lotrfan55345 wrote:I hope you don't realyl belive that. Most rich people were born rich, got the family company/estate and stayed rich!
It isn't people fault they were born in the ghetto and can't afford to go to collage. It isn't people's fault they are born in Africa with no food. I mean, how are you supposed to "smarten up" and "get rich" when you don't have anything to eat?
I believe it and hold it as a fundamental truth. You are where you are in the world right now because of decisions you have made in your life.
The small minority of the wealthy who inherited wealth stayed wealthy because of decicions they made. It may not be a person's mistake to be born in a ghetto, although it is certainly a misfortune. It is absolutely their fault for staying there, they made the choices that kept them there. They made the choice to become and remain a victim.
I have no simpathy for the Victim mindset. It all boils down to letting things happen to you or making thigs happen. I read a poll several months ago where people were asked what makes you rich, hard work or education. The uneducated respondants answered that it was education. The affluent respondents said it was hard work. I've been in positions which have placed me in contact with numerous successful people (make good money, have their own business or an important job, have earned positions of respect). To a person it is because hard work got them there. Not all of them have higher education. I can tell you of several that never graduation high school. It is not the environment that determines a person's wealth, but what they do within that environment.
I was born to a blue collar family in a small town in Maine. We never had money, dad worked a good job, the bills were paid, we had food on the table. I picked blueberries in the summer, raked leaves in the fall, shovelled snow in the winter, delivered newspapers. I saved my pennies and paid for 2 years of college. I have owned several businesses, some made a few bucks, some lost a few bucks. I once started a window cleaning business with a 5 dollar bill, no bullshit, that put food on my table for 2 years. I have bought and sold rare coins, started up a candy company, almost opened a restaurant, and currently build cabinets on the side. I've had some misfortunes, lost everything a couple of times, gone through bankruptcy, been robbed blind. I've had all sorts of jobs. Dishwashing, cooking, waiter, restaurant manager, I've sold meat and seafood out of the back of a truck, managed apartment complexes, bagboy and cashier at a supermarket, painter, bartender on a boat, I even took a job once catching chickens.
Along the way I have made some stupid decisions as well as some smart ones. I am not the victim of someone elses decision. Nobody runs my life. I am responsible for where I am. Are you where you are because of someone else's decicions? Perhaps it is time you gave "Personal Responsibility" a second thought.
It may be possible for me to edit my previous post:
Poor people are poor because the decisions they make keep them poor.
Rich people are rich because they make the decisions thay keep them rich.
It is a fact that I have met some smart people who are poor. I have never met a rich person who was stupid.
now back to the thread...
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The entire concept of limiting a persons wealth is nonsense. If you put a ceiling on wealth, you also put a ceiling on ambition, production, performance, and the entire economy. Let's say Bill Gates had a ceiling on his wealth. Once he reaches that ceiling, there is no more incentive for him or his company to produce. The world would be running on DOS 6.2. Send him to Wal-mart, compel him to spend a big sack of cash on groceries, then he can get back to work? Foolish.
It is the wealth in the nation that creates invenstment, industry, and jobs. It is the dreams of a few that propell the economy. Your plan would punish the overachievers.