The big “middle class” rip-off: How a short sale taught me rich people’s ethics
So many of us are clueless about business and finance. Here’s why that’s just the way the investment class likes it
http://www.salon.com/2014/09/29/the_big_middle_class_rip_off_how_a_short_sale_taught_me_rich_peoples_ethics/
An interesting article that had this comment that really spoke to me:
For my entire life (and I don’t think this will ever change) I’ve watched friends and family engage in one Fred Flintstone-esque, get-rich-quick scheme after another. I’ve also been caught up in more of these than I’m comfortable admitting, and they always fail, without exception. At the same time (at least in my own circles) this starry-eyed group of middle- and lower-class strivers vote overwhelming for the Republican Party. I find a direct correlation with an unlikelihood to ever become wealthy corresponding with a stronger commitment to vote Republican. They further solidify institutional advantages of the business elite to which they will never, ever belong.
I also admit to being drawn into an MLM (multi-level marketing, e.g., Amway) or two over the years so I am certainly not immune from the get rich quick concept, but to me it is all about barriers to entry. If there are no significant barriers, then there should be no significant profit. When you see obscene profits and there are no barriers to entry (or those barriers are simply having the right parents, attending the right schools and/or hanging out with the right crowd) then you know you have found a place where the elite have engineered themselves a spot fleecing the sheeple.
I particularly like the author’s observation regarding the correlation between people believing they can get rich quick and their support for the GOP. I have seen it a number of times myself and am always surprised at how vehement some people object to taxes yet have no problem taking advantage of the services those taxes provide (how about them highways, for instance; ever feel the need to call 911? wanna take that idiot neighbor to court?) OR taking advantage of the ‘welfare’ of social security and/or unemployment (which, btw, we all pay for during normal times!).
Things aren’t going to change until we, the sheeple, stop voting for people who only have the elite’s best interest in mind. Any chance this will change in any of our lifetimes?
