The Media Attack on The Rich Begins

[beauanderos]

This is the type of coverage that you can expect... to precede egregious tax reform with punitive emphasis upon the one percent. Notice in the movies? They always make you hate the
guys they're going to kill later on... then you're rooting for the ones performing the deed? There is a subtle (or, perhaps, not so subtle) movement gathering momentum to demonize success in this
country, they're painting "unfair advantages" and other criteria to justify later tax nationalization (as the IMF approves) of a substantial portion of their current wealth. Videos like this I
find alarming... if you read between the lines you could conclude this is the yellow canary in the coal mine.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/one-percenter-tom-perkins-puts-his-foot-in-his-mouth-----again-145008503.html

[Hawkeye]

I saw that the other day. While it probably wasn't the smartest thing for him to say, it's not a terrible idea. I don't know about one dollar, one vote, but I've said for a long time that voting should be limited to those who pay taxes, and I'm a long, long ways from the 1%. But the vicious reaction to it is very telling. To listen to people talk about this and to read the comments on it, it almost seems like people are more angry about the rich being rich than they are about the poor being poor. It's almost as if they would rather see the rich lose money than they would see themselves gain money. Bitterness and envy are powerful emotions.

[68Camaro]

... Bitterness and envy are powerful emotions.

+1

[mbailey1234]

I kind of struggle a bit with this envy of the successful thing. Some days I really regret not jumping into the farming thing. I would have been starting in the mid 90's and when I look at this now it would have been a wise move. The farmer I worked for all through high school and a couple of years after is living large now. It's easy to look at what they have accumulated with a lot of envy which I would rather not be doing. There is one thing I just can't get past though. Since 1995 his operation has received over $2.4 million in subsidy, disaster and other handout payments. I'm not sure I have the stomach for that if that's what it takes to be successful. His mindset is if he doesn't take it, someone else will. It's not like the government is not going to spend it. I guess I agree with that but I still don't like that a handful of law makers can just pass out everyone else's money. Just last year he got a $53,000 grant to put in a grain leg. The total project was about $120,000. They get money to build terraces and bury drainage tile. All of this can be written off as an expense on their taxes. How did we end up in this situation?????

We operate a BBQ business. If someone said we have a program that will guarantee you $2000 per day whether you sell that much or not, and the premium doesn't cost much, hell yes I would take it. I wouldn't have to check the forecast anymore to see if I thought we will be having a good day. Just fix it and if it sells, great! If not, well I guess you guys (taxpayers) will just have to pick up the tab. Next thing you know, everybody will have a BBQ business. Then the price of trailers, grills, refrigerators, etc, will go through the roof since all of a sudden there is a shortage. Look at the inflation we have seen in farm related items such as land, machinery, etc. If they pulled the safety net it would collapse over night.

I realize that food is a weapon and there are several ways to look at this situation but when I'm at a buddies house last summer and he shows me a check for $42,000 that he had no idea what it was for but later finds out it was a disaster payment adjustment from 08 and 09 I think something is terribly wrong with the system. He only farmed about 800 acres back then so take that to the scale of 90 million acres and it's nothing short of astonishing. Then he has the nerve to complain about having to pay taxes on that money!

[Thogey]

This is going off topic but I see some wisdom to outrageous farm subsidy.
Because of the whipsaw commodities markets it is important to keep farmers motivated to stay in business.
We need to consistently produce way more food than we need, just in case.

As far a the rich envy thing. I really enjoy seeing people do well, especially if they do it in a clever and honest way.

I really enjoy doing business with the rich. I love the folks who think $1000 is a throw away number!

[68Camaro]

This is going off topic but I see some wisdom to outrageous farm subsidy.
Because of the whipsaw commodities markets it is important to keep farmers motivated to stay in business.
We need to consistently produce way more food than we need, just in case.

As far a the rich envy thing. I really enjoy seeing people do well, especially if they do it in a clever and honest way.

I really enjoy doing business with the rich. I love the folks who think $1000 is a throw away number!

Keep in mind that to most of the world, even most of the US - you are rich.

[Thogey]

Keep in mind that to most of the world, even most of the US - you are rich.

Not according to the bottom of my 1040. But I understand what you mean.

There are a couple billion people who will never experience a clean glass of potable water.

I am truly grateful for what we have, but never feel disenfranchised when I see folks with more.

I guess it just doesn't matter much to me. Folks like myself cannot be a target of this kind of political ads.

[mbailey1234]

This is going off topic but I see some wisdom to outrageous farm subsidy.
Because of the whipsaw commodities markets it is important to keep farmers motivated to stay in business.
We need to consistently produce way more food than we need, just in case.

As far a the rich envy thing. I really enjoy seeing people do well, especially if they do it in a clever and honest way.

I really enjoy doing business with the rich. I love the folks who think $1000 is a throw away number!

Thogey, I may have not came across the way I wanted to in that other post. I also like to see people become successful. We have a successful business and it feels great. It's not that I'm not happy for them or that I'm jealous. I guess maybe it's more to do with my values or feeling of self worth. I think I would feel a little uncomfortable if my success came from over 2 million tax dollars being pumped into our business.

I know what you mean about doing business with the wealthy. We got a $500 tip once on a $2000 catering job. Guess they were happy.

As for the cheap food, have you bought any hamburger lately? This is partly due to some drought issues but it was made worse by the limited risk that came with selling the cows, plowing up the hay and pasture and planting corn. They sweetened the pot so much a lot of guys planted every acre they could to corn and soybeans in our area. Our local grocery store has 85-15 hamburger for $5.49 per #.

[Engineer]

This is going off topic but I see some wisdom to outrageous farm subsidy.
Because of the whipsaw commodities markets it is important to keep farmers motivated to stay in business.
We need to consistently produce way more food than we need, just in case.

As far a the rich envy thing. I really enjoy seeing people do well, especially if they do it in a clever and honest way.

I really enjoy doing business with the rich. I love the folks who think $1000 is a throw away number!

Thogey, I may have not came across the way I wanted to in that other post. I also like to see people become successful. We have a successful business and it feels great. It's not that I'm not happy for them or that I'm jealous. I guess maybe it's more to do with my values or feeling of self worth. I think I would feel a little uncomfortable if my success came from over 2 million tax dollars being pumped into our business.

I know what you mean about doing business with the wealthy. We got a $500 tip once on a $2000 catering job. Guess they were happy.

As for the cheap food, have you bought any hamburger lately? This is partly due to some drought issues but it was made worse by the limited risk that came with selling the cows, plowing up the hay and pasture and planting corn. They sweetened the pot so much a lot of guys planted every acre they could to corn and soybeans in our area. Our local grocery store has 85-15 hamburger for $5.49 per #.

Wanting the farm subsidies to end has nothing to do with being jealous of the rich, but rather suppression of the poor. As mbailey pointed out above, subsidies drive up land, equipment, and retail prices to the point where a regular joe can't afford to farm, and gets reamed every time he walks into the grocery store.

I say cut the subsidies and let them fail, rich and poor alike. Once land, seed, and equipment prices come down to earth, the "family farm" might be feasible again...and with strong local supplies, it won't be so easy for the banksters to whipsaw prices.

[johnbrickner]

Scapegoating. It's worked well through out history. If you hop on that bandwagon just remember, you and all the yours you see your self as may be the goat next.

We all pick our lots in life. How we end up is as much a result of how we lived (and worked) our lives and choices we made, mixed in with the cards we were dealt originally (not that these cannot be overcome) and along the way. I ended up where I am because at a young age I decided to live my life in service to youth (young people). Up to that point I had met a lot of people who had done a lot to help my life experience be better and I've gotten a lot (of life experience) out of it along the way. Not sure I'd do it a whole lot different If I had to do it again.

I've got no qualms with the rich or the poor so long as no one thinks their shat don't stink, look down their noses at the people in the trenches making our country run, or cry oh poor me with the expectation of receiving something for nothing. And I especially harbor no ill will to those who complain about their taxes. That's a system that is as broken as our government.

Things have never been easy, are not easy today, and they are not going to get easier. If I had a choice to hang with a community of people once the SHTF, I'd pass on the poor, I'd pass on the rich and I'd pass on the dysfunctional that seem to be the majority. I'd hang with a community of folks who had skills that could be applied to the current real life situation.

[beauanderos]

I'd hang with a community of folks who had skills that could be applied to the current real life situation.

The longest lasting communities of survivors of an End Times SHTF scenario are the seeds from which a once great Republic can be resurrected.