Why the disdain for “rich” people ?

[pharmer]

In my 54 years "on the job(s)" I have been flat broke and $fat stack. None of it was due to "fair" or "unfair," opportunity or lack of. Nobody gave me anything and if anything got taken away it was because of my choices. I thought after working a whole lifetime I'd finish out on "easy street." Like somebody said way back in this thread: "I got enough." That's better than 95% of the people on this planet. Joe

 

[greenwellg]

I learned early what I could not do. I had a lot wrong with me, heart murmur, hernia. No CDL and I was told I could get the hernia fixed then get drafted (lucky #7 first lottery) and possibly sent home to my parents in a body bag. They had to declare war to make me serve if they could force me to get the operation to repair the hernia
I was the wrong race, sex, and had little chance to get any decent government job. Was offered a job but told that I would be hired at a grade and retire at the same grade 30 years later.
I got married late in life to a former next door neighbor who reminded me of Annette Funicello's sister. She was almost 5 years older than I was and we will be married 36 years this November 4th. She had a govt job where 53 of 55 employee's were women.
I learned to fix things and build things. A voracious reader with a superb memory. Even got a patent that expired recently.
After working on cars for 30 years, I learned the govt would allow me to make tax free capital gains if I built my own house. In 1999 I sold my repair shop and started building my own house that year I turned 49 after 31 years working on cars both mechanical and bodywork.
First house cost me $160k, sold it 3 years later for $335k. Took the gain from the sale and built another house. We lived in it until it was sold May 5th 2022 for $430k. That netted us $406k.
The wife's air conditioned county job where she worked for 178 days a year gave her a decent retirement income (I worked 250 days a year). The 2 houses and my social security, combined with the income from the two houses made us a decent amount of income but the fact that we never financed anything as far as cars and houses meant we have not made payments on either for 33 years. We only borrowed money to make a lot more money after living in my creations that I did not get paid to make.
If that means I am rich then I earned every penny, including working for 4 years without a paycheck.

 

[silicosys4]

Two facts in play

The boomer generation holds 70% of the wealth of this nation

Younger generations cannot afford to buy homes or start families.

Those two facts are going to create some kevel of resentment and animosity.

 

[zeke]

"the law is applied to the poor, and the law is avoided by the rich" There's more, but ain't in the mood to get dinked

 

[Jimbo41]

Younger generations cannot afford to buy homes or start families.

I don’t know if this is true. I am a boomer and have two daughters. They seem to live for today, using their resources to enjoy the moment, rather than saving for a home or even a crisis. They are not unique, nearly all of their friends live this way. This generation is making different decisions than we did, and while we think it unlikely to turn out well, our parents probably thought the same about us.

 

[silicosys4]

I don’t know if this is true. I am a boomer and have two daughters. They seem to live for today, using their resources to enjoy the moment, rather than saving for a home or even a crisis. They are not unique, nearly all of their friends live this way. This generation is making different decisions than we did, and while we think it unlikely to turn out well, our parents probably thought the same about us.

You just have to look up avg incomes vs avg house prices and compare that to marriage and birth rates
This video is a very good breakdown of the economic disparities I'm speaking of.

 

[Grayfox]

A big part of the problem is that many folks just never learned the truth about life. Many people are brainwashed by a bunch of liberal BS. Mostly the young, but many older people as well.

1. Life ain't fair. Never expect it to be.
2. You ain't entitled to squat. You gotta earn your way in life.
3. Life is hard. Its harder if you're stupid. (John Wayne)
4. There ain't no free rides. Somebody, somewhere has to pay for it.

 

[Jimbo41]

You just have to look up avg incomes vs avg house prices and compare that to marriage and birth rates
This video is a very good breakdown of the economic disparities I'm speaking of.

Didn't watch the video, but this common comparison is misleading. Home prices are higher relative to household income in part because of demand for larger homes and especially because of changes in lending policies and interest rates. I’m not saying that housing isn’t less affordable, but that the difference is much less than the simple comparison indicates.

 

[greenwellg]

First house appreciated at $500 a week. Second house did not appreciate for 10 years. IN fact it appreciated more in the last 8 months of the 18 years we lived there than it did in the first 17 years. Young people want mcmansions when they need something like the under 1000 square foot house my family of 6 lived in when the last brother was born in 1960.
Get a super economy car and live on the edge of the most expensive land around. Build small on land that is half the cost of mcmansion land. Pay it off quickly with two incomes and add on if you see the possibility.

It's not rocket science people.

Lot's of people now can work from home, so no commute. You can build your house instead of crawling through traffic for two hours a day. Took me 1600 hours to build a $400k home and I was hurting every day.

My wife and I never made more than $50 k a year each, but we never walked into the debt trap modern society just loves to get you stuck in that quicksand.

She asked me if I wanted a survivors benefit on her retirement. The only problem was it would CUT her benefit by 40%, so I refused and she has now been retired for 17 years at $1200 a month more than she would have made if I had said yes to the survivors benefit. That single act bought the condo we now live in and basically I am homeless since she wrote a check for the condo.

 

[greenwellg]

Way OT relative to this thread but relevant. Lots of people can't swim. They just need to learn to breathe differently, then they will be comfortable in water once they realize they have a life jacket called their lungs. Keep you lungs inflated, exhale and inhale quickly and use just your hands to compensate for the lost buoyancy while quickly replacing the air in your lungs. Learn to float and swimming just means you move your hands and feet to propel you in a direction.

In other words think outside the box of debt those rich people want you to be in, where you spend most of a lifetimes income,

RENTING THEIR MONEY

 

[Muddyboot]

I've never met a person who wouldn't like to be rich, so it's strange to me that you
would hate someone that you yourself would like to be.

 

[Bald1]

Two facts in play

The boomer generation holds 70% of the wealth of this nation

Younger generations cannot afford to buy homes or start families.

Those two facts are going to create some kevel of resentment and animosity.

Yes but why? Why can’t younger generations afford it? My son is 31. In the military. He has bought, rented out and sold 5 houses since 2016. On a military salary. I don’t like to hear can’t. It’s about choices. If said generation is strapped with school debt, well that’s on them.

 

[Farmer17]

Many people resent the rich because of false information they here. I've been told my whole life by CPAs and other well informed people that the wealthiest 20% pay about 80% of the income taxes brought in by the IRS. If you Google, it will tell you that wealthy people only pay about 7 or 8 percent of the their income in taxes. I know that's not true, if you make the money you gotta pay taxes!

 

[Grimjaws]

From a previous post…bought a brand new DnD book..versus an oil change

As an avid player of the game it can become consuming. I started with the very first edition way back in its release date and have been playing ever since
I still have the original dice from the 70s

My computer room shelves are loaded to the top with all the many books and versions over the years

I don’t have many vices
so most of my fun money go towards
blue 4” adjustable sight wood grip S&W revolvers and
D&D books

My wife says that makes me an armed nerd.

 

[raljr1]

Rich people, eh let'em be rich. But also let'em pay taxes at the same rate w/o dubious financial shelters and a thousand safeguards for private business that guard the business before the worker. (And yes, I have sucessfully owned and run private businesses; I disdained it so I go into teaching.)

That's all I'll say on the matter here, but it's the disparity between the common worker and the CEO that angers people - and probably rightfully, as it has never in modern history been such a deep gap.

*Wanted to add - while I personally am, as Ray Charles once put it, 'comfortable', it is my earnest belief that if I invented the bloody wheel, put into place all the business organization and construction for its build and continual use, and started WheelCo, Inc - as founder and CEO I would still NEVER deserve 300x (or more) what my lowest paid worker makes.

Well, a lot there. The "rich" take advantage of the tax laws as written by the government. You know why they have those advantages? They pay people to find them, and the people who make the tax laws....Most of them are rich, at least after a few years in office. No incentive to eliminate tax advantages for rich folk. Having said that, the "rich" pay the majority of taxes, in one way or another.

As for the disparity in income between CEOs and workers, both are paid according to the market value of their skill. The market sets that price. The same workers who cry about how much the CEO (whose decisions impact sometimes tens of thousands of workers) makes are the same folks who don't mind spending their money to watch a MLB player get paid $70,000 per at bat, or an NFL quarterback who gets paid $115,000 per pass attempt. The market dictates that, and the working man who cherishes his season ticket, pays for it.

I too am comfortable at this point in my life after starting my career as a machinist apprentice and ending up as president of a small company. I still worry about whether what have will be enough for the next 25 years. 20 years ago, we lived in a golf course community in Florida, average home worth about $400k a security expert came to speak to the ladies' group on day. He asked them how many of them thought they were rich. Less than half raised their hands. His response to that was, everyone outside this neighborhood thinks you are all rich.

Perspective.

 

[Greyman50]

All about Priorities. Just about anyone can become rich compared to others.

 

[ladder13]

Class warfare.

 

[Muddyboot]

I like to say I'm rich in books...just ordered, Herodotus: The History, History of the Peloponnesian War and
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Some wealth is more than just money.

 

[GypsmJim]

Two facts in play

The boomer generation holds 70% of the wealth of this nation

Younger generations cannot afford to buy homes or start families.

Those two facts are going to create some kevel of resentment and animosity.

I'm a Boomer with 2 sons.

One son decided at age 15 he neded a jetski. He borrowed my lawn mower and started cutting grass for old ladies. After 2 jobs he bought his own mower. When he became of age he paid cash for a brand new machine. In high school he worked part time at Office Max. At age 19 he bought his first house. He now lives in a $1MM mansion.

My other son had to take a community service class in high school. He chose a nursing home within walking distance of home. When the class was over he continued working there, now for pay. Middle 20's and he bought a house as well.

When we moved into our current home the boys were still pre-teens. There were 60 kids in this new development. All good hard working men with good jobs and stay at home moms. We have only kept up with some of the kids, but all we know own homes.

In contrast, a distant relative survived on welfare most of her adult life. Her kids not only do NOT own a house, but they are on welfare too.

What does all this tell you?

 

[22hipower]

Two facts in play

The boomer generation holds 70% of the wealth of this nation

Younger generations cannot afford to buy homes or start families.

Those two facts are going to create some kevel of resentment and animosity.

And we boomers managed to borrow and spend most of the $37 trillion of national debt that the younger generations will have to pay back. They will not look back fondly at our profligacy.