I believe that all the incomes are going up in the US. The entrepreneur's income is going up faster than those of the rest of us, but everyone's is going up. Maybe you are too young to realize that. We've discussed this sort of thing quite a lot on Lit-Ideas. There was a survey of people below the poverty level here in the U.S. Typically they had possessions that we take for granted over here but aren't available to the poor in other countries. I don't remember the percentages, but high percentages, more than 50% had cars, many of them two cars, microwaves, TVs, decent furniture, clothing, right down the line. These people weren't homeless and a significant percentage, but below 50% as I recall, lived in their own homes, homes they were paying on.
We can't avoid personal experiences. I was raised in a "dock town," Wilmington California, and we were all poor back then, but I don't think we appreciated that fact. I saw a recent medical report that modern American children are subject to certain sorts of diseases because they no longer play in the dirt. Back in my day we all played in the dirt.
And once again, I don't care if Bill Gates makes a gazillion dollars and that the gazillionaires have increased the gap between their income and mine. I just don't care. I don't compare myself to them. I compare myself to the way I used to be and the way my parents, relatives, and friends used to be, and I KNOW we are doing better than we once did. Things are better now. We have more and live more luxuriously than we once did. So the gap between the ordinary person and the gazillionaries is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.
Does someone want the gazillionaire to give him some of his money? Why? Instead of demanding money from the gazillionaire, why don't you work for your own money? We who worked for our own money often have no sympathy for those who feel the gazillionaire's or the government owe them a living.
Why is the U.S. the most successful economy in the world? Forget about all those saying "give me, give me, give me." It isn't those people that make the U.S. successful. They are drones and a drag but not to such an extent that they keep the U.S. from continued economic success. The reason we are the most successful economy is because of this freedom you seem to hate, the freedom for an entrepreneur to become a gazillionaire if he can manage it. None are quite as rich as Gates, but many have started new businesses and are doing okay. These entrepreneur's hire others and some of these others think they can do it too and do. I have a nephew who is in that category. He started two businesses but dropped them when things didn't go quite as well as he hoped, but other entrepreneur's like young people like my nephew and one of them put him in charge of a large department dependent upon computers. But he hopes to start another business one day.
Think of the Welfare states who declare, "oh no you don't Mr. Entrepreneur! We want no gazillionaires over here. You've got to give most of your money to those people over their with their mouths open saying 'gimme, gimme, gimme."
As it turns out many of these potential gazillionaires take their money making schemes and move to the U.S.
Lawrence At 12:20 PM 2/25/2007, you wrote:
Lawrence, 'stupid' was my word. Get your own word.And, anyway, my comment wasn't stupid. The GDP ppp is an average. Look at how high on the list Saudi Arabia is. You think that means that the average Saudi lives high on the hog? Look where Equatorial Guinea is. You think the average Equatoguinean has enough to eat? So how does the GDP relate to poverty within a system? (Maybe you're still mesmerized by trickle-down economics?)And anyway, that the American divide between the rich and the poor is so large (and growing) is not merely an economic problem. It's a moral problem. Countries with much smaller GDP's manage much more equitability. Rich Americans just don't work and play well with others.If I'm somehow misreading your original intent, do let me know. Ursula Lawrence Helm wrote:Ursula.There are certain criteria used by economists to make comparisons among the nations. GDP per person is one of them. Read up on it. Keep that old knee from jerking. If you do you may not say so many stupid things.Lawrence. -----Original Message-----From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ursula StangeSent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 9:54 AM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Deep Poverty at Record Levels, Where's That? I won't address your whole note, Lawrence. It would be too depressing (and probably pointless -- anyone who could write that first paragraph and think they are discussing the divide between the rich and the poor is truly beyond the pale...), but your second paragraph is just plain stupid. What possible relevance does the GDP of the poorest nations in the world have to do with poverty in America? Best, Ursula Lawrence Helm wrote: > > The ?gulf between rich and poor in the United States? is baloney. Who > cares? Why should I care if my CEO retired on $800,000? I retired on > plenty. I have a nice 2200 square foot, two-story house, a large > study, a view of the mountains out my study window, and everything > else I need. Are we so greedy that we think we ought to get the > $800,000 year retirements or incomes? That?s bunk. > > You report that the ?deep poverty? level is $5,080 ought to be put > into perspective: Consider that the American poverty level is higher > than the GDP per person of 100 of the 229 World nations on the > following list: > https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
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