--- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> > wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > > > > shempmcgurk wrote: > > <snip> > > > >Concentrated wealth in the hands of those responsible for > creating > > > >it is a GREAT thing and should be encourated. > > > > > > > > Bhairitu, if you tax it, it goes to government which will NOT > use > > > > it wisely. It WILL be used more wisely by those that create > the > > > > wealth. > > > > > > > History shows that not to be true at all. Most are just greedy > > > bastards who care little about their fellow humanity. People > like > > > Bill Gates are a rare exception but as I stated earlier he has > > > always had a mood of detachment from his wealth which I > > > particularly noted in a local Seattle interview with him in 1991. > > > > > > You still don't get that a progressive tax means people won't > try > > > to earn another dime if they are going to pay more in taxes. So > > > the government doesn't get anything. They're already wealthy > and > > > anything more is just an ego driven power trip. This lets > others > > > have more of a chance. > > > > I was just reading in the Times about Richard Grasso, > > who, making $12 million a year, went through all kinds > > of contortions to obtain his $140 million retirement > > package. > > > > At some point in the accumulation of wealth, money > > ceases to be a medium of exchange and becomes something > > entirely different, having to do, as Bhairitu suggests, > > with ego and power. Your attitude toward it changes > > in a way that makes it literally impossible to empathize > > with the person for whom, say, fresh blueberries are > > a luxury they can't afford. > > > > You no longer have to make choices based on what > > something costs. Money becomes an abstraction with no > > practical consequences in terms of what you do with it, > > except those that have to do with how much *more* of > > this abstraction you are able to accumulate. > > > > Alas. You've just described big government! > > A $2.8 trillion budget without any care what it costs, Congressmen - > -and Presidents for that matter! -- spend, spend, spend.
Not quite. They have no personal interest in using the government's revenue to multiply and accumulate ever-greater amounts of it for themselves. As abstract as the amounts may seem, the funds are used to pay for goods and services. > > When rich people talk about money, they're talking > > about something entirely different from what poor and > > middle-class people mean when they talk about it. > > They might as well be on different planets. > > Of course. > > Rich people, having the experience of vast wealth, know by > experience that money doesn't buy happiness. Poorer people don't > have that experience. Right. What poorer people know by experience isn't about money buying happiness or not, but about money making it possible for them and their children to eat three times a day and have a roof over their heads. > That is why it is SO important that we ensure that the poorest of > the poor have enough money to buy the basic necessities of life > and, hopefully, a pint of blueberries whenever they see and desire > it on the produce shelves. > > That is why, dear Billie Batts, you should join me in encouraging > capitalist enterprises like Wal-Mart toward all success so that the > poor which you invoke above have their blueberries. No, afraid not. As you'd know if you did any reading beyond your right-wing sources, Wal-Mart may enable poor people to buy blueberries one week, but ultimately at the expense of decently paying jobs in the town, not to mention poorer-quality goods even at Wal-Mart. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
