Face it: the rich are MUCH smarter and harder working than you are.

This is true, but I am a self-admitted lazy idiot.

I COULD RKO THE F*CK OUT OF ANY RICH PERSON, THEY CAN"T OUTWORK RANDY ORTON.

Joseph stiglitz

Robert Reich

Read a book. Take a stats class. Look at the data.

Inheriting a bunch of money doesn't take much effort.

Self-denial wrote:

the rich are MUCH smarter and harder working than you are..

On average - yes. But the difference between the hyper-rich and everyone else has grown over the past 25 years to staggering levels. CEOs used to make 30x what their employees made, and now it's 300x. While it's an important position, think about that -- one man makes three hundred times what everyone else in the company makes. That's an unacceptable trend that needs to be addressed.

And beyond simply what's fair, it doesn't make sense for that business and our economy. The trend will exacerbate the volatility in major corporations and the deepen the canyon between wall street and main street.

I would not say rich people work any harder than a poor person. Many people in low paying jobs are made to work their asses off, and on top of that it's usually physical labor or dealing with the public which can be mentally draining at times. I will concur that the wealthy tend to be smarter than lower level workers, however. Wealthy (middle class too, for that matter) people work with their brains, not with their hands.

NJ Possible wrote:

That's an unacceptable trend that needs to be addressed.

Says you. But that's just your opinion. A lot of smart people disagree based on plenty of good evidence (the chairman of economics at Harvard, for example). If you don't like it, why don't you start a company and pay everyone what you their they're worth.

sc runner wrote:

...dealing with the public which can be mentally draining at times.

You mean dealing with other people like them. We are what we are.

No. They are just more focused on making money. That may be enough to make 30X more but not 300X.

Do you really think the 300X crowd is smarter than the 100X crowd of 20 years ago?

The real question is will ANY of the rich behave any differently if we tax them back to 30X?

Of course not, they exist to make money. Make it slower, faster, doesn't matter, they will ALWAYS complain about paying taxes.

Finally, such a tax is fair because if I or you or anyone starts making more we will also pay the same amount.

The only counter point of such a tax is that the increase is to pay off the debt. No one should spend more or get any tax breaks until the debt is paid off. We don't want to run a surplus for a year or ten, we want to pay it off completely.

sc runner wrote:

I would not say rich people work any harder than a poor person.

Obviously you don't know anyone who made themselves rich.

Are we saying that Tom Brady is absolutely smarter and harder working then other NFL players that make a fraction of his pay?

Is he smarter then the people who design and engineer skyscrapers?

Is he harder working than than the construction workers who build them?

Marketability, negotiating skills and leverage is what translates to higher earnings.

look at the logic: even if the ceo works harder than the average worker in the company, which is not necessarily the case and we're talking about incomparability in any case, he or she does not and cannot work 300x harder. Nor is s/he 300x smarter than the average individual worker, nor smarter than a group of, say, 10 or 20 workers collectively. If you compare across industries, you can really see the bad logic there. Engineers and computer scientists and physicists will often be making under $100k/year, while some CEO of a trash hauling company with mostly rocks in his head is making $10 million/year. You don't actually expect us to think that the CEO is smarter than the engineers and physicists.

Star wrote:

Are we saying that Tom Brady is absolutely smarter and harder working then other NFL players that make a fraction of his pay?

Is he smarter then the people who design and engineer skyscrapers?

Is he harder working than than the construction workers who build them?

Marketability, negotiating skills and leverage is what translates to higher earnings.

Dude, that analogy went way over your head.

They aren't fitter or more happy than me, so who gives a %#@?

jjjjj wrote:

look at the logic: even if the ceo works harder than the average worker in the company, which is not necessarily the case and we're talking about incomparability in any case, he or she does not and cannot work 300x harder. Nor is s/he 300x smarter than the average individual worker, nor smarter than a group of, say, 10 or 20 workers collectively. If you compare across industries, you can really see the bad logic there. Engineers and computer scientists and physicists will often be making under $100k/year, while some CEO of a trash hauling company with mostly rocks in his head is making $10 million/year. You don't actually expect us to think that the CEO is smarter than the engineers and physicists.

So who's smarter? The engineers who positioned themselves for a 100k position or those who prepare themselves to be CEOs?

So what? Is earning a lot of money worth it if you live in your office? I feel sorry for anyone that regularly works 60+ hours a week. Everyone I know making 150k+ a year either has a very stressful job or works insane hours. No thank you.

hghfghfhf wrote:

So what? Is earning a lot of money worth it if you live in your office? I feel sorry for anyone that regularly works 60+ hours a week. Everyone I know making 150k+ a year either has a very stressful job or works insane hours. No thank you.

I admire your self awareness. Not everyone can hack it.

Pretty pathetic though that some people choose hobbies and TV over contributing to society and maxing out their potential.

Blech...

For every self-made millionaire there are dozens or hundreds who inherited their wealth. Those people may be smart but likely not harder working than most..

Wealth envy is bad. I am happy with the little I have and honestly wouldn't change a thing.