Mindless Class Warfare Arguments.

@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
June 19, 2007 7:07am CST
"The Rich", "The Poor", "The Middle Class".... Why do so many people think that these labels are all they have to drop to make an argument? No matter what the discussion, it seems like someone is going to blame, "the rich", excuse "the poor" and bemoan the neglect of the "middle class". What other stereotypes are we supposed to bite so you can spread your bigotry and ignorance?
2 people like this
4 responses
• United States
19 Jun 07
I personally believe the "rich" get a bad rap. Who creates jobs? Who hires people? Who are the high achievers who do the most for society? Who buys luxury products enabling many to have high paying jobs? For all of this, and even more, the "rich" are condemed by some in our culture? What's wrong with those people?
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
Yup, many "rich" people keep this great economy rolling. Others don't do much except jet around from party to party. Either way, folks are getting paid.
1 person likes this
@pallidyne (858)
• United States
19 Jun 07
Because the middle class is being worked against---- The Democrats look and see the poor and want to tax the hell out of everyone to help them. The Republicans want to remove more taxes, especially on the rich. In short, the 'middle class' are leftovers, either getting more taxes or less services--- with greater impact to their lives in both cases since they are usually living comfortably but on the edge.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
Yeah, because "The Rich" are all the same, and so are "The Poor"... right?
1 person likes this
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
19 Jun 07
In our country we have the ability to change our income and social standing at any time, if we are willing to put in the work and effort required to do so. It is called free enterprise and capitalism. It requires work for most people, because we are not all born with silver spoons. Most of the talk you hear involving these terms come from liberals who think that it is evil to be rich, or that you should be taxed more if you do happen to be successful. The funny thing is however, the same people using these terms are probably some of the wealthiest in this country. Not all of the wealthy are conservatives...a lot are liberals. The labels mean nothing, they are just a trigger phrase that is used to try and inflame an issue.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
Exactly, from day to day saying "the rich", "the poor" and "the middle class" is refering to a different set of people.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
Unemployment services has nothing to do with the unemployment rate. Here is some reading that might interest you... http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_faq.htm#Ques2
@bigmacnc (142)
• United States
19 Jun 07
FYI, the mill that John Eward's father worked in has been move to another country. John was able to get a college degree and attend law school. He built his practice. I live in the South and remember the mill villages where the workers lived and bought from the company store. Most did not have cars and there was no public transportation. There use to be fields of cotton and when I was 5 in 1952 I made 20 cents for a half a day. Then the cotton gins began to close and farmers quit raising cotton When they report the number of people seeking work they don't count those not listed with unemployment service. I know people with college degrees that are flipping burgers. There are not enough good jobs available for someone to leave their home without a job available. In 1999 I remember fast food places offering sign on bonuses, that is a sign of a good economy.
@gardengrrl (1445)
• United States
19 Jun 07
I think these terms are the replacement for the race-, ethnic-, or gender-based ones that used to be acceptable. They are terms devised to divide people, so that we fight among ourselves and don't look at the bigger picture. Applying divisive labels to groups of people obscures the fact that we need each other. "Rich" people may provide jobs, but it's the working class that fills them. Without the "poor" people, there would be no wealth. It is from the labor of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid that all wealth upward flows. The "middle class" is exactly that - middle managers, supervisors, middlemen in the retail system. They need rich and poor to buy, rich and poor need them to sell. It should be symbiotic, but portraying it that way doesn't sell newspapers or draw in TV viewers. Having said all that, I am concerned about CEO salaries and perks, golden parachutes and the like. For past generations, it was common for the head of a company to be paid 6, 8, maybe 10 times the annual salary of the workers. Now, its 20, 30, even 50 times a worker's annual salary. Companies moan about rising costs and shrinking profits, so workers have to pay more and more of their own health care premiums, yet the CEO is making millions upon millions of dollars. Even worse are the CEOs who make millions while their company stumbles and fails to make a profit. Infuriating doesn't even begin to cover it! So there is some basis for an unusual upsurge in class resentment, but the media fans the embers into open flame with these uninformative and divisive terms. "Liberal" and "conservative" are used in much the same way, the public curse-words of our modern society.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
The thing about the "CEO" thing is, it's only the "Fortune 500" CEOs that are like that. There are millions of CEOs, but most are just working 60-70 hours a week heading a corporation that gets things done and moves product and/or service. The class warriors like to make it sound like every CEO of every corporation is an evil villain who spends his days trying to kill the employees... but there just isn't that many Monty Burnses out there.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jun 07
If employees aren't expected to "take care of" their employers, they why should employers "take care of" their employees? Hopefully our parents took care of us when we were growing up. Hopefully someone will take care of us when we're too old to take care of ourselves. Hopefully, between those times, we start taking care of ourselves instead of hoping someone else will. The average Fortune 500 CEO makes 400 times what the employees make. Most CEOs don't make much more than the average worker.