A questions for rich Americans: Why do you want to grind working folks under

[Miigwech]

your heels? Why can't you share? Why are you stock piling money, as if it will save you and give you eternal life? trump has given you all the money in the world and yet, you still want more. WHY? When the fuck do you stop and what will stop you? Religion doesn't do it, American values won't do it ... so what will quench your thirst for money?

[Me.]

1. Here's A Question

How much can they spend

[RKP5637]

2. It makes them feel good, one-upmanship. For some, it's OCD! n/t

[malaise]

21. I heard one asking how poor people own cell phones

They want to be able to show off - it's sick

[RKP5637]

33. And sadly in the US, we have lots of really sick people IMO. n/t

[malaise]

34. Not just in the US

Trust me on that one
Happy New Year

[RKP5637]

35. Yep!!!

Quite True!!!
Happy New Year

[11 Bravo]

3. Rhetorical question, right?

They have nothing to offer, so they must endlessly seek to acquire.
And following the lead of the Grifter-in-Chief, they've decided to get while the getting is good.

[lame54]

4. Trump has brought them closer to their dream...

Of owning everything

They have never been this close so they are going for it

They can't wait to light their cigars with the constitution

And all courtesy of the ignorant Trumpers of this country

Who will NOT be invited to their table

[tblue37]

5. I believe accumulating & hoarding obscene wealth is a lot like being a cat lady with

dozens of cats, or a hoarder who can't walk through his house. It's similar to OCD, and it's clearly pathological.

[Miigwech]

7. So lets start asking the question ... WHY

Dem's need to position this as apposed to the argument that Dem's are against wealth. We are not per say, but against excessive selfish greed.

[mahina]

10. To protect them from us :(

[LaurenOlimina]

6. Solution:

How to build a Guillotine: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Guillotine.html

Seems to be the only argument they actually hear. <sarcasm>

[mahina]

11. Darkly funny

Thanks for the belly laugh though of course this must not happen. It’s still funny.

[dalton99a]

32. +1

It worked! - At 44:05

[LakeArenal]

8. Because they can.

Because they have raised a generation or two that think they are entitled because they are told they are.

Does any remember a “reality” show called “Filthy Rich Cattle Drive.” The first appearance of Kortney Kardashian. Also rich kids of Hilfigar, Benatar, Rod Stewart
And other rich parents. They were horrible. Every one of them. Had I being their parent, I would have felt publicly shamed. But none of them seemed to share my shock.

[Grasswire2]

9. wealth hoarding is a mental health issue..

...requiring intervention. The intervention is TAXATION. TAXATION at levels that were law from the 50s to the 70s.

[Aristus]

12. I dislike the admonition that rich people should 'share' their wealth.

It makes working people sounds like they're asking for something they didn't earn, and don't deserve.

The truth is, the wealthy are robbing their workers by refusing to pay them a living wage, and granting them paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid family leave, etc.

Working people should be demanding the money that is rightfully theirs, rather than imploring the wealthy to 'share'.

[MissMillie]

36. I'm with you

People who would should be paid fairly for the labor.

[ansible]

13. Greed, pure unrestrained greed.

Living in California has really destroyed my faith in humanity, some of the most evil humans I've ever met are the rich people living here.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. The related question: What do you mean by "rich"?

[fescuerescue]

15. We admonish the rich for hoarding money

We also admonish the rich for spending it lavishly.

We also admonish the foolish who spend all their money and end up broke like us. Usually sports heroes but also lottery winners.

We pretty much admonish the wealthy for ANYTHING they do. Strange how they seem to ignore us.

But I'll put a stake in ground. I think it's great when the wealthy buy yachts, houses and expensive cars. It keeps people who build yachts, houses and cars working and feeding their families.

[Beringia]

17. Your vision of the world to stay as it is

Gigantic consumerism which trickles down. Ugh.

[fescuerescue]

18. Been to the store on December 24th lately?

We are engulfed in consumerism. Albeit I'm not even talking about that topic.

What is your preferred method to take money from the rich?

[Beringia]

19. A living wage, taxes

I don't know how you can stop people from being billionaires. Maybe have them fund a social program and have society benefit from some of their billions.

With climate change and the consequences of that, plus overpopulation and eating away natural resources, eating away what is left of the wild, we probably will put ourselves into extinction, even says Richard Leakey in a talk in Oct 2019 at Duke University.



https://www.newscientist.com/article/2179499-half-the-planet-should-be-set-aside-for-wildlife-to-save-ourselves/

If we want to avoid mass extinctions and preserve the ecosystems all plants and animals depend on, governments should protect a third of the oceans and land by 2030 and half by 2050, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity. So say leading biologists in an editorial in the journal Science this week.

It’s not just about saving wildlife, says Jonathan Baillie of the National Geographic Society, one of the authors. It’s also about saving ourselves.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2179499-half-the-planet-should-be-set-aside-for-wildlife-to-save-ourselves/#ixzz69p8UzHZu

[Miigwech]

24. I think you know, I know and they know

[smirkymonkey]

16. Very good question.

And I have a very good answer.

[onethatcares]

20. if you had

a billion tennis balls, or a million fishing rods, or a million of the same Dali prints. You would be called sick and the authorities would come and take you away.

BUT

If you have a million or a billion one dollar bills, they treat you like a fucking king in some places.

I think they're sick though.

[Xolodno]

22. Well...

You could ask that of the wealthy during the French and Russian Revolutions.

Going off memory, it was the lack of bread in St. Petersburg Russia that finally broke the camels back (granted there were plenty more reasons and it would probably result into revolt anyway, but it is symptomatic of a problem). The irony here is this, there was plenty of bread...it just wasn't reaching the masses because wealthy nobles were arguing over distribution rights and how much each profited.

Another irony, the reason Russia was performing so poorly during WWI, the Tsar put in charge a noble on addressing modernizing the Army. The noble came back and stated the Army did not have modernize much...of course, this noble had a vested financial interest in keeping the status quo. Modernizing would have meant lost profit....which he and his family lost anyway due to the revelation.

One of the things the wealthy here in the USA love to say, "If your so smart, why aren't you rich". That attitude and belief system will ultimately bring them down.

[Tipperary]

23. There are a lot of rich Dems.

Is your question for them as well?

[Miigwech]

25. To answer that ... only they know and if they may be, than they need to change their ways

[Yavin4]

26. The movie "Chinatown" provided an answer to your question

The rich are trying to buy the future. They want to create a global economic royalty class that will be untouched by democracies. They want their offspring to rule for generations.

"The future, Mr. Gittes, the future!"

[Newest Reality]

27. Think of...

Think of drug addiction as a model. Is there ever enough?

One could use any addiction, but the potency of a difficult drug habit that takes over your life is one factor that may influence some people who obsessively acquire wealth and who may also have no concern for the impact that has on the common good or how contrary it is to the common will that is the REAL foundation of our government, lest that be forgotten.

Since this is capitalism, excess is celebrated and the upper class are even rewarded just for being wealthy. Since the drug den provides all the works and junk, why shouldn't they get a regular dopamine rush as needed?

That's just a factor that includes the more obvious ones like power, control, status, self worth, etc.

[Miigwech]

28. Maybe it is not politics we need to fight but human excesses

[Newest Reality]

31. Yes,

I think most of our problems are multifaceted, though. This is a complex world now.

I have been revisiting the Enlightenment period a little and it is interesting and noteworthy in relation to our current situation. You can't say that everything that was going on then is still relevant, but the patterns, structures, arguments and outcomes are relevant.

The most important thing to stress in our attempt at democracy is the common good should equal the common will, no matter how difficult that is to enforce and preserve. A government should, at its best, reflect the unity of the people. However, that requires the people to find unity or common ground and, with vigilance, knowledge and reason, respond.

When people wonder what we can do or what are the solutions, the best advice is to find out more and stick to that. As you add more to your knowledge about, in this case, political science or our history, you find yourself thinking in more complex ways about it and avoid the opinionated, media-driven, superficial soundbite approach that is self-defeating. That then leads you like a compass down new and different avenues and makes you a more vigilant and resilient citizen.

All of that applies to our problems with a dangerously rapid and increasing inequity. I would say that both fundamentalism and the wealth of Oligarchs are not only not compatible with democracy, they are its current enemies in every sense.

[DanieRains]

29. They Live In Fear Too

Never enough.

Threat Zone!!!!

Scary Black Person!!!

What if I get sick?

Who will pay for my nursing home?

If you don't have 10 million you can't choose where you end up.

Sorry but it is the truth.

[diva77]

30. Some rich people have a form of tunnel vision/gambling addiction -- they don't consider the

consequences of their business strategies in terms of human suffering, but rather in terms of how many more beans they can gain with every decision they make. If they gain a bean, they get an endorphin high. If that bean causes human suffering, they don't think about it.