Here we go, the top 20 % of us are the enemy

[Blue Collar Guy]

Like i said before, this past election cycle. i saw a large portion of the citizens have a deep hatred on people that have assets. It doesn't matter if you inherited it or lived like a miser working 2 jobs, "Still, the top quintile of earners—those making more than roughly $112,000 a year—have been big beneficiaries of the country’s growth. To make matters worse, this group of Americans engages in a variety of practices that don’t just help their families, but harm the other 80 percent of Americans." So now im harming my neighbor that decides he wants to spend like a drunken sailor. Nice . This whole
wacky idea is starting to get traction. Reminds me of the poster that frowned on my .30 cent senior citizen discount, told me i was depriving a starving child.



Americans.The hoarding of the American Dream

 

[Morricol61]

Harming in what way? I don't understand what you are talking about. Obviously we have a different political arena in Australia, but what happens in America usually happens down here eventually.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Harming in what way? I don't understand what you are talking about. Obviously we have a different political arena in Australia, but what happens in America usually happens down here eventually.

The article says i am harming my neighbor

 

[MRG]

Like i said before, this past election cycle. i saw a large portion of the citizens have a deep hatred on people that have assets. It doesn't matter if you inherited it or lived like a miser working 2 jobs, "Still, the top quintile of earners—those making more than roughly $112,000 a year—have been big beneficiaries of the country’s growth. To make matters worse, this group of Americans engages in a variety of practices that don’t just help their families, but harm the other 80 percent of Americans." So now im harming my neighbor that decides he wants to spend like a drunken sailor. Nice . This whole
wacky idea is starting to get traction. Reminds me of the poster that frowned on my .30 cent senior citizen discount, told me i was depriving a starving child.



Americans.The hoarding of the American Dream

Your naked link keeps changing fonts and size. I have no idea of what it says or contains.

As far as the "topic". Classic have nots vs. haves in regards to saving and planning.

 

[braumeister]

What I read is that the author thinks soaking the 1% is not going so solve society's problems [obviously], so we should go after the 20% as a better target.

But the target is

the top quintile of earners—those making more than roughly $112,000 a year

Now, I haven't "earned" anything in many years, so maybe they will leave me alone?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

What I read is that the author thinks soaking the 1% is not going so solve society's problems [obviously], so we should go after the 20% as a better target.

But the target is


Now, I haven't "earned" anything in many years, so maybe they will leave me alone?

From your photo they see you can afford a big pint, they will come after you, hahahahaha

 

[Major Tom]

It's hot here. What I wouldn't do for a cold pint.

Sorry. Random thought. Please feel free to continue.

 

[ejman]

It's hot here. What I wouldn't do for a cold pint.

Sorry. Random thought. Please feel free to continue.

Yeah, the weather around here has been amazing. Cold and rainy late spring and then all of a sudden summer is here like someone threw a switch. Amazing. Sorry as well, nothing to do with OP post. Carry on.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Ill hijack my own post, I like random posts. It makes me feel like im having a conversation instead of chatting on the keyboard. Just to get us back on track,^^^^^ the other 80 % are coming after us.

 

[REWahoo]

BCG, you posted a copyrighted story in its entirety - no can do. The mods will be along shortly to correct your errant ways.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

BCG, you posted a copyrighted story in its entirety - no can do. The mods will be along shortly to correct your errant ways.

ok i goofed, someone said they could not get my link. Can anyone else see the story from the link?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

OK looks like some one fixed my goof, thanks. Back to us being the target.

 

[HtownRose]

This reminds me of the "expert" a while back that advised parents to not read to their children because it gave them an unfair advantage over children whose parents didn't read to them.

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[pb4uski]

Harming in what way? I don't understand what you are talking about. Obviously we have a different political arena in Australia, but what happens in America usually happens down here eventually.

According to the article, this is the way the top 20% are harming the bottom 80%:

They ensure they grow up in nice zip codes, provide social connections that make a difference when entering the labor force, help with internships, aid with tuition and home-buying, and schmooze with college admissions officers. All the while, they support policies and practices that protect their economic position and prevent poorer kids from climbing the income ladder: legacy admissions, the preferential tax treatment of investment income, 529 college savings plans, exclusionary zoning, occupational licensing, and restrictions on the immigration of white-collar professionals.

In our case:

• grow up in nice zip codes... perhaps but pretty middle class
• provide social connections that make a difference when entering the labor force... no.... DD and DS found jobs themselves
• help with internships... no.. DD did it herself
• aid with tuition.... yes
• aid with home-buying.... no
• schmooze with college admissions officers.... no
• legacy admissions... no
• preferential tax treatment of investment income... yes, but nothing that I control
• 529 college savings plans... no
• exclusionary zoning...... no
• occupational licensing... nothing I control or even influence
• restrictions on the immigration of white-collar professionals... ditto

I guess it is an interesting premise to wind up the 80% but I'm skeptical how real it really is... not in my life anyway,

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

This reminds me of the "expert" a while back that advised parents to not read to their children because it gave them an unfair advantage over children whose parents didn't read to them.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Thanks,

 

[bUU]

There are at least six different ways our society gives me advantages over other people, utterly unrelated to my myriad earned advantages. Eliminating those kinds of advantages from society overall would assuredly be an improvement in justice. I doubt society will have the will to do so in any substantive way in the short term so the concerns expressed above are premature.

 

[Just_Steve]

What a bunch of BS, makes me want to puke.

 

[Another Reader]

Equal opportunity does not mean equal outcome. Life presents you with many opportunities (and challenges). What you do with them determines your outcome. If we go to a system that demands equal outcomes, no one will work to do better than the next person and our society will weaken and collapse.

 

[bUU]

Equal opportunity does mean an elimination of unearned advantages leaving people only their earned advantages, as much as that would tend to adversely affect, and upset, those who enjoy such advantages today.

 

[bradaz2488]

I have not seen any viable plan to close the gap between the "haves" and "have not's". It's a hard problem to fix when you have generations of families that teach their kids how to take advantage of the many entitlement systems (poor role models). It really hurts the people that really need the help from these systems. There are healthy people that have no desire to work or better themselves. They are content living in subsidized/poor housing and ordering from the $1 menus and as long as they have a TV & internet they are set... I see beggars on the street corners all the time on their smart phone (WTF).. When these entitlement policies were put in place they were intend to give a person a help "up" not a hand "out", but that was a different generation back then. They were ashamed to take any help from anyone back then. I fear if we reduce or stop these entitlements that the "have nots" with just take it from the "haves" since they have nothing to loose. I'm afraid we have created a monster out of good intentions... Just my 2 cents...

 

[Mo Money]

I clearly am going "all curmudgeon" on issues like this. I have limited sympathy for the 80% referred to in the article in question. I had working class parents who could not give me any advice on college or grad school. They simply worked their butts off and prayed for me a lot, and encouraged me along the way. I borrowed, worked summer jobs, did work study, earned scholarships, and paid back my school loans. I know that the opportunities have changed, but they always evolve, and those who succeed evolve too. I am tired of hearing that the deck is hopelessly stacked. It isn't. But articles, like the one that BCG laments, are aimed at stoking the notion that the 20% has pulled a fast one. The 20% hasn't; it just followed the rule book and persisted.

 

[audreyh1]

Does someone have too much time on their hands?

Oh, never mind, lots of retired folks hang out here!

 

[audreyh1]

This reminds me of the "expert" a while back that advised parents to not read to their children because it gave them an unfair advantage over children whose parents didn't read to them.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Seriously?!!

OMG!

 

[redduck]

Your (referring to blue collar guy*) naked link keeps changing fonts and size....

This post is useless without pictures.

*edited to add by redduck

 

[Nightcap]

This became a conversation about "privilege" in my circle of middle-class-liberal-well-intentioned-blues singers.

I'm a white male, so to the extent that gives me a privileged place in society, I'm privileged. But my dad raised ten kids on a public schoolteacher's pay, so I went to work the day after I graduated high school. I pissed away my early twenties and my first marriage, but I sobered up and got busy thereafter. I was lucky: computers fascinated me, so I taught myself, then traded on those skills and continuous self-education to move up the ladder. I met a wonderful woman with a remarkable amount of common sense. Together we lived modestly and happily, worked hard, and maxed out our retirement savings. And here we are, dues-paying members of the top quintile if not the top decile.

We avoided impoverishing ourselves with substance abuse, gambling, extravagant living, and divorce. As Mo Money said, we followed the rules and persisted.

I just can't bring myself to feel guilty about it.