Questions for our American friends

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by laberbacke

The French work to live - Americans live to work. They're a nation of 325 million temporarily inconvenienced millionaires willing to put up with a lot of inequality that simply wouldn't fly in the old world.


That being said, if gas prices in the US (currently $ 3.15/gallon) were as high as they are in France ($ 6.90) or Germany ($ 6.70), there'd be blood in the streets.

You may be right about that. I was excited to go to work every day because that was my way of being of service and making the world a better place. I knew that I was never going to be a millionaire, but didn't care about that because overall I had a good life where all my needs were met. When I lost that feeling, life became difficult.

I am considered poverty stricken by American standards, but my life is very good compared to many people and way better than some of what I saw in Mexico. The quality of life for most people has deteriorated in the United States over the last decade to the point where its really noticeable. Younger people are rallying to seize control of the political process. If that fails to make changes in the current distribution of wealth, there could be serious trouble given the sheer amount of weaponry in private hands and the availability of more for easy purchase.

Really, I don't think it wouldn't take very much redistribution to fix things. But when I see some of the things the extremely wealthy do, one has to wonder how much is enough?

[bowlinggreen]

I remember reading about this and being enraged during the Enron scandal:

http://content.time.com/time/special...903152,00.html

$6000 for shower curtains? Two MILLION dollars for a birthday party?

That sort of thing is why the French masses got out the guillotines for the aristocracy.

Some of what goes on among the wealthy elite with regards to comfort spending is just obscene.

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by bowlinggreen

I remember reading about this and being enraged during the Enron scandal:

http://content.time.com/time/special...903152,00.html

$6000 for shower curtains? Two MILLION dollars for a birthday party?

That sort of thing is why the French masses got out the guillotines for the aristocracy.

Some of what goes on among the wealthy elite with regards to comfort spending is just obscene.

You think that I'm jealous, but honestly... this guy earned 100 million per year.
What did you expect he had to make with all this money?
He had to earn 150'000$ per year maximum. That's more than enough to live very well. Even in an expensive city like New York

That's simple perspicacity, not jealousy.
We let the distribution of wealth in very bad hands.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

We let the distribution of wealth in very bad hands.

I am reminded of reading Patterns of Culture by Ruth Benedict. In that 1934 work, she noted that we had built a culture that works well for sociopaths.

We still haven't fixed that. In fact, we have undone most of the Depression era reforms designed to alleviate the problems she noted.

[bowlinggreen]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

You think that I'm jealous, but honestly... this guy earned 100 million per year.
What did you expect he had to make with all this money?
He had to earn 150'000$ per year maximum. That's more than enough to live very well. Even in an expensive city like New York

That's simple perspicacity, not jealousy.
We let the distribution of wealth in very bad hands.

You might be jealous, but that doesn't mean there aren't real abuses.

I don't know if this guy is out of prison yet, I hope not, I hope he is still in the prison laundry and getting stale cum on his fingers from handling the dirty sheets of his fellow inmates.

Even amongst the middle class there is too much status signaling, people going too far into debt to buy fancy cars and other toys to show their friends and colleagues that they are "successful".

It's like a disease.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by bowlinggreen

You might be jealous, but that doesn't mean there aren't real abuses.

I don't know if this guy is out of prison yet, I hope not, I hope he is still in the prison laundry and getting stale cum on his fingers from handling the dirty sheets of his fellow inmates.

Even amongst the middle class there is too much status signaling, people going too far into debt to buy fancy cars and other toys to show their friends and colleagues that they are "successful".

It's like a disease.

modern society: "spending money I haven't got, to buy things I don't need, to impress people I don't like...."

[ShutUpLutz!]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

Do you think that this kind of protestation against social disparity could happen in the US or in some specific States or is it not at all in the modern American mentality?

Well Trump's base of support hasn't wavered one bit and continues to turn out by the thousands at his rallies despite the fact that they were buttfucked by the tax cut and the tariffs and that just about every policy Trump has announced /enacted is diametrically opposed to their own best interests/personal gain.

And they don't give a fuck.

Seriously.

Because they think it's all a huge conspiracy against him and because the Democrats are still playing nice and kowtowing to him.

[ShutUpLutz!]

Originally Posted by Dr Pepper

modern society: "spending money I haven't got, to buy things I don't need, to impress people I don't like...."

Couple of problems:

1. Wages still are stagnant and that vaunted $1,000 that the middle class got with their tax cut was expected to and probably was spent within a couple of months, rather than being put to use paying down their credit card debt which averages about $15,000 per family.

Appliances don't last nearly as long as they used to and that means more money being spent. Also it is expected that every family member must have their own cell phone and plan, which is at least $1,000 a year, which is beyond retarded. And those cell phones are expected to be thrown out every 18 months or so when the new models come in.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by ShutUpLutz!

Couple of problems:

1. Wages still are stagnant and that vaunted $1,000 that the middle class got with their tax cut was expected to and probably was spent within a couple of months, rather than being put to use paying down their credit card debt which averages about $15,000 per family.

Appliances don't last nearly as long as they used to and that means more money being spent. Also it is expected that every family member must have their own cell phone and plan, which is at least $1,000 a year, which is beyond retarded. And those cell phones are expected to be thrown out every 18 months or so when the new models come in.

I rest my case......and I haven't even mentioned electric tooth brushes or robot vaccuum cleaners till now.....

[vo1v0d]

When on the phone in a few shows I notice that sometimes they say pound sign for hash key? Does £ really resemble # ?