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RICH vs. POOR

Fri, 10/29/2010 - 4:56am — tezzer1

  I am trying to wrap my head around some of the differences between rich and poor people as though it were as easy as saying all rich people are the same.  My first thought was that poor people, meaning generally working class people on down economically, worry these days about whether they will have health care or whether they will even have a job. Rich people on the other hand worry about whether the gardner they hired is really a documented worker in this country legally or what the weather will be like in Majorca for their vacation.

   Now I know that's too simplistic and not fair to rich people who actually have compassion. It's also not fair to the poor or working poor who have no compassion towards anyone other than themselves.  But it's my starting point.

    So what are some of the concerns of people who dress in $1,000 suits and dresses and hang out with ex-presidents, or CEO's of corporations? And how are those so very different from the concerns of people who shop at Wal-mart? And there are those who shop at Wal-mart that don't give a rat's ass what happens to anyone else, including those who hang out with ex-presidents. So this is not a one-sided harangue against any class in particular. More an attempt to gain some insight into this RICH vs. POOR political message we hear so much about these days.

    I'm reminded here of the song God Bless the Child by Blood, Sweat & Tears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v96P_AXzto&feature=related

Comments

Sat, 10/30/2010 - 9:50am — FwaterO

Parenti, Chomski, Jensen, Biafra

  1. If there is one thing i've learned about rich & poor from these people is that as people themselves they're not instinctively worse than other people but as a share of the problems in the word they hold more of a stake. Poverty does not exist despite great collections of wealth, but because of that wealth. you can say that every person shares the responsibility of clear cutting because we all use paper. it is true that as a collective whole we provide kimberly clark, dupont etc. their money but per parts of the whole the rich hold a higher percent of the responsibility. there are more slaves in the world today than when the US had slavery in the 1700s and though no CEO would ever say they supported slavery but the fact of the matter is very large portions of the products in the US market are products of
    slavery.
  2. so basically poor people are not instinctively bad just as rich people aren’t but you must ask yourself who needs $500,000 a day vacations when 3/4 of the world's population is starving?
—

-take care of yourself, and take care of someone else.

Sun, 10/31/2010 - 6:07am — tezzer1

"....but you must ask

"....but you must ask yourself who needs $500,000 a day...."

   I not only ask myself that question, I ask it of people around me all the time, everywhere.  In the line at the grocery store. In coffee shops. At rallies. Vigils. Letters to the editor. Every chance I get.

    How is it I have survived and thrived on less than $20.000/year for the past 48 years, while it is not enough for some CEO to make several million?  I will answer my own question, and yours, by saying that I don't need fancy cars, yachts, clothes, island get-aways, servants, access to politicians and more in order for me to feel good about myself. I have always liked the lyrics to the song "I Got Plenty of Nothin' " from Porgy & Bess (Hayward/Gershwin/Gershwin) -

I got plenty of nothing
And nothing's plenty for me
I got no car - got no mule
I got no misery

Folks with plenty of plenty
They've got a lock on the door
Afraid somebody's gonna rob 'em
While there out (a) making more - what for?

 

 

Sun, 10/31/2010 - 1:42pm — rob darken

Hypnotists

Rich people never have to worry about the consequences of their actions. They often engage in sociopathic behavior with impunity.

Rich people frequently mold the opinions of the general populace regarding the expected behaviors of poor people, and sadly, poor people usually fall into these patterns of behavior. This process sustains the economic divide more than anything. It is like a hypnotic trance.