WSJ: Do the Rich Need the Rest of America? Duh ---NO---

[kpete]

WSJ Blogs
The Wealth Report
Robert Frank looks at the lives and culture of the wealthy.

Do the Rich Need the Rest of America?

........................

He says the wealthy increasingly earn their fortunes with overseas labor, selling to overseas consumers and managing financial transactions that have little to do with the rest of the U.S. “A member of the elite can make money from factories in China that sell to consumers in India, while relying entirely or almost entirely on immigrant servants at one of several homes around the country.”

He adds:

*****If the American rich increasingly do not depend for their wealth on American workers and American consumers or for their safety on American soldiers or police officers, then it is hardly surprising that so many of them should be so hostile to paying taxes to support the infrastructure and the social programs that help the majority of the American people. The rich don’t need the rest anymore.

Some would argue this is a vast overstatement. The U.S. remains the largest consumer market in the world and still matters to Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Lloyd Blankfein alike. The American wealthy benefit greatly from the country’s legal system and business transparency, not to mention its armed forces.

..................

Rather than having a second home in Richistan, an increasing number of rich people seem to be moving their money there full time.

Do you think the rest of America matters anymore to the rich?

more:
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/08/02/do-the-rich-even-need-the-rest-of-america-anymore/?blog_id=25&post_id=3375

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

1. Bill Burroughs was right

They will take the planet nova and clink champagne glasses as they escape the inferno.

[mbperrin]

2. Let me know what happens to Ms or Mr Richie when their toilet

stops up and runs over out there in that exclusive neighborhood.

[Orrex]

3. They'll buy a new neighborhood, just as they've always done.

Next question?

[mbperrin]

5. And while they're waiting, they'll wade in shit?

Who's gonna build that new neighborhood?

[Orrex]

9. While they're waiting, they move into one of their other homes

And then they write off the loss of the shit-flooded property and take a sweet tax credit, which is doubly great because they weren't paying taxes in the first place.


Also, you seem to be mistaking my mockery of the rich for a serious defense of the "we don't need the poor" mentality.

[mbperrin]

21. Sorry for that. I shouldn't be posting probably today. My spouse just

got out of ICU after a triple bypass, and I feel a little cloudy.

No offense intended, and your lines are spoken very seriously by many out in our neck of the woods.

Thanks.

[Orrex]

22. You know, nothing says "Hardcore DUer" like logging in right after a triple bypass!

Holy moley--get some rest!


And a speedy recovery to you, besides!

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. We can not all be plumbers or make a living only servicing the rich.

:silly:

[mbperrin]

7. Correct. The rich contribute nothing to the country, for the most part.

Their lifestyle gets them free and comped stuff, while the poorest pay the most for everything.


French Revolution severance packages are in the future if nothing changes. Those aristocrats were sure they had it all figured out, too.

[tomp]

14. oh, please. there will be plenty of people who'll do the job....

...becasue they need to eat.

[OneGrassRoot]

6. There are some rich who appear to recognize this...

See the second link for a group called Responsible Wealth. I say "appear" because, like many here, I am very skeptical. But, on the surface, this gives me hope...

Certainly they can give their money away here and there to charities (which are often a screen for write-offs), but one of their points is that the government is uniquely situated to do things best, like infrastructure, and they seem to be seeking to balance things out more in this regarI, as far as taxes.

http://www.faireconomy.org/

http://www.faireconomy.org/issues/responsible_wealth

[RevStPatrick]

8. The trick is to make sure that we don't need them either.

The truth is they need us a hell of a lot more than we need them. If we choose to, we could just walk away from the rich and never have anything to do with them again. But all of their propaganda is geared towards convincing us that we need them. And that we can be one of them if we just work hard enough at it.

We could shake off the wealthiest among us like fleas, and never notice they were gone.

[izquierdista]

10. Of course we need them

We manufacture them ad nauseum. Shaq, LeBron, Madonna, Kevin Costner. Neither of them was rich, but because of some talent, they were given more money than they could spend in three or five lifetimes. We the public needed them to entertain us, so in return, we made them rich and followed their every move in gossip magazines (that includes Sports Illustrated).

Mass marketing has created the flow of money to the top that leaves us with an enormously rich 1%, while houses are foreclosed, schools fail, and unemployment runs out. There was a time when the famous were not this rich. Joe DiMaggio didn't "earn" the equivalent of a multi-million dollar contract, although doing what he did earned him a very good living. But when he was hitting home runs, the top tax rate was 91%, and there was an estate tax that made sure that large piles of loot got put to good use.

[Blue_Tires]

11. There's only so much space in Monaco and Switzerland...

maybe they can build their own space station or something...

[burnsei sensei]

12. As one of "the rest,"

I propose a solution to the problem of the wealthy and privilege.
The proven remedy for the entitlement mentality among aristocrats.

[glitch]

13. Yay! Finally American taxpayers can stop subsidizing the rich.

They don't need us anymore! :applause: (took them long enough)

[peacetalksforall]

15. They are probably the reason that there has been such a shift of unheard of

set-ups against protestors. The rich want to live and travel safely. An explanation for the infiltrators and severe handling at recent protests is probably preparation for the day that protestors gather around the home or car of the rich or office or country club of the rich. They can ignore us and work around us and deplore contributing to the infrastructure that includes us, but they need their safety. And some will be paid to fly them away from us.

It seems bizarre that we are even talking about this. But, the part about the wealth coming from and going to places outside the US is true. Therefore, there WILL be THEREFORES of reasoning and predictive outcomes when it is all translated into what our future might look like. Their safety will come before ours. And some of us will be paid to protect them. And some will kill to protect them.

It's all in the history. Yet, we don't learn anything from history.

We're into the second century of a plan to gather the riches for a few.

There are only about two generations to go before people in this country and others who were born into homes, jobs, vacations become born into poverty and we are all back to kings and serfs - world wide.

[txlibdem]

16. Now that they have all of our money they don't need us anymore

61% of Americans now living paycheck to paycheck while the rich are awash in new cash straight out of your pockets

Citizens, get ready to fight for what is yours. Take it back if you want it back!:grr:

[peacetalksforall]

18. We need our own think tanks to out-think the think tankers who got us this far into their plan.

We need our own think tanks figure out our survival. The opposite of the accumulated wealth in the hands and foreign accounts of a few.

[Marr]

17. The very wealthy are more dependent than anyone.

They collect money that originates as tax money spent on lucrative government contracts and subsidies. The Pentagon system is largely a designed to spend money and fuel the economy. Anyone who receives money from that system is dependent on the US government. What's more, their foreign investments are aggressively pursued-- not just defended but pursued-- by the US government and it's military.

They need everyone else not only to maintain the domestic infrastructure, but to fight and die for their investments, to funnel money into their bloated, useless "Defense Industry" boondoggle businesses, and of course, to buy the crap they produce, if indeed their businesses actually produce consumer goods.

I've never heard of an American business that manufactures overseas and sells exclusively overseas. It doesn't make sense to ignore the biggest consumer market on the planet.

[peacetalksforall]

20. Very good points. I think this is a tiny bit like the pre-analysis stage in what I imagine

a think tank to be like. This is the first time I have read a thread that involves these angles. Thanks for expanding my thought approach.

[blueworld]

19. Hmm...does Asia need the filthy American rich?

True they can transfer toilet duties overseas & they don't need American serfs anymore, perhaps, although I agree that's a little overstated.

But do they consider what will happen to their silky smooth butts over in China or Asia where generations of native blood fed their portfolios? I don't think the letter of the law, police protection etc. are as "robust" over there. Also, government corruption is not nearly as subtle - if you have it & they want it, uh oh.

Not to mention basic sanitation - I'd love to see a few of them battling snakes in their gilded bidets!

Of course, as an ignorant peasant, I could be wrong.