For sure all are subject to greed. But the 3rd world hungry poor have far more reason than anyone on welfare in the US.
Fraud in the interest of greed is well known umong all classes. Deplorable in the rich much less the super wealthy.
Likewise umong both rich and poor can be found great philanthropy.
It is all just simple human nature. Some allow the animal to prevail, others have learned to keep the animal in control.
> Some people are greedy, period. Makes little difference whether or not they are rich or poor. Of course, poor people are failures at the wealth game where rich people are winners. The question is whether or not the rich people won as a result of an unfair advantage or just luck.
So people who worked their butts off and became wealthy had an unfair advantage?
What?
Self reliance?
Self respect?
So people who started with money (family money) are lucky when they become weathy?
What?
Were they lucky that they were the ones who invested all the start up money and took all the risks?
You guys can't see the forest for all the trees.
> 1. Who is more greedy rich people or poor people?
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> 2 What causes more evil and illicit activities, wealth, or lack of money?
1. To be honest, I'll say that it was split 50/50. I know some very rich people who are greedy as hell. But I know a lot of poor people who are just as greedy, if not more so.
However, I would add that both greedy groups make up a small minority of people that I know and for the most part, people whether they are wealthy or poor would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.
2. Hmmmmmmm... I've never known any, but I've heard of rich people who think (thought) that they could get away with murder. And in some instances of mega wealth (i.e., Kennedys or O.J. Simpson), they did.
On the other hand, most of the people who I know that have for one reason or another ended up in prison, were poor. And most notably, they were poor because of their own lifestyle choices (i.e., dropped out of school, can't hold a job because they don't want to work, expecting others to give them what they want [not necessarily what they need]...etc).
There are varying degrees on both sides. I think this questions is impossible to generalize. I've seen wealthy people work their butts off, and others inherit it. I've seen them generous, and greedy
The poor can be a victim of bad luck, or lazy drug addicts. Health issues can force someone onto welfare, and being lazy drug addicts, or baby factories can do the same.
Each situation has to be judged separately. Trying to lump everyone into a general answer can't be done fairly.
The left tries to demonize the rich, but most of them are rich. I notice statistically Conservatives give out a higher percentage of their earnings to charity. While liberals want the tax payer to fund their charities. Examples would be Biden and Obama both give much less than 1% to Charities, While Romney and Santorum give over 10%. There are exceptions on both sides, but this seems to be typical.
I also agree maybe this should be under politics, with the attacks on the rich going on in our country now.
I'm not sure anyone here understands what it is like to have a Billion dollars, I know I sure don't.
Do you think Bill and Warren wake up every morning and say, "I think I need to make some more money today." I'd bet they do. Is that greed? Is that a bad thing?
If you had a Billion dollars and lost a Million, would it bother you?
Isn't Pole Money something a stripper gets? 😉
The impoverished can't afford your middle class morality.
Personally I would rather organize the political system so that we collect a larger portion of their wealth into the common sphere so that everyone has larger power in how the wealth of civilization is spent rather having that power concentrated in the hands of a few people.
Ecclesiastes 5:10, from NIV 1984:
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
> I have read some of your "philosophical" posts and have developed a respect for your opinion. But.....come on. I don't know about this one.
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> First, we all know that no poor person can donate billions with a b....because they don't have it.
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> Second, you paint a beautiful picture of a good, hard-working rich guy. I doubt that even 1% of rich people fitl that description. In my opinion, most have a huge ability to "b.s." (making you think they are good guys) and most have to be dishonest, have inherited the money, and/or make all their money off the backs of hard-working people.
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> The successful con man is the one you believe and trust. The bad guys that look and act like bad guys have much more trouble stealing from you (ie are not as successful).
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> I could paint an equally beautiful picture of a good blue-collar soul who works hard to feed his family, put his kids through school, and is generous with whatever he does have.
Thanks Mark, the original post was just meant to spark a thoughtful debate about the dynamic of having money or not having money, most myths are that rich people got there by stepping on others, are super greedy, or break the law in order to get wealth and poor people are sweet ole souls that would give you the shirt off their back. This is not what I am observing in life but quite the opposite.
Earlier, I did not aim to paint a beautiful picture of a rich man, I simply stated what I believe are the characteristics required to build and protect wealth, again, I think most rich people work hard and invest in education & appreciating assets, understand business, and solve other peoples problems, most see what is possible and do not stay focused on what is not possible. They have a vision, try it, get feedback, adjust, try again, repeat until successful.
If you look at "maslow's hierarchy of needs" I believe that the people living in the bottom two tiers would indeed have a very difficult time being generous and also would be more likely to commit illicit or illegal acts.
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