Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A Quick Undressing of a Myth
The assertion - that the United States economy is rigged and that only certain people can benefit from it.............The refutation - a) 58% of the people in the bottom quintile in 1996 were out of it by 2005 AND their income had risen substantially (91%).......b) More than half of the people in the top 1% of income earners in 1996 were out of the top 1% by 2005 AND their income actually went DOWN (26%).......c) At least 70% of the people on the "Forbes" richest 400 list were described as ENTIRELY SELF MADE and only 19% of them had inherited their fortune.......d) The age range for the highest average income earners is 45-54. This strongly infers that the people in the highest income bracket have only achieved this level after having first risen from the lower levels.......Yep, there it is, folks; our country, a country in which the people not only can make it but do make it, and in which a person's wealth isn't necessarily a guarantor of future success. Let the spinning begin.
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11 comments:
This post = catapulting the propaganda.
Every point is 100% factual. And you've got nothing to refute it.
Actually, wd, the system IS rigged. It's rigged against people who lack industriousness, imagination, self-control and discipline, creativity and the ability to think outside the box, responsibility, initiative, the ability to defer gratification, the ability to work well with others, social skills, the ability to follow directions, problem-solving skills, perspective-taking, common sense, flexibility, decision-making skills, a willingness to take risks, leadership, courage, intellect, and perseverance. People essentially like you, in other words.
These numbers neither confirm nor disprove that the system is rigged.
What you said doesn't describe me. You would have no idea even if it did. You're making shit up. Also, I already refuted your laughable claims that the system isn't rigged. You just made laughable excuses regarding why my facts don't count.
Typically, those who say the system is "rigged" are paranoid and ignorant, perhaps insecure individuals who spin fantasies in their minds to bring simple order to a world that is too complex for them to understand. They lash out: blaming Jews, blacks, the rich, whites, Arab oil magnates, and others... all part of the silly idea "things don't go the way I want them to, so it is rigged." A pretty demented way to look at the world.
WD falls within this.
No dmarks, I'm just looking at the facts. What's demented is that delusional fools spin fantasies in their minds about how fewer people controlling more and more of the nation's wealth is a good thing... and poor people are being overpaid.
Proof of dmarks' delusions are his accusations of racism against me. But lashing out against those who disagree with their idolization of the wealthy is typical for this type of dupe.
WD said: "and poor people are being overpaid."
I never said anything about poor people. Any person, rich or poor, is being overpaid if their pay is, due to some artificial intervention from outside, unrelated to the real value of the work.
"Proof of dmarks' delusions are his accusations of racism against me."
You aren't being a racist. At least this time. But this sour-grapes lashing out based on your own greed and jealousy and blaming innocent people for things is similar to the destructive illogic of racism.
dmarks: But this sour-grapes lashing out based on your own greed and jealousy and blaming innocent people for things is similar to the destructive illogic of racism.
No, I'm just looking at the facts.
Jerry, a truly rigged system wouldn't allow for social mobility. We obviously have copious amounts of social mobility. The categories of income change AND the categories of wealth change (and, no, not just people dying and handing down their wealth, either, it's people who invest their money most unwisely and end up losing it - it happens all the time).
And you have absolutely nothing, wd. Your only ammunition is household income, which I've already thoroughly discredited as a unreliable indicator, and brackets, which do not gauge the income of real life living breathing human beings but categories (which significantly change over decades and even yearly). You really need to dig a little bit deeper on this stuff, dude.
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