy]

34. I didn't go in to the kind of personality I witnessed

But she was, for one thing, a racist mother fu**er. One particular line while about 30 seconds after I arrived. I got to the door. Her house keeper answered. I started talking to her about who I was and why I was there. She came running up, stood right in front of her like she wasn't even there, and told me "Don't talk to my mexican maid. You know they can't understand". (funny, she had been talking to me just fine in english)

But hey I suppose I am the smug one.

[AlienGirl]

36. Then her real problem was her shallowness and racism, and not her money.

[TwixVoy]

38. And my thought was

what would such a shallow racist fu** do if she was suddenly in the same position as her help and the average person? That is the point of the post.

[AlienGirl]

42. She would probably still be just as shallow and racist.

[nadinbrzezinski]

82. +1, and actually worst... the racism gets far worst

actually.

[proteus_lives]

46. Survive or die.

That's what humans do.

What would you do if you suddenly hit the lotto? Use it wisely for the rest of your life or blow it in two years?

[proteus_lives]

45. Then your real problem is with her attitude?

Meh, racism is a constant through society. It has nothing to do with money.

Sounds to me that you don't like this person therefore don't think she should have the amount of money she has. Meaning, you don't have a real reason.

[AlienGirl]

49. It's really hard to shake "Just World" thinking

People imagine that virtue ought to be rewarded, and it's frustrating when that doesn't happen, which is pretty much always.

Tucker

[lukasahero]

88. I'm sorry - I'm call BS on "my mexican maid"

I'm just not buying it.

[proteus_lives]

93. Yeah, that sounded fishy to me too.

Too on-the-nose.

[Dreamer Tatum]

103. I'm calling TRIPLE BULLSHIT

"Ummmm...this isn't going how I expected...I need more cowbell to this story...I know: RACIST!"


:eyes:

[lukasahero]

105. LOL

Yeah, needs more cowbell. :rofl:

I've heard a lot of racists in my day and I've never, ever heard anyone refer to their "mexican maid".

[AlienGirl]

33. There but for fortune: If a man with a big trust fund marries me...and we lose everthing...

If a rich man were to fall in love with me, and I with him, and he married me, and he and I lost everything after that, would you still be compassionless--knowing that I had started with less than nothing?

What people have is not what people *are*. I will have compassion for anyone who is suffering. In the case of people who suffer because they can no longer have nonessential luxuries, I will express compassion by teaching that happiness doesn't depend on those things any more than it depended on always having a particular blanket; and by showing that the pain of losing things is temporary.

Tucker

[Naturyl]

39. How did you fall in love with a rich man?

Yeah, you betcha, I'm compassionless, because if I fall in love with Satan and he loses the throne of Hell, who will cry for me? If I fall in love with Hitler and he loses Germany, who will mourn my plight? Pose your hypothetical to Eva Braun and you may get a more reaffirming answer.

[AlienGirl]

41. slf-deleted, too much connecting info

[Naturyl]

43. Hehe, nice response.

:)

[AlienGirl]

44. Life is incredibly random.

[proteus_lives]

52. So you wouldn't love a rich woman?

[Raine]

48. It depends on who the rich person is

what kind of person they are.

[LeftyMom]

54. Oh ffs, the sky is not falling.

If you want to panic go ahead, and if you want to indulge in some fantasy where the powerful are laid low and you're not, go right ahead and do that too, but stop acting like you have some special insight into the functioning of the economy just because you work for AT&T or because you used to be a department head at Target. It's silly.

[HughBeaumont]

77. I never understood the logic of the DUomsday Cultists here.

It's almost as if they WANT a "Great Depression: The Even More Horrible Sequel" to happen for real. My grandparents lived through the first one and let me tell you, they'd better pray that NEVER happens. You know what the "Depression" still had? A few STILL rich people, STILL unaffected . .. whole hell of a lot of impoverished, used-to-be-middle-classers, with no hopes of job prospects for YEARS.

Trust me, the corporatists DO care about a possible scenario of shit hitting the fan. People still gotta buy their stuff. They aren't that massively stupid to throw 1/3 of the country out of work at the drop of a hat.

[Swamp Rat]

85. and...

They know that there is no army or police force capable of protecting them if 1/3 of Americans (people who have lost all and have nothing left to lose) decide to kill them.

No gated community, or "safe" work place can stop 100 million 'domestic terrorists'.

The truly wealthy want to keep the status quo, which includes periodic fleecing of the flock.

[Dreamer Tatum]

97. Search the OP's posts. This person is preparing for doomday.

Evidently taking a job in telecommunications is critical to their preparation for the new world order, where the DJIA is at 0.00 and zombies roam the streets.

[Nikki Stone1]

55. The "regular rich" (the upper upper-middle class) are leveraged and indebted too

at much higher levels than the rest of us. When their house of cards come down, they will fall hard and yes, I think you're right about the suicides.

[DFW]

56. I know a few well-off people

Very few of them are like that lady, though. Luckily, She is not representative of all well-off people.

I know some guys back home who have a successful small company. They are all millionaires, but give heavily
to environmental causes, cancer research, and even help out some employees who are fired for messing up (if
for reasons other than theft or violence) by sometimes keeping them on at minimum wage (on paper) for months
so that their health insurance continues until they can find a new job.

There are plenty of people like your stereotypical mansion dweller, but I know personally some who are the exact
opposite. I hope their wealth doesn't evaporate, because they spread it around freely and create local jobs in
Texas, which in the age of Rick Perry, is far from a given.

[stray cat]

58. I don't think they deserve to die or are intrinsically evil as some DUers do

and those that give generously who lose money effect those who benefit from donations to nonprofits.

[stray cat]

59. Do you feel bad for those struggling to keep their home - they are rich relative to renters

do they deserve any sympathy from those of us who don't own a home. They can lose their home and rent like the rest of us. The homeless should not express sympathy of any sort for anyone who has a roof over their head even if 2 familys live in a small apt. Wealth is relative

[StarfarerBill]

60. In a word...

no.

[Geek_Girl]

61. I'm not really sure what accounts for rich anymore

My household earns above 6 figures. I think that puts us at the top 10%. but I don't feel rich. I drive a honda civic my husband drives an 2000 escape. I live in an old house that needs allot of work. I can't really see us being able to afford a luxury home that so many seem to be buying these days.

My kid does go to private school but it's the lowest cost private school in the area and the public schools in our neighborhood are really some of the worst in the county.

My standard of living hasn't changed much even though our income has grown. If I'm in the top 10% then this country is in some serious trouble. I don't believe most people can afford food let alone all the crap that keeps our economy going.

[Buns_of_Fire]

62. Sure. For $25/hour, two hour minimum. Rates higher for Bernie Madoff and his ilk.

And to Goldman Sachs executives: Don't ask. You couldn't afford it.

Wealth, in and of itself, really doesn't offend me anywhere near as much as arrogance. Warren Buffett, I respect and would have pity for. The shlub down the street who took mommy and daddy's inheritance money, bought himself every toy he ever wanted, and treated everyone as a lesser being until the axe fell -- I wouldn't.

[barbtries]

63. no i won't feel bad for them

they'll be growing up. so it goes. that's life.

[alfredo]

67. I will show them the same consideration they showed me.

[DailyGrind51]

68. Let THEM eat try the dollar menu at McD's!

[Stevenmarc]

69. It's not a rich thing, it's an internet thing, I could imagine the tales of woe posts if a few here

were deprived of the net for 48 hours

[slackmaster]

70. The truly wealthy will never see their wealth wiped out

What was her emergency that required the internet be working RIGHT NOW? She couldn't use her Itouch on the internet for 2 days.

That kind of juvenile tantrum occurs in people of all classes.

[juno jones]

71. Back in the Reagan years

my then-husband and I used to talk about this.

And that portion of the population is even more detatched from real life now.

[ecstatic]

72. Would it bother you if you were not paid on time? Maybe 2 days to a week late?

You never know why someone might need the net. She could be in charge of something that could affect hundreds of people. For the most part, I have places I can go if my net goes out (if I'm in town).

If for whatever reason there was a county wide-net blackout and I couldn't perform certain tasks online (a large amount of my work includes billing), the ripple effect would be so huge--a lot of people would have to go without their checks (possibly causing them to not be able to pay their rent, car notes, etc).

[lonestarnot]

73. I don't think they've learned much about how to do without yet, so yeah,

I guess it will pretty much be tough on them. :D

[tonysam]

74. Short answer: No

I am already sick and tired of supporting those freeloaders.

[Iggo]

75. I'll feel real bad for them. Especially their kids.

But that's about as far as it'll go.

[Greyhound]

76. There seems to be a great deal of confusion over the word "rich".

Here's my test; If you can write a check for half a million that won't bounce, you're rich. $500,000 liquid means a net of at least $2,000,000 (probably much higher).

Has Amex sent you an invitation for their black card (I saw a carbon fiber version recently)? If not, you are not rich. How many boards do you sit on?

Those of you that live on the coasts and bought a house, which represents the bulk of your net worth, some decades back that you could now list for a million is so far away from rich you can't' even see the parking lot of a stadium in that league.

[DireStrike]

78. I'm torn on how I feel about that group.

On the one hand, they can be elitist fucks that think they're better than the rest, and vote accordingly.

On the other hand, they are really just members of the labor force. They just aren't aware of it.


Part of me wants to clap when they get what they asked for. The other part wants to welcome them back to reality, soothe their wounds, and begin turning them to the cause.

And a third part is terrified of who will be installed as the NEXT secondary/buffer ruling class. It won't be people who just happened to be connected or socially manipulative, like now. It will be hardcore kneebreaker types.

[Odin2005]

81. Nope.

Fuck 'em

[lukasahero]

83. How are you defining 'rich' if not 'filthy rich'?

I just heard a story on NPR about savings and how many of those who 'appear' to be in the middle class are one paycheck, one car repair, one accident away from devastation. What you see in the houses you visit that "clearly" identifies someone as a millionaire, is likely an illusion.

I'm also curious to know whether or not we would meet your definition of rich. Our home is beautiful but I have no idea what made you decide this woman was obviously a millionaire by what was in her home alone.

[tilsammans]

89. Hell, no!

Do THEY feel bad for me?

:rant:

[Dreamer Tatum]

95. You are tirelessly advocating for the collapse of the economy.

It's sort of embarrassing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

100. +1 I know

but when people are not aware of what things actually mean, like the word depression, that is easy.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

99. if it is true, that as someone informed that I am rich. then Yes, I feel bad for me.

eom

[Kievan Rus]

109. The guy with half a million in the bank, no. The guy with 400 million, absolutely

[hyphenate]

113. There are many who will weather the storm

and those are the people who have worked themselves up to their current salaries and income, and not those who achieved it by having someone die and will it to them, or whose rich parents just hand it over.

One of my old bosses was making a salary of $500,000 a year, and he was quite frugal, and quite down to earth. And no, he didn't just hand it over to his kids, though he did give them relatively small amounts for occasional gifts ($5,000, for example). He had purchased a house in the %750,000 range, but while he did put down a hefty down payment, his monthly mortgage was moderate.

There is definitely a difference between this ex-boss and some trippy celeb who has no talent, but a rich father. (and yes, I have a few examples in the latter category)