Being rich is NOT a virtue!

The amount of money you make is not an indicator of your quality as a human being.

 

Agreed. It has nothing to do with it.

It may, however, be an indicator of your intelligence and skill level.

 

It may also be an indicator of the amount of wealth your parents inherited/obtained.

Let's be honest: The amount of wealth your family has greatly influences the degree to which mistakes (which we all make) impact your quality of life. A poor investment, an error in judgment, or a simple accident can happen to anyone. When one has wealth already, the consequences are smaller in relativity when compared to someone who has little.

 

Correct!
However, the amount you inherit is an indicator of your quality.

 

One's parents and the kind of people they are, their wealth, their values, etc. for sure have an impact on ones life.

Sooo....what to do?

 

That's funny. Because America's work philosophy has always revolved around the concept of the Protestant Work Ethic.

The fact that you've never been taught any of this is part of the problem with America.

8 out of the 10 worlds richest people are self made within their own generation. The vast majority of millionaires are people who worked all their lives and saved.

There is no such thing as a "landed aristocratic class" in America anymore. Those are myths pushed by class warfare whores jealous for money and power.

 

Of course. What constitutes 'rich' for you? And what percentage of them created their own wealth?

Perhaps; perhaps not. Either way, it's good to have wealth; that's apparent.

 

It may also be an indicator, as is often the case, of how willing you are to break rules of decency and law, to screw other people and steal their efforts, to abuse people who work for you, or exploit illegals.

 

Are you serious? Are you really telling me that it is impossible for a man to get rich without screwing over or exploiting someone else?

You are an economic bigot.

 

I see no evidence for this. How does wealth indicate intelligence or skill? And what kind of intelligence? What kind of skill?

Most of the people we see on TV are rich, and you probably think most of them are idiots -- most people do. Obama's rich, and he's been accused of incompetence a lot. Dan Quayle, he's rich ...

 

Well, in a capitalist society, the case could be made.

In order to stay in business I have to sell a book for at least twice what I paid for it, generally.

 

Then **** of the book business(which is dying thanks to internet/kindles anyway) and go find a globalized trade that involves the international movement of people, products, money or ideas.. anything else is economically doomed except in the 3rd world.

That is just a fact of life that people need to start accepting. The days of factory jobs and unions are dead and gone. We're an advanced society and it's not going to be easy living in this advanced society for low educated/low motivation individuals, in fact, I'd say that it might even be rather hellish for those people, and frankly I don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) because I'm not one of them.

 

People should know that; many do not (for various reasons).

 

The fact that you think outward displays of wealth indicate how hard one works is the most pathetic thing I've read on this board.

 

Flipping burgers for 40-50 hours a week isn't "hard work".

 

So why do you do it? The exorbitant benefits?

 

You are an illiterate one.

The topic of this thread is "The amount of money you make is not an indicator of your quality as a human being."

I posted a statement that starts with "It may also be an indicator of....", and you go on to claim that I "am telling you it is impossible to get rich without"...

GROSSLY exaggerating to try to defend your indefensible assertions looks foolish....

 

Not impossible. Just unlikely. And the greater the accumulation of wealth, the less likely that it is achieved through commensurate contributions to production.

As they say in Japan, "It's mirror time!"

 

Being rich doesn't suck, fool.

They say money ain't everything. Well it's very important though. Try living without it.

 

Right, it's how much you own. There's even an expression, "He's worth $X," meaning he owns that much wealth. So each person's worth, value, or merit as a human being is equal to the amount of wealth they own. Pretty obvious, really.

 

All have obtained the bulk of their wealth by pocketing publicly created value.

And bought land, and pocketed publicly created increases in its value.

LOL! You have seen this before, I am sure:

You are proved wrong.

No, you are just lying again:

“There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.” -- Warren Buffett

Warren knows. And unlike you, he is willing to tell the truth.

 

Most indicators of the quality of a person are either inherited or instilled by ones parents. Your work ethic, moral values, social development and many other such things come in large part from your parents.

The better versions of these are often tied to wealth as well. . .

 

How much of this is contrived to gin up hatred of those with wealth? To what screwing are you referring? Steal efforts? Abuse people? Exploit illegals?

I'm listening: let's see your incredible list of people doing this. If you cannot furnish one, then you're whining about exceptions; not rules (and doing honest hard-working people a great disservice).

 

You see no evidence of this? You cannot - in your entire life - come up with examples of wealthy people who are wealthy due to implementations of their intelligence and skill?

All kinds of intelligence; all kinds of skill. The wealthy made their money in different ways; in different fields. Some are skillful investors. Some started a company based upon an idea. Some are gifted salespeople.

If you can accept the premise that the majority of wealthy people are so due to efforts they are responsible for, then it is easy to understand that creating such wealth takes skill.

You act as though it's all accident or luck. Losers say such things.

What percentage of 'the rich' do your examples comprise? They are a less than meaningless percentage - regardless whether I choose to accept your premise of their intelligence (in Obama's case, he can be both intelligent and incompetent) - and therefore individual examples is illegitimate.

 

No, the case cannot be made. Prepare to be laughed out of the thread if you even try.

That is not an example of exploitation in the least. If you cannot stay in business without charging a 100% markup, you yourself disprove your own claim. The book would simply not exist for purchase without the supply chain in place to deliver it to the reader, and part of that supply chain includes the bookstore, which must charge the amount needed to remain in business.