Forum Post: Wealth in and of itself is not bad
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 9, 2011, 9:45 p.m. EST by ForTheWinnebago
(143)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
But
Wealth accrued through manipulating the government to change the rules and protect your income streams is.
Let's make a distinction between wealth that is worked for and wealth that is gained through manipulating the system and/or privatizing gains while putting tax payer dollars at work by socializing losses.
"Wealth" has two, very different, distinct meanings. One is related to the term "welfare" or "well-being" -- it means to have good things in one's life, especially in the domain of material positions. In this case, wealth is almost by definition good.
Another meaning of "wealth" is the social power to command the labor of others. For example, Wal-Mart employs nearly 2% of the entire USA population; its (former) owner, Sam Walton, controlled an empire greater than that of any medieval king. At his command, and working for the benefit of his personal fortune, were more than 3 million laborers.
This second form of wealth is, in a certain way, inherently bad -- because it is "zero-sum", and because for one to control the will of another, the other must lose control over his own.
Wealth is obviously a good thing. It's what we all collectively work to create in order to enhance our social existence. But what we must keep in mind is that all wealth is social in nature, and how we divvy it up amongst us is also a social decision. There is no requirement that wealth has to be divvied up equally among us, but at the same time many feel that since most everybody contributes substantially equally towards the creation of social wealth, it ought to be distributed at least relatively equally.
Anything in excess in nature is bad for health including money!
That may be your own philosophy (and is mine too actually), but the validity of that philosophy in the eyes of another may be different. I don't think we should attempt to legislate or coerce our particular moral world views on to others, that's for the Republicans to try and do.
Sometimes it's in your interest to listen to wise men. By the way I learnt this from a wise man.
well... most people see the large amount of money that individuals have and automatically assume that they gained it through unethical means.
People have a hard time realizing that individuals can make money in our great country... sometimes millions and billions.
It should be the means we are concerned with, rather than the number of pieces of paper someone has. Proper focus.
*at risk
I meant