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George Plimpton

On 2/22/2012 3:11 PM, wrote:
On Feb 22, 4:11 pm, wrote:

What did I say that would make you think that I don't think that people
who do more or work harder don't deserve to get more in return for
putting out more than others do? I call that fair. You do more you
should get more. I'm saying that principle isn't in operation very much.
Too many people are getting gigantic pay where it's not warranted and
lots of people work very hard and get crap for pay. It's the disparity
between the 1% and the working people that I'm talking about. That's
what is screwing up the country not the minor things you just mentioned.

Hawke

When you complain that the system is unfair. The fact is that the
system is fair for most people. You worry too much about a few
people that get a lot of money There are not that many of them.

There not only aren't that many of them, but if you seized all their
wealth and changed the tax system so that no one could acquire that kind
of wealth ever again, it wouldn't do one damned thing to improve the lot
anyone at the bottom. If all the super-rich - the 0.01% - had nearly
all their wealth confiscated, and if the tax system were rigged so that
no one ever again could amass that kind of wealth, there *still* would
be tens of millions of unwed mothers - out-of-wedlock births now account
for more than 30% of all births - and those children *still* would grow
up with ****ty prospects. There *still* would be a lot of idiots like
Hawke-Ptooey getting degrees in worthless fields like political science,
and they *still* would be unable to find a decent-paying job in the
modern economy.

But there are a huge number of people that get pretty good wages. There
are a good many that screw up and do not save as much as they need to
save. They buy new cars and trucks Or they have more cars and trucks
than they need. Like you. You have two motor vehicles, you are not
married, and frankly I do not see why you need two vehicles. Or why
you need to carry a concealed weapon and spend so much time and money
at the range. Some of them smoke. Lot of them buy bottled water.
And buy things on credit cards. You have five acres. Do you have a
vegetable garden? Got a cell phone? Cable TV?

And none of that would change one iota even if there were punishing
income and wealth redistribution.

it isn't hard for the average guy to save enough for retirement, but
the average guy does not do it. The average guy does not even bother
to go to the library and read up on how to save and invest.

Dan