Do most of you not realize how out of touch and privileged you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just disagree ..Having free time in the middle of a work day, a macbook and high speed interenet are not god given rights...

Basic lodging, running water, heat, etc are RIGHTS but this is not what pp was referencing

Actually, they are not.

The PP is likely confused, extrapolating some general feelings about natural rights, mixing in some notions about the role of government, and arriving at a set of what are best described as entitlements, rather than rights.

[Anonymous]

In America every person should have access to lodging, water and heat. This can be in the form of group housing, homeless shelter, etc

No one in our country SHOULD be on the streets..

Dang..am I turning full blown democrat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life’s not fair. The internet just made it easier to complain.

You mean the internet made it harder for you not to hear the wails of the hungry under your mansion?

I wish I had a mansion. I’m nowhere near where a lot of these posters are. But I do like to read this forum.

I’m an HVAC tech making $60,000 if I hustle (weekend and emergency callout work) and my wife is a school teacher making $45,000. We aren’t rich, but we are getting there. I read this forum for entertainment and don’t bitch that others are doctors married to lawyers. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In America every person should have access to lodging, water and heat. This can be in the form of group housing, homeless shelter, etc

No one in our country SHOULD be on the streets..

Dang..am I turning full blown democrat

If only government-run shelters were actually good quality:

https://www.kqed.org/news/11668623/why-do-thousands-of-l-a-s-homeless-shelter-beds-sit-empty-each-night-rats-roaches-bedbugs-mold

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:" 30s buying million + dollar homes, people who are 40 years old and already 401(k) millionaires, people who have funded their future kids' college education "

That me but I'm self-made. My parents came to the United States as immigrants with $5 in their pocket. I learned hard work from them and started working at very early age and continue to do so today at the age of 41. Nothing was handed to us, no inheritance, no nothing. A lot of folks don't understand what they have here in the United States. It truly is the land of opportunity. A lof of us were not born with a gold spoon and have actually worked really hard for where we are today!

You are not self made. Not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First generation American here- grew up with a single mom because dad abandoned us and took all the money with him. Tons of student loans. Worked 4 jobs in college and could barely afford shampoo. I’m an obvious minority and a woman and experienced it all. 20 years of hard work later I’m well off.

My absolute biggest privilege was being born in the USA. If you don’t get that, you’re ignorant of the world.

Multiple people have gone off about this but it doesn't change the fact that the truly wealthy are usually a-hats who convince themselves that they deserve to be rich, no one else worked as hard as they do or their immigrant parents did (who came here with $1 and walked to and from their four jobs with no shoes uphill every day). Yes, it is a nice thing to be born in the US compared to *some* other places, but it doesn't mean there aren't many, many people here who are living through great hardship.

Fact is, if you are wealthy, you got lucky in some way. Tons of people work as hard or (likely) harder than you do every day and will never make six figures. Tons of people have immigrant parents who worked four jobs and they are their kids never became wealthy. Tons of people live good, honest lives and will never be wealthy. If you are wealthy, you should be thankful for your good fortune, give back as much as you can, and stop believing you "deserve" this more than others. You don't. These myths about your life you tell yourself are just the way you soothe your (in some of your cases, vanishingly small) conscience.

PP here- of course I got lucky. My existence in America a huge stroke of luck. Access to USG funded grants and student loans is a huge stroke of luck. Having been taught decent family values and the need to contribute to your community a huge stroke of luck. Nothing in my post said I deserved this more than anyone else. OP wants to burn the system down because she is unhappy with it, and eliminate the path to prosperity America has offered millions of people over the course of history. Its a super messed up proposal, and if you don't recognize it, YOUR intelligence and conscience has been addled by envy and hatred.

I don't agree with OPs draconian take on it, but I do see a lot of rich people trying to rationalize for themselves why they deserve to be rich (and the subtext that everyone else does not) on this thread and all over this board. If you are cognizant of your good fortune, then you are not one of the people that I, or even the OP for that matter, were talking to. It's the idea that so many rich people are oblivious to their own privilege and kinda jerks.

PP here. No doubt there are some jerks on this message board, but the point of this board is to try to get a frame of reference to how people in your income bracket are spending and managing their money. That should absolutely include charitable giving and other efforts to not be a leach. But the OP just hates everyone for having money. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I am around people who are much richer than me and I feel like GTFA of here, but I certainly don't think the response is to burn the system down, or have so much hate in my heart. I hope someone helps the OP so they don't feel so angry. Health and well being is wealth. Money makes the world go round, but we all die someday. Don't waste your rage on an anonymous message board that is actually quite helpful to some people. I've learned a LOT on this form (and I just ignore the jerks).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're projecting. Stop blaming the hardworking families who gasp... provide jobs for the working class. Get off your high horse and work harder.

+1 and also, OP, here's something I learned which helped me enormously. When you have a big decision to make, before you finalize the decision, brainstorm 2-3 additional options. Expand your option set. That forces you to think through pros and cons. For me, many times it's led to a more lucrative choice. Especially since you chose to the an Uber driver, I think you didn't think it through. Sorry if that sounds condescending, but it's true. And you sound like you need to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're projecting. Stop blaming the hardworking families who gasp... provide jobs for the working class. Get off your high horse and work harder.

+1 and also, OP, here's something I learned which helped me enormously. When you have a big decision to make, before you finalize the decision, brainstorm 2-3 additional options. Expand your option set. That forces you to think through pros and cons. For me, many times it's led to a more lucrative choice. Especially since you chose to the an Uber driver, I think you didn't think it through. Sorry if that sounds condescending, but it's true. And you sound like you need to change.

Stick in there OP. As crappy as things seem today. Everything can get better starting today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First generation American here- grew up with a single mom because dad abandoned us and took all the money with him. Tons of student loans. Worked 4 jobs in college and could barely afford shampoo. I’m an obvious minority and a woman and experienced it all. 20 years of hard work later I’m well off.

My absolute biggest privilege was being born in the USA. If you don’t get that, you’re ignorant of the world.

Multiple people have gone off about this but it doesn't change the fact that the truly wealthy are usually a-hats who convince themselves that they deserve to be rich, no one else worked as hard as they do or their immigrant parents did (who came here with $1 and walked to and from their four jobs with no shoes uphill every day). Yes, it is a nice thing to be born in the US compared to *some* other places, but it doesn't mean there aren't many, many people here who are living through great hardship.

Fact is, if you are wealthy, you got lucky in some way. Tons of people work as hard or (likely) harder than you do every day and will never make six figures. Tons of people have immigrant parents who worked four jobs and they are their kids never became wealthy. Tons of people live good, honest lives and will never be wealthy. If you are wealthy, you should be thankful for your good fortune, give back as much as you can, and stop believing you "deserve" this more than others. You don't. These myths about your life you tell yourself are just the way you soothe your (in some of your cases, vanishingly small) conscience.

PP here- of course I got lucky. My existence in America a huge stroke of luck. Access to USG funded grants and student loans is a huge stroke of luck. Having been taught decent family values and the need to contribute to your community a huge stroke of luck. Nothing in my post said I deserved this more than anyone else. OP wants to burn the system down because she is unhappy with it, and eliminate the path to prosperity America has offered millions of people over the course of history. Its a super messed up proposal, and if you don't recognize it, YOUR intelligence and conscience has been addled by envy and hatred.

I don't agree with OPs draconian take on it, but I do see a lot of rich people trying to rationalize for themselves why they deserve to be rich (and the subtext that everyone else does not) on this thread and all over this board. If you are cognizant of your good fortune, then you are not one of the people that I, or even the OP for that matter, were talking to. It's the idea that so many rich people are oblivious to their own privilege and kinda jerks.

PP here. No doubt there are some jerks on this message board, but the point of this board is to try to get a frame of reference to how people in your income bracket are spending and managing their money. That should absolutely include charitable giving and other efforts to not be a leach. But the OP just hates everyone for having money. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I am around people who are much richer than me and I feel like GTFA of here, but I certainly don't think the response is to burn the system down, or have so much hate in my heart. I hope someone helps the OP so they don't feel so angry. Health and well being is wealth. Money makes the world go round, but we all die someday. Don't waste your rage on an anonymous message board that is actually quite helpful to some people. I've learned a LOT on this form (and I just ignore the jerks).

+1. Why do you waste your energy OP on something you can’t control and that is other people having money?

You should channel that anger into something productive.

I grew up poor and learned a long time ago that it doesn’t matter what other people do. I could care less. It also doesn’t matter what other people think about me. I could care less. What is important is what how I think of myself and what I am able to do and the things I can control.

You need to get some help letting go of this anger and resentment. It’s not healthy.

[Anonymous]

For someone who is dying, your health might be a privilege.
I am telling myself too but let’s not waist time (thinking time too) of your life on people you hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:" 30s buying million + dollar homes, people who are 40 years old and already 401(k) millionaires, people who have funded their future kids' college education "

That me but I'm self-made. My parents came to the United States as immigrants with $5 in their pocket. I learned hard work from them and started working at very early age and continue to do so today at the age of 41. Nothing was handed to us, no inheritance, no nothing. A lot of folks don't understand what they have here in the United States. It truly is the land of opportunity. A lof of us were not born with a gold spoon and have actually worked really hard for where we are today!

You are not self made. Not even close.

NP but why would you say that??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're projecting. Stop blaming the hardworking families who gasp... provide jobs for the working class. Get off your high horse and work harder.

JFC you still don’t get it. See the PP who talks about how rich people convince themselves they are well off only bc of hard work. You don’t think working class people work hard? And you think working class people should just be thankful to the rich for providing jobs? Jobs that are barely enough to get by. Do the well off understand that without the dumb lower paid working class they wouldn’t be as rich?
You are clueless.

Nah b, the lower class should be grateful they have a jobs, we could always outsource for foreign labor leaving a larger gap in unemployment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just dropping in here to say that this forum makes me want to vomit. Especially here.

All this talk of people in their 30s buying million + dollar homes, people who are 40 years old and already 401(k) millionaires, people who have funded their future kids' college education while talking down to those who struggle to pay back their student loans only hoping for a break someday, people here bemoaning the budget constraints of a HHI of "only" $200K, people with investment properties, people with investments, period. Do you not understand that the average American cannot withstand a $500 emergency? That there is an eviction crisis in this country? That medical debt makes people wonder if their life-saving medical treatments are even worth the "life" they get to live afterwards? How one economic downturn can render a hardworking family penniless and homeless? That the AVERAGE household income yes IN THE DC AREA is far, FAR below the individual salaries thrown about in these discussions and that yes, AVERAGE and, gasp, below average HHI families need a place to live too? Two hour commutes each way be damned, "go move somewhere you can afford!"

I completely understand why people made guillotine memes in response to the proposed $600 stimulus checks this winter. And guess what, $1400 is not enough either. I hope all of you out of touch privileged people are taxed so hard your eyes bleed. You people are the swamp everybody else loves to hate. We need to tax the rich into oblivion and collectivize their assets, I swear to god. Don't EVER try to justify your cushy job as having "Earned" your right to complain about property taxes on your second investment property when this country operates like the Third World when trying to meet other people's basic needs.

At least there is one party voting to get checks out to the public, and trying to do what it can, despite the delays and lack of cooperation from the GOP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear OP, don't you get it? They do not care. Not the UMC or the rich on dcum, nor the rich in the U.S. In most of the world rich and privileged don't care and don't want to care. It is in their best preservation interests to propagate a myth that they deserved it, earned it, and are worthy of having a lot of money.
And that the poor are to blame for their own poverty.
This is a story as old as the time.

If the rich took the time to learn about the abject poverty many Americans live in today, next to them, they might feel some emotional pang to help them if they know their neighbor's kids were starving and cold at night. (never on the same street though!)
Suppose they found out that they have no money to fix the heat or even their range so they can cook.
But, that would mean they would have a tiny bit less money for their own kid's pony. So, they can't, because they convinced themselves that the poor person is just lazy, want welfare, only talks about taxing the rich, when they should be working, like they, the rich people did!
Right? Their kids are just as lazy as them, look at him in school, not even trying and where is his jacket? Can't even do his homework! Nothing but excuses, that they don't believe. The kid is lazy, it is not that he has no electricity or a laptop in his house!

But, if they learned that the poor person at the corner or a mom with a kid at the bus stop works 2, 3 jobs, works way more than the rich person does, and still can't pay for electricity, well, they would have to admit that something is wrong with the system that made them rich.
If they change the system, they might lose a few bucks, and that is not acceptable.
So, they close their eyes and pretend that they earned it and that the poor didn't earn it all of their own merits or the lack of it.
This is how dehumanizing works. Just like this thread showed you that you are treated as you are not all there, don't get it, do you want Mao to show up at your door, hey, aren't you still better off than in Stalin's gulag? They treat you like they treat other poor people, like they are dumb and to blame for your own "shortcomings."
IT IS YOUR FAULT! Not theirs. They will not get it even when "these" people are at their door and coming in with pitchfork for the 21st century, machines guns, no?
They will call them greedy and ungrateful and see nothing but flowers coming out of their own arses until their last breath. This is not new, this is not unique to the U.S, it has happened time and time again around the world.

Why do you even try here? If they were decent human beings that we're able to see that sharing some of their wealth, not all, not even a tiny portion of it, is a decent thing to do, we wouldn't be in this mess.
If conglomerates invested back in their workforce and their communities, gave a smidgeon bigger salaries, and improved the buying power in their own markets, they would have 1 less Billion out of 50B?
If we had the government that did not just bail out banks and did not stipulate that they had to keep paying their workforce to receive the stimulus, well, we would be a decent society filled with decent human beings. But, the rich are not decent, not do they have empathy for anyone but themselves.
We do not live in that society. We live among the ugly Pariahs of UMC that dcum represents so much.
So, stop trying those that will not change until the pitchforks come. No society changed all that easily without some major event happening. We are not Norway. We are the brutal Wild West, where the biggest gun, not the hardest work, wins it all.

This. This And this.

Btw -- if everyone "beneath" you who didn't make those "smart choices" and "worked hard" like you supposedly did - had made the "smart choices" and "worked hard" where would you be? There is only room for so many at cushy top jobs.
And those who count marrying someone with an inheritance or a high paying job as why they're entitled to be better off than the lazy poor? Get a grip. You did nothing except be willing to sell yourself. You're not a superior individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:" 30s buying million + dollar homes, people who are 40 years old and already 401(k) millionaires, people who have funded their future kids' college education "

That me but I'm self-made. My parents came to the United States as immigrants with $5 in their pocket. I learned hard work from them and started working at very early age and continue to do so today at the age of 41. Nothing was handed to us, no inheritance, no nothing. A lot of folks don't understand what they have here in the United States. It truly is the land of opportunity. A lof of us were not born with a gold spoon and have actually worked really hard for where we are today!

You are not self made. Not even close.

If that’s not self made, what is?