The USA - is it a 3rd world country?

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogapr08/USA-TW.html

I, like many other ppl, don't think of things like this much. We're busy living our lives, and we're not likely to change anything even if we agree there's a problem - but it's an interesting read. I thought this was a telling, and disturbing, pic.



According to the article, things have taken a turn for the worse since the 70's. That's about when things started getting harder for the lower and middle classes, in my recollection. . .a baseless and opinionated statement, but hey, it's _MY_ memory 🙂

I'm sure the article avoids mentioning many of the things that go counter to it's argument, but as I said above, the info it does present is interesting, and will give you something to think about.

There are a lot of things I can think of to say on this. But I think it better not too....

I will say I find the term Wealth Equality to somewhat misleading. If Wealth was equal, we would be the perfect utopian communist society. As a free market, a certain percentage will own a higher than average percentage of the wealth.

If all wealth was equal, where would the motivation to drive society be?

I think you need to listen to Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Cashflow Quadrant.

You'll quickly understand why this top 1% have the majority of the money.

Of all the ppl I communicate with, I think you are hardest of all to understand, Atomm. I can never tell what opinion you'll hold on a given subject.

I was gonna just drop this link and not comment on it, but I thought it would be rude. I'm not attached to the article, nor do I espouse the viewpoint of the author. . .I just thought it presented some interesting info.

I do find it disappointing that so much is held by so few. I don't pretend to have a solution for it, nor am I even sure a solution needs to be found. Still, it's inequitable to a large degree, and that doesn't really sit right with me, when, for example, CEO's make hundreds of millions of dollars and many of their employees are laid off.

I've long felt that money stays in families. Whenever someone finds a way to make some money beyond what they need to survive, that is their stepping stone to a better life and social station for their family and their descendants. If I'd had, say, $5,000 at age 21 I didn't need for food, rent, and a reliable car, and the wisdom to do something with it, I could've had a fair bankroll by now, and be able to leave a chunk of cash and knowledge to my children to do the same. The two stumbling blocks seem to be GETTING that initial $5,000 bankroll, and not spending it on something like electronics, jewelry, and spinning hubcaps.

If I ever hit the lottery, I think that would be my charity. Develop a basic plan to help ppl build a nice nest-egg, warn ppl of potential pitfalls that might tempt them to mis-spend the money, and then give young, bright, poor ppl five or six thousand to work with. See if I couldn't make a a bunch of millionaires, maybe a few that will go on to, in a few generations, become the equals of the Hiltons, or Kennedys, or Rockefellers.

My uncle was a self-made multi-millionaire. . .then he lost it. . . then he made it back. . .too bad I wasn't close to him, but then I got the impression he wasn't close to anyone.

I did not RTFA. I only looked at the picture. That is my fault as I was in a hurry and jumped right over the link. I just read the article and find it somewhat complicated.

On one hand, the article complains that the top people make too much money, but then the author complains about the unions. Those two things don't go together.

I think my biggest problem is an inability to articulate what I'm thinking. Another issue is the fact that I take this stuff in every day and I am constantly changing my own opinion.

Take global warming for instance. I still think it's a bunch of bullshit that we mere humans can assume to understand the complex processes of Mother Earth. However, I do believe Pollution is a problem and needs to be dealt with. I also feel that if I can do something to be a better Earth citizen, then why not?

I live in a world of grey. There is not black and white any more. It's just not that easy.

DocJon wrote:My uncle was a self-made multi-millionaire. . .then he lost it. . . then he made it back. . .too bad I wasn't close to him, but then I got the impression he wasn't close to anyone.

No doubt your uncle was about a 100x's more committed to getting there than anyone else. I've seen this with 3 or 4 guys I've worked for in the last few years.

5k isn't that hard to make if you really need it. Take another job, scrounge on groceries, park the car for a few weeks. When I bought my second house I needed 5k in 30 days or I'd lost the deal. Wifey and I worked doubles and weekends, lived on dogs and beans for a month too.

Building wealth is risky, and its extremely stressful. There are tricks here and there, but there are also alot of obstacles. You can use the banks money to make yourself money, but you have to be prepared for failure each and everyday.

lexx wrote:No doubt your uncle was about a 100x's more committed to getting there than anyone else. I've seen this with 3 or 4 guys I've worked for in the last few years.

I can't say. . .never saw him at work, or all that much otherwise. He seemed to do everything in slow motion. . .even talked slow.

He held several patents related to coal mining & processing. I think he patented something a few years before he died, related to taking the coal dust that's left over from mining and processing it into a more usable form. That's how he made his money back. The one thing that impressed me as a kid, though, was that he held some sort of fishing record. Caught a huge marlin on light-test line. Had that monster mounted in his game room 🙂

Atomm wrote:I did not RTFA. I only looked at the picture. That is my fault as I was in a hurry and jumped right over the link. I just read the article and find it somewhat complicated.

I think my biggest problem is an inability to articulate what I'm thinking. Another issue is the fact that I take this stuff in every day and I am constantly changing my own opinion.

Take global warming for instance. I still think it's a bunch of bullshit that we mere humans can assume to understand the complex processes of Mother Earth. However, I do believe Pollution is a problem and needs to be dealt with. I also feel that if I can do something to be a better Earth citizen, then why not?

I live in a world of grey. There is not black and white any more. It's just not that easy.

OK then, I think I have you now. . .you're the searcher, the one who is constantly reading and reevaluating. That'll make it easier to understand why I'll never know what you're thinking 😀

You and me both.... 😈

I think the biggest problem right now is the government has taken on the mentality of the article you posted. We really need to reel in (hey, I made a fishing funny), we need to reel in out of control government spending and congressional waste.