• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

The divide between the rich and the rest

How serious a problem is the divide between the wealthy and the rest of us?

  • Not a problem at all.

    Votes: 32 29.4%

  • A problem, but not a serious one.

    Votes: 8 7.3%

  • A fairly serious problem.

    Votes: 34 31.2%

  • It's not just a "problem." It's a catastrophe that is only getting worse.

    Votes: 35 32.1%

  • This divide does not exist.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    109
Dapper Andy said:
Have you taken 30 seconds to consider all the highly paid jobs that revolve around technology?
Click to expand...

Of course i have.

Is there one of those jobs for everybody?

Can everybody do those jobs, even if they try as hard as they can?

Are there enough to replace labor with a growing population?

Bit more than 30 seconds there.
 
Mathematician said:
Where did you pull that out of?
Click to expand...

not where you think :2wave:

tell me ... do you think that the perception that Romney did not really care about the poor or middle class, and certainly didn't understand their world, the 47% comment had no bearing on the election?
 
What if...? said:
Of course i have.

Is there one of those jobs for everybody?

Can everybody do those jobs, even if they try as hard as they can?

Are there enough to replace labor with a growing population?

Bit more than 30 seconds there.
Click to expand...

Sure, if they have the right skill set.

How many labors went out and got degrees in computer science?
 
TurtleDude said:
condescending sanctimony really doesn't work unless you can prove you are more intelligent and more educated than the target of the snarkiness. I suspect you would fail dramatically if you tried and once again, foreigners' opinions on America don't rate much merit with me.

The fact is, the hand wringing ninnies who whine that there is a widening gap almost always demand the government do something about it without contemplating that government solutions may well be the sloth inducing problem that has led to the gap increasing
Click to expand...

I can understand that. You obviously have too much invested in the mythology to want to let it go.
 
marywollstonecraft said:
I can understand that. You obviously have too much invested in the mythology to want to let it go.
Click to expand...

Or perhaps he has to much invested in his own ability to control his own person and property. The hand wringing ninnies, as he calls them, inevitably want control over our person (making us do things) and our property (taking things from us).
 
Federalist said:
Or perhaps he has to much invested in his own ability to control his own person and property. The hand wringing ninnies, as he calls them, inevitably want control over our person (making us do things) and our property (taking things from us).
Click to expand...

this is a fantasy.

the US has lower minimum wage conditions than any place I have been in the western world, greater disparity in income and lower mobility than other similar countries.

the bottom half of the US population has less chance to earn enough to control his own person and property than people in a comparable position in other countries.

to think otherwise is adherence to the lie that the US is somehow a land of opportunity.

the only people outside the US who see it that way are from the third world. because you are a bit better than most emerging economies.
 
marywollstonecraft said:
this is a fantasy.

the US has lower minimum wage conditions than any place I have been in the western world, greater disparity in income and lower mobility than other similar countries.

the bottom half of the US population has less chance to earn enough to control his own person and property than people in a comparable position in other countries.

to think otherwise is adherence to the lie that the US is somehow a land of opportunity.

the only people outside the US who see it that way are from the third world. because you are a bit better than most emerging economies.
Click to expand...

as responses go, that is a complete fail. ITs not my faul lots of people are unable to control their own destinies.

if you don't get pregnant before marriage, if you don't abuse drugs or have felonies and if you get a diploma from HS your chances of being in poverty are less than 5%

why should we worry about those who are in poverty because they get stoned, get knocked up or drop out of school



the hand wringing ninnies ultimately want to take what we have to buy power through votes
 
TurtleDude said:
why should we worry about those who are in poverty because they get stoned, get knocked up or drop out of school
Click to expand...

Because negative social pathologies and harmful behaviors can arise from such factors which hurt people and cost us dearly.
 
haymarket said:
Because negative social pathologies and harmful behaviors can arise from such factors which hurt people and cost us dearly.
Click to expand...

true-which is why such deleterious behaviours should be made even more unpleasant rather than being enabled by he public umbilical cord
 
An easier solution to all of this. We must convince the rich to stop doing whatever it is they do that makes them rich. For instance if someone is a brain surgeon making $500,000 a year, they should immediately stop and go flip burgers instead.
 
TurtleDude said:
true-which is why such deleterious behaviours should be made even more unpleasant rather than being enabled by he public umbilical cord
Click to expand...

And how would you accomplish that?
 
TurtleDude said:
easy, stop subsidizing such people as much as we do.

BBL
Click to expand...

When we did not have programs which you would label as "subsidizing people" at other eras in our nations history, was crime and other social patholotgies either non existant or significantly much less than what it is today?
 
TurtleDude said:
apparently a lack of investment is one of your issues
Click to expand...

It is interesting that you have this fantasy that people who regard social equality as a good thing are themselves likely to be impoverished, or lacking in financial acumen.

In general, I find that people who think in such limited stereotypes an be quite blinkered when considering investment options.
 
TurtleDude said:
as responses go, that is a complete fail. ITs not my faul lots of people are unable to control their own destinies.

if you don't get pregnant before marriage, if you don't abuse drugs or have felonies and if you get a diploma from HS your chances of being in poverty are less than 5%

why should we worry about those who are in poverty because they get stoned, get knocked up or drop out of school



the hand wringing ninnies ultimately want to take what we have to buy power through votes
Click to expand...

so why are americans, with lousy wages and the most appalling welfare system in the developed world, so lacking in motivation to better themselves.

are you saying that half of your fellow americans are inherently lazier and less motivated than people in other western nations?

why do you think this is?
 
A lot of the money in big global cities is now global with the mega wealthy often attracted to cities such as New York and London. :shock:

In recent years the divide between the richest and poorest has became ever more apparent, for instance recently an apartment at One Hyde Park in London was sold for $216 million USD (£140 million), whilst there is currently a house on the market in London on Carlton Terrace up for sale for $383 million (£250 million). Then again London has always had it's mega rich streets (there are too many to even attempt to list), and many are now lived in by the mega rich from across the globe. Whilst Monaco an independent tax haven in the South of France also attracts the extremely wealthy from across the globe, indeed it's not who has the most expensive car in Monaco it's who has the largest yacht. Recession, what Recession :roll:

The £140m flat: World-record price for Central London penthouse | Mail Online

The £250MILLION home: London house set to become UK's most expensive property ever sold as it is put up for sale | Mail Online

Azzam: The £400m, 590ft super-yacht that's going to put Roman Abramovich's nose out of joint | Mail Online

Then again does such money really make people happy, just look at the recent story of Hans and Eva Rausing, and there are lots of other similar tragic stories regarding the super rich. :(

Eva Rausing death': Billionaire Tetra Pak heir tells inquest he hid wife's body under 12 layers of clothes | Mail Online


Monaco -home to the seriously wealthy. :shock:

beautiful-coastal-sunset-of-monaco-247593.jpg
 
Last edited:
TurtleDude said:
or how they want us to think that

1) this is a problem

2) and a government solution is going to be useful
Click to expand...

This problem is caused by government, but the problem does exist. Wealth is accumulating into fewer and fewer hands, social mobility is being destroyed, and we are starting to see an emergence of a real aristocracy, a country run for and serving only the top elite. This is product of corporate capitalism, the emergence of the corporate state. It's the death of free market.

So yes you'll be able to point to a handful of people who have become relatively rich, but there are no trends which demonstrate true social mobility and rarely will even that handful accumulate true wealth on the absolute scale.
 
ReformCollege said:
I'd argue that was an inevitable outcome of any attempt at communism. Human nature doesn't change.
Click to expand...



We were communists long before capitalism.

communism works great in small groups of like minded individuals.

Capitalism is how we deal with all the Ghengis' and Alexanders without all the bloodshed and destruction.
 
What if...? said:
We were communists long before capitalism.

communism works great in small groups of like minded individuals.

Capitalism is how we deal with all the Ghengis' and Alexanders without all the bloodshed and destruction.
Click to expand...

We were communists when societies consisted of a few dozen people and had no resources. It easy to be equals when everyone is starving. Once you start meeting basic human needs for survival and societies grow larger and more complex, keeping that equality is antithetical to functionality. Inequality has always been a feature of settled civilization.

If you want communism, feel free to move back into the woods.
 
Chatter said:
A lot of the money in big global cities is now global with the mega wealthy often attracted to cities such as New York and London. :shock:

In recent years the divide between the richest and poorest has became ever more apparent, for instance recently an apartment at One Hyde Park in London was sold for $216 million USD (£140 million), whilst there is currently a house on the market in London on Carlton Terrace up for sale for $383 million (£250 million). Then again London has always had it's mega rich streets (there are too many to even attempt to list), and many are now lived in by the mega rich from across the globe. Whilst Monaco an independent tax haven in the South of France also attracts the extremely wealthy from across the globe, indeed it's not who has the most expensive car in Monaco it's who has the largest yacht. Recession, what Recession :roll:

The £140m flat: World-record price for Central London penthouse | Mail Online

The £250MILLION home: London house set to become UK's most expensive property ever sold as it is put up for sale | Mail Online

Azzam: The £400m, 590ft super-yacht that's going to put Roman Abramovich's nose out of joint | Mail Online

Then again does such money really make people happy, just look at the recent story of Hans and Eva Rausing, and there are lots of other similar tragic stories regarding the super rich. :(

Eva Rausing death': Billionaire Tetra Pak heir tells inquest he hid wife's body under 12 layers of clothes | Mail Online


Monaco -home to the seriously wealthy. :shock:

beautiful-coastal-sunset-of-monaco-247593.jpg
Click to expand...

Just because money doesn't buy happiness doesn't mean that inequality has no function.
 
marywollstonecraft said:
so why are americans, with lousy wages and the most appalling welfare system in the developed world, so lacking in motivation to better themselves.

are you saying that half of your fellow americans are inherently lazier and less motivated than people in other western nations?

why do you think this is?
Click to expand...

No, I think other nations protect their lazy and unmotivated using any measure necessary. And in countries like France and Greece, it is falling apart at the seems in front of our very eyes.
 
marywollstonecraft said:
Federalist said:
Or perhaps he has to much invested in his own ability to control his own person and property. The hand wringing ninnies, as he calls them, inevitably want control over our person (making us do things) and our property (taking things from us).
Click to expand...

this is a fantasy.
Click to expand...

In what sense to you consider it to be a fantasy? Progressive nanny-staters are all about controlling (regulating) other people and taking (redistributing) their property.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom