Mar 21, 2011 2:47 AM GMT
Not since the days of the 19th Century robber barons have we had such an imbalance of money and power

carminea saidEveryone only makes as much as they earn.
Christian73 saidcarminea saidEveryone only makes as much as they earn.
Not really. Lots of people of "unearned income" and I don't consider gambling with other people's money, including some of the pensions that got so fucked up, as "earning" money.
riddler78 saidChristian73 saidcarminea saidEveryone only makes as much as they earn.
Not really. Lots of people of "unearned income" and I don't consider gambling with other people's money, including some of the pensions that got so fucked up, as "earning" money.
I think you and I would agree that the outsized comp packages are generally not terribly efficient. But would you agree that the alternatives like government facilitated capital allocation in alternative economies are even more inefficiently broadly speaking?
I mean more broadly would you agree that the financial services sector is critical to the success of any economy because of its role in capital allocation? ie putting down companies that aren't efficient, funding those who have good ideas and markets, etc.?
FierceEyes saidHere's a better explanation.
Here are some hilights:
The richest 400 people have more money than the bottom 150,000,000 combined.
Between the years 1980 and 2005, 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%.
Not creating an income gap? Hardly.
mocktwinkie saidThroughout history there will be always someone bringing up the obvious fact that capitalism is inadequate, but they will always be unable to find a better alternative and in their shortsighted quest will end up embracing something much, much worse.
Our founding fathers and brave men and women who fought in WW2 to give us what we have today would turn in their graves hearing the sentiments of so many young Americans today.
It's not about what's perfect, it's about what works best.
mocktwinkie saidThroughout history there will be always someone bringing up the obvious fact that capitalism is inadequate, but they will always be unable to find a better alternative and in their shortsighted quest will end up embracing something much, much worse.
Our founding fathers and brave men and women who fought in WW2 to give us what we have today would turn in their graves hearing the sentiments of so many young Americans today.
It's not about what's perfect, it's about what works best.
mocktwinkie saidFierceEyes saidHere's a better explanation.
Here are some hilights:
The richest 400 people have more money than the bottom 150,000,000 combined.
Between the years 1980 and 2005, 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%.
Not creating an income gap? Hardly.
So 400 people were smarter and got luckier than 150,000,000.
What are you saying? That everybody's money should be everybody's money?
Christian73 saidmocktwinkie saidFierceEyes saidHere's a better explanation.
Here are some hilights:
The richest 400 people have more money than the bottom 150,000,000 combined.
Between the years 1980 and 2005, 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%.
Not creating an income gap? Hardly.
So 400 people were smarter and got luckier than 150,000,000.
What are you saying? That everybody's money should be everybody's money?
No. They are not "smarter and luckier." Consider that 6 of the top 10 richest are members of the Walton family, some of whom have no active role in managing Walmart. They are living off their father's and siblings' work.
Tazo995 saidmocktwinkie saidThroughout history there will be always someone bringing up the obvious fact that capitalism is inadequate, but they will always be unable to find a better alternative and in their shortsighted quest will end up embracing something much, much worse.
Our founding fathers and brave men and women who fought in WW2 to give us what we have today would turn in their graves hearing the sentiments of so many young Americans today.
It's not about what's perfect, it's about what works best.
Which is exactly what's wrong.
Capitalism only works if the government guarantees a level playing field, by means of legislation and a functional judiciary.
The US has neither, and as an economy is completely geared towards the interests of a relatively small selection of large corporates.
Dragging some veterans into this discussion is classic American cheap demagogy, which always blinds the discussion and leads to inadequate, irrational and anti-pragmatic policy.
Tazo995 saidSorry, you're an idiot so I'm not going into further arguments with you.
Look up level playing field in the dictionary.
Christian73 saidmocktwinkie saidThroughout history there will be always someone bringing up the obvious fact that capitalism is inadequate, but they will always be unable to find a better alternative and in their shortsighted quest will end up embracing something much, much worse.
Our founding fathers and brave men and women who fought in WW2 to give us what we have today would turn in their graves hearing the sentiments of so many young Americans today.
It's not about what's perfect, it's about what works best.
Putting aside the emotional portion of your response, I agree it's the best we've got, but doesn't recognizing its imperfections also mean we have to do our best to ensure that those imperfections harm the fewest possible people?