# Let's all cry for the rich **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440 "2008-06-02T05:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/21 "2008-06-02T13:47:28Z")
[QUOTE=Aspidistra] I wonder where you’re getting the idea that any of the people quoted in this article are actually entrepreneurs who “provide new jobs for thousands”. I’m not seeing it myself. Most of them just sound like employees to me (albeit highly paid ones). Or stay-at-home spouses. [/QUOTE] Because whoever is rich is good. You can’t be rich unless you’ve done something wonderful for society. Especially corporate senior level managers are good. Whoever heard of one of them falling upstairs? They’re all high-level people who make the rest of us peons look like, um, peons. We should be ever so grateful for everything they do for us and never ever complain about their wealth or our relative poverty. That just means we want everyone to be equal, and that would be awful. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/22 "2008-06-02T13:49:01Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] I believe something like more than 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Almost every American is rich beyond belief in comparison to many people in the world. Why make fun of only a select portion of the rich? Why is OK to make fun of a guy that is going to lose his wife because he cannot afford the fancy clothes and vacations anymore, but not the guy working two jobs who is about to lose his house to foreclosure? > **[Poverty Facts and Stats](https://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats)** > > This part of the globalissues.org web site presents some of the hard hitting facts and statistics on poverty. [/QUOTE] Whenever I come across stuff like this I’m reminded of John Belushi’s ultra-PC rant in Lemmings: “Unless you are a black, unwed, lesbian mother, you are an OPPRESSOR!” ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/23 "2008-06-02T13:52:31Z")
The problem is that anyone who makes more money than me who can’t live within his means, gets no fucking sympathy. My wife and I (combined) make over $100,000 each year. We feel very well off. We don’t know what to do with it all. We put well over $1000 a month into the stock market. We travel. We eat out. We drink good alcohol. We have a nice TV. We could pay off our house twice. You wanna tell me it’s hard to live on $50,000 a year? I’ll listen, because I’m not in that position. You can’t live with $8 million in the bank, and your wife is going to leave you and you’re going to lose your house? Fuck you. You’re greedy and your appetites are shallow and insatiable. And, you married an ungrateful, superficial, fucking whore and it’s your own fault. Fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/24 "2008-06-02T13:54:50Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] I believe something like more than 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Almost every American is rich beyond belief in comparison to many people in the world. [/quote] And I’m sure there are plenty of people in other countries who laugh their asses off when news about the American economy going in the toilet reaches them. Your point…? > [@](#): > > Why make fun of only a select portion of the rich? Why is OK to make fun of a guy that is going to lose his wife because he cannot afford the fancy clothes and vacations anymore, but not the guy working two jobs who is about to lose his house to foreclosure? Because, “Oh fuck, I can’t take my wife to Monaco this spring! ASHES AND SACKCLOTH!” is waaaaaaay the hell funnier than, “Oh fuck, I don’t know if my wife and I will have a place to live next month, and even if we do, I don’t think it will have electricity or running water and I’d better start stealing ketchup packets and creamers from work or we’ll starve.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/25 "2008-06-02T13:57:56Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] You can’t live with $8 million in the bank, and your wife is going to leave you and you’re going to lose your house? Fuck you. You’re greedy and your appetites are shallow and insatiable. And, you married an ungrateful, superficial, fucking whore and it’s your own fault. Fuck you. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if I’d go that far - I’d probably drive a $100,000 car if I could afford one - but yeah, if you marry a trophy wife, don’t be surprised if she leaves because you aren’t the champ anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/26 "2008-06-02T14:07:19Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] I don’t know if I’d go that far - I’d probably drive a $100,000 car if I could afford one [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t. I consider that frivolous, and ostentatious and if you went broke when things went a little sour for you, I’d laugh at you for spending so much of your money on a depreciating asset. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/27 "2008-06-02T14:09:54Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] After a certain point, the answer is essentially “line their own pockets”. [/QUOTE] At a certain point 98% of us “line our own pockets.” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/28 "2008-06-02T14:21:22Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] The problem is that anyone who makes more money than me who can’t live within his means, gets no fucking sympathy. My wife and I (combined) make over $100,000 each year. We feel very well off. We don’t know what to do with it all. We put well over $1000 a month into the stock market. We travel. We eat out. We drink good alcohol. We have a nice TV. We could pay off our house twice. You wanna tell me it’s hard to live on $50,000 a year? I’ll listen, because I’m not in that position. You can’t live with $8 million in the bank, and your wife is going to leave you and you’re going to lose your house? Fuck you. You’re greedy and your appetites are shallow and insatiable. And, you married an ungrateful, superficial, fucking whore and it’s your own fault. Fuck you. [/QUOTE] Clap clap clap. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/29 "2008-06-02T14:27:55Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] At a certain point 98% of us “line our own pockets.” [/QUOTE] Well, sure, but CEOs get paid exorbitant sums whether their job performance is good or atrocious. I certainly don’t - do you? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/30 "2008-06-02T14:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Well, sure, but CEOs get paid exorbitant sums whether their job performance is good or atrocious. I certainly don’t - do you? [/QUOTE] Actually, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/31 "2008-06-02T14:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] After a certain point, the answer is essentially “line their own pockets”. [/QUOTE] Interesting that the author didn’t mention HD’s revenue increase from $40B/yr to $80B per year, and the profit increase from $2.6B to $5.8B/yr. Under his leadership, the company now earns $3,200 million dollars a year more than it did when he arrived, and he earned $46 million each year. Stock price, unfortunately, as as much to do with expectation as performance. Doubling your revenues and more than doubling profit over 7 years isn’t crappy performance, not when you’re starting out as a $40 billion dollar a year brick and mortar retail business. The CEO’s inability to match owner’s lofty expectations doesn’t mean he sucks, and doesn’t mean he did a bad job running the company. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/32 "2008-06-02T14:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] I wouldn’t. I consider that frivolous, and ostentatious and if you went broke when things went a little sour for you, I’d laugh at you for spending so much of your money on a depreciating asset. [/QUOTE] I’m not saying I’d buy a $100,000 car if I had exactly $100,000 in disposable income. I’m saying I’d do it if it were within my means, as buying a $12,000 car is for me back in reality. Side note: want to give me all that money you can’t find anything to do with? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/33 "2008-06-02T15:26:15Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] Cry for the rich? How about the editor of the New York Times? No one is arguing for a wave of sympathy or support for the rich. This is merely an inconsequential puff-piece from the Times on par with their voyeuristic expositions of, “What will $10 M get you in real estate.” People like observing rich people. We like seeing inside of the Gulfstreams they fly around in when things are going well and hearing about downgrading to the Beech jet when things are not going well. We like to see that type of dogs they buy, the clothes they wear, and whom gets married to whom. This is an article in line with the Time’s titilating but unimportant coverage of, “things that rich people care about.” [/QUOTE] Exactly. I’m afraid the OP is a strawman. The article clearly states that: > [@](#): > > These financial problems — if they can be called that — will hardly elicit tears from the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/34 "2008-06-02T15:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] You have no idea what Fortune 500 executives do, do you? [/QUOTE] Not “provide new jobs for thousands,” at any rate. Not any more. There was a time . . . ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/35 "2008-06-02T15:33:55Z")
The thing is, the guy cited in the OP may have gone from $20 mil to $8 mil, but let’s be real here: he still has $8 million. He’s still the equivalent of a lottery winner. If he’s borrowing against his $8 mil to finance a $20 mil lifestyle, he’s a damned fool whatever his rationale. If a lottery winner used $8 mil in winnings to finance a $20 mil lifestyle, we’d know EXACTLY what to think of them, wouldn’t we? Why should our feeling about this exec be any different. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/36 "2008-06-02T15:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] If he’s borrowing against his $8 mil to finance a $20 mil lifestyle, he’s a damned fool whatever his rationale. [/QUOTE] Or his wife is _brutally_ hot. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/37 "2008-06-02T16:03:00Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] People like observing rich people. We like seeing inside of the Gulfstreams they fly around in when things are going well and hearing about downgrading to the Beech jet when things are not going well. We like to see that type of dogs they buy, the clothes they wear, and whom gets married to whom. [/QUOTE] Speak for yourself. I don’t give a fuck about what Warren Buffett or anyone like him does. Well, it’s nice that he gave a lot to charity, but apart from that I really don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/38 "2008-06-02T16:14:14Z")
[QUOTE=Hamadryad] And I’m sure there are plenty of people in other countries who laugh their asses off when news about the American economy going in the toilet reaches them. [/QUOTE] I know I do. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/39 "2008-06-02T16:18:25Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] He’s still the equivalent of a lottery winner. [/QUOTE] No, hes not. He _worked_ for the money, has become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, supported by the income level he has _earned_. Lottery winners are dudes who work in machine shops and have the money magicly “appear” one day. Then they go buy Harleys and get tattoos. The real bright ones then open thier own machine shop. Lottery winners do not \*work for or earn \* the $8 mil. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440/40 "2008-06-02T16:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] No, hes not. He _worked_ for the money, has become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, supported by the income level he has _earned_. [/QUOTE] Until his earned money wasn’t enough to support that lifestyle. At that point, he’s your machinist whose lottery winnings have dried up. If he doesn’t make the requisite changes to his lifestyle, then he’s fucked. If someone who earns $200,000/year loses his job and can’t find anything for more than $80k, then he’s got to suck it up and make some changes. How does an extra zero change that conclusion? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-all-cry-for-the-rich/451440.md?page=3)