Admiring Whom We Should Despise

"Give a person a fish and feed him/her for a day;  teach a person to fish and feed him/her for a lifetime.."    -- Wise Saying..

"But what do you do when a select few own all the oceans, rivers, lakes and streams?  --  Today's Reality
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The other night some of us here at A&G were having lunch with friends we hadn't corresponded with in a while and catching up on old times, this and that..

And like most often, the conversation turned to the US economy and became a bit philosophical as we tried to really delve into understanding why so many people take it-- the economic inequalities, the lack of opportunity in many sectors to even begin climbing that career 'ladder'

One friend marveled out loud what the difference really was between the US economy of 2013 and the economic situations in other nations that ultimately throw the populace into chaos and civil war..

And the other friend answered rather succinctly and we believe accurately the difference stems in democracy or more specifically the Belief in democracy.

After a few moments silence to let that little nugget digest, the thought was further expanded..

Societies that suffer great disparity of have and have not where large swaths of the populace live in either poverty, near poverty or one paycheck away from collection agents banging on the door but have democracy...  Well, they tend to put up with a lot of stuff.

As long as they believe they can kick out a bad President or Governor with an election every 4 years, Senator every 6 years or Representative every 2 years, they will continue to imagine they control their destiny and have a say in the direction of the nation.

Its illusionary but it that Belief in itself that keeps the wheels or plates spinning

When you live in a society where there's a King or dictator who you know will be in power for the next 20-50 years, it leads people in terrible financial circumstances to violent desperation i.e. the French Revolution and the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia.

We then proceeded to debate this theory back and forth for awhile and then our friend went into more depth by explaining now little most people understand the wealth disparity that exists in this nation..

How thanks to Fed intervention in the stock market,  the ultra wealthy who simply invest can make more money in one trading day than most people make in an entire month of 9 to 5 back breaking and/or mind numbing work and never have to get out of their beds..

How often the super wealthy pay a much smaller percentage tax rate than everyday people due to clever accounting and strategic financial planning which allows the truly affluent to possess great wealth but not 'taxable wealth'

How we're taught.. rather indoctrinated via government (our education system) that class war isn't the answer; we're conditioned into not only Not hating these smug, arrogant bastards and bitches with every fiber of one's being but to admire them and seek to establish goals to emulate such sociopathic behaviors.

Then our friend went into the mathematics of have vs. have not..

If a person started working when 18 and continued for fifty years making exactly $100,000 every single year  (most people will not make more than $75k in any one year of their working lives),  that adds up to $5 million dollars before taxes and all the expenses of 50 years of living.

That means obviously just because the person in this example accumulated $5 million in salary doesn't mean by any stretch he/she possesses $5 million

But let's continue..

Based on the example given, it would take 200 people making $5 million each over the course of 50 years of working to equal $1 billion..

According to Forbes, Warren Buffet, the man Americans love to admire has a net worth of $60 billion.

Thus to take our example a step even further, it would take 12,000 people earning $100k per year for 50 years to equal the wealth Buffett possesses.

Here's another mathematical example our friend provided us with..

The minimum wage currently is $7.25/hr which based on a 40 hour work week equals $15,080 annually.

$1 billion divided by $15,080 =

It would take 66,312 people earning minimum wage over the span of a full year to equal $1 billion.  To give better perspective, Yankee Stadium's seating capacity is 50,287 people.

There are currently 449 billionaires in the US.

Even if every billionaire only possessed $1 billion which is not the case, in simple math that would add up to 449 people holding nearly half a trillion in wealth.

There are also 9 million millionaires..

The US population est. is 315 million.

The numbers were mind-boggling..

A little less than 3% of the total US population possesses one million or more dollars.

The other 97% are somewhere way down the water marker.

So suffice it to say, we were amazed.  Certainly not shocked or surprised.. we crunched the numbers many times before, but as we said a moment ago.. amazed...

The 'have nots' will never sincerely go after the 'haves' because what little the have nots do 'have' (mortgaged home, loaned/leased car), the fear is too great that what is easily replaceable will be taken.

And the 'haves' are no fools.. They know this.

They set up the apparatus which is the System and invest heavily in politicians of both parties via campaign contributions who ensure their wealth is protected

Really nothing can change economically as a nation until the mindset of its individuals change; to stop feeling respect and admiration toward what are essentially wealth hoarders who only 'spread' it to the masses through hiring if it means ultimately accumulating even more.

But we understand..

A person starving for an apple can't be all worried about the man or woman who owns the apple orchard.  And the person with one apple tree in the back yard is taught to be content and/or admire the other person possessing acres upon acres of trees.

Its just how we're conditioned to think..

And besides, why get all riled with Christmas so nearby and another election coming up in less then a year..

And then just you wait.. Everything will get better.