The Problem With Prejudices That Target the Rich

[JimG]

The Problem With Prejudices That Target the Rich | The National Interest

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

There’s also the problem that the most vocal voices to criticize the rich…are rich!

Rich politicians, movie stars, musicians…

 

[meltzerboy2]

Interesting article of a topic that is too often neglected. The book is on my list. I would add that merely the perception that a group is rich (such as the Jews) is enough to instigate prejudice, discrimination, and, in hard economic times, violence.

 

[Hodos]

“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.

God condemns when justice is perverted in favor of the poor, just as he condemns when justice is perverted in favor of the rich. We would do well to remember that the word “justice” doesn’t require a modifier.

 

[LilyM]

“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.

God condemns when justice is perverted in favor of the poor, just as he condemns when justice is perverted in favor of the rich. We would do well to remember that the word “justice” doesn’t require a modifier.

So was Jesus unjust towards the rich when he said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven?

Or when He told the rich young man to give away not just his surplus but all his possessions if he would be perfect?

 

[Hodos]

So was Jesus unjust towards the rich when he said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven?

Or when He told the rich young man to give away not just his surplus but all his possessions if he would be perfect?

Nope. Not at all. If you read the passage critically, Jesus was not condemning the man for being rich but for idolatry. Also, you forgot the part where immediately after this, when the disciples approached Christ about this episode they ask, how then can one be saved. Jesus answered with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible, indicating the man is not saved by his actions, but by God’s grace. You may need to re-read that entire passage because I think you have some serious misunderstandings about it.

 

[phil19034]

There’s also the problem that the most vocal voices to criticize the rich…are rich!

Rich politicians, movie stars, musicians…

Yes! These politicians, movie stars, & musicians often want others to pick up the slack for the community service & philanthropy they are not doing themselves.

 

[Eric_Hyom]

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff. The billions left over go to a select few.

The rich seem to have no qualms outsourcing their manufacturing base to places like China and Korea, so they pay less than minimum wages.

Walmart staff work close to minimum wages, so the Walton family can earn their billions.

 

[Peeps]

I love watching Public Television (Wisconsin).

It was on Public Television that we first saw “Dr. Who” and joined a group of fans who gathered to watch the show way back in the early 1980s.

So many good shows on Public Television! The Ken Burns series are outstanding, and the one on Country Music is sooooo good!

And…at the end of every show on Public Television, the people who paid for that show are listed.

Most of the listings are along the lines of “The Cashly Smithers Foundation,” “The Geoffrey and Madelyne GotBucks Foundation,” “The Henri FabWealth Foundation,” etc.

The list of wealthy people who support these great shows for all us ordinary folks is HUUUGE (as Pres. Trump would say).

Thank goodness for them! I doubt very much that my little $10 donation once a month would be enough to keep Public Television up and running, even if it was combined with hundreds of other little $10 donations!

And look around your city–almost every park, museum, hospital, recreational facility (e.g., the ice skating rink in our city), etc,. was built with a generous donations of a big list of rich people, and sometime, just one rich person (e.g., the ice skating rink in our city–the rich guy built it as a tribute to his daughter, who loved ice skating wihle she was growing up).

The hospital where I work was started over a century ago by a very wealth industrialist who kicked in the very first dollar to get the ball rolling (he gave a whole lot more money than that, but he wanted to let regular folks know that every little bit helps).

Our local rescue mission is amazing, and it is supported in large part by very large donations from very wealthy local people, along with all the teeny donations from people like me and my husband.

The new addition to our church is being built with donations from many of us in the parish, but the building fund was jump-started by five wealthy families who each donated a million dollars apiece–that’s almost half of the budget!

Another Catholic Church in our city needed $100,000 to make needed repairs and improvements to get ready for their 100th Anniversary, and a rich man donated almost half of the money to encourage others to give, too! (They raised the money in a few weeks–lots of generous parishioners in that parish!)

When my daughter was in high school, all Seniors were required to do a community project, and she decided to do a benefit variety show to raise funds for MDA. She pulled together about 20 really good acts from her fellow students and also asked for donations for a silent auction. FIRST, all the rich people gave generous donations for the Silent Auction–really nice stuff. SECOND, all the rich people bid huge amounts on the Silent Auction–the season golf pass for the Park District course went for over $400.00 (and this was to folks who are members of exclusive country clubs in our area). THIRD, all the rich people came to the concert and gave even more money! When the event was finished, she had raised over $4000.00!

So don’t anyone try to make it seem that rich people are all selfish! Some are, yes. But most have taken the story of Ebenezer Scrooge to heart

 

[Magnanimity]

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff. The billions left over go to a select few.

I don’t know about overcharging customers (doesn’t the market set the price ppl are willing to pay?) but undercompensating the workers–absolutely! Most of the vast wealth of the richest on that Forbes list comes, not from money in the bank, but from shares in the valued company (Gates with Microsoft shares, Zuckerberg with FB shares, etc).

Popes at least since Leo XIII have been speaking out against this and encouraging something like distributism (middle-ground between capitalism and communism). Before COVID hit, I believe that the U.S. list of billionaires included 600 folks. That’s an astonishing number. 600 people in the U.S. alone are worth more than 1,000 millions?!

Vested interest, ownership, real stakes in the company you work for–the U.S. sees far too little of this to help create these billionaires. So sad.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff. The billions left over go to a select few.

I don’t know if I would go that far, but I can tell you that understaffing is a strategy much beloved by those who seek to maximize profits — see how absolutely few people you can get by with hiring. In the meantime, many people who want to work, can’t get jobs, because those jobs don’t exist.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff. The billions left over go to a select few.

This is objectively false. Patently false. Insultingly false.

My wife’s parents are rich. Her father has a high school education and worked for the same company for decades. When they first got married they had to pinch pennies for weeks to afford a small fry at McDonalds as a treat. They were borderline destitute.

My father-in-law worked hard and moved his way up in the company and now they’re rich. He didn’t run the company, he had nothing to do with sales. He just did his job, did it well, and was smart with his money.

My parents did the same thing. They’re not rich, but they also have four kids they’ve helped put through college. I remember going to the Georgia Tech campus with my dad so he could finish his degree while helping raise me and my sister, all while holding down a full-time job to support us all. He’s worked hard his whole life, as has my mother who went back to college after my youngest sister started school, and now they are reaping the benefit from it.

The number of people who are rich in the way you described are minuscule in comparison to the number of everyday millionaires who just made good choices, didn’t live beyond their means, and used their money wisely. They budgeted, they developed a plan, they studied and advanced in their careers. They worked for everything they have.

You will not diminish the accomplishment of my parents or my in-laws with your hate filled malarkey.

You are wrong, your are envious, and you are spreading a lie that traps millions of people into thinking they can never advance in life. Rhetoric like yours has stolen the American dream from countless people who have been talked out of believing it to be possible.

 

[JimG]

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff. The billions left over go to a select few.

I don’t know. Is this how J.K. Rowling got rich? Is this how Youtube stars get rich?

 

[JimG]

Hard work, living below your means, saving regularly, and persistence is surely a good method to grow rich slowly.

 

[TMC]

Thank goodness someone finally has the courage to stand up for the rich. When I think of all the suffering the elite rich have to go through, I can’t help but to think back all the good things that Jesus had to say about being rich and accumulating wealth. Why can’t people just let them amass their fortunes in peace!?!

 

[ProdglArchitect]

Hard work, living below your means, saving regularly, and persistence is surely a good method to grow rich slowly.

It’s what my wife and I are doing, and it’s working amazingly for us. It’s the best, most surefire way of building wealth. I listen to Dave Ramsey a lot and also follow his main Facebook group. There are countless stories of people from the worst circumstances buckling down, working hard, getting rid of their debt, and building wealth. It’s amazing to hear, amazing to see how they changed their lives.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

Thank goodness someone finally has the courage to stand up for the rich. When I think of all the suffering the elite rich have to go through, I can’t help but to think back all the good things that Jesus had to say about being rich and accumulating wealth. Why can’t people just let them amass their fortunes in peace!?!

There’s a fundamental difference in the means of amassing wealth now versus in Jesus’ time. In Jesus’ time, it really was true that exploitation was one of the only ways to generate wealth. In a primarily barter-based economy that’s going to almost universally be the case. That’s part of why tax collectors were so reviled, they artificially increased the tax in order to make a profit off people. I believe Matthew was a tax collector, and as soon as he had his conversion he swore to return everything he’d extorted and then some.

There wasn’t investing, there wasn’t a 9-5 job, the only way to amass large amounts of wealth was to hoard goods and extort those under you.

Nowadays I can amass wealth by working and investing. As long as I’m not unduly attached to that wealth and recognize that it’s a gift I should use properly then there’s really no issue.

To be fair, it’s hard to do that sometimes. I don’t give nearly as much as I should, but I’m working on being better about that. I know lots of rich people who give more in a month than I could give in a year. They’re insanely generous with their wealth and help people out whenever they can. Wealth can be positive if used correctly.

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

Is this how J.K. Rowling got rich? Is this how Youtube stars get rich?

That’s because they are famous.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

I also thought this piece was a bit tone deaf. To add to that, it’s main idea is a little weak. I wouldn’t hang my hat defending “rich people” (whatever that means) on such an argument.

The argument about not stifling innovation and entrepreneurship is a defense of freedom. It’s definitely not a defense of rich people. There are plenty of self starters who failed and never became rich but they were probably still grateful for the opportunity to live in a free country.

There are plenty of wealthy individuals who got their wealth because they have no problems with lying and cheating. So no, not going to defend “rich people”.

 

[Hodos]

Pretty much every aspect of this post is either false or deliberately misleading.

The only way to get rich is to overcharge your customers and underpay your staff.

False and misleading. The way to get rich is to make sound life decisions such as finish high school, get married before having babies, get a job, don’t blow your money on stupid stuff…

Companies make money by offering a good or service that the market demands, at a price point that the market will accept, while controlling the cost of production. I can’t overcharge customers for the good or service I offer, or they won’t buy it. Also, I can control my costs in multiple ways. Walmart does so through operational excellence, making their distribution system very efficient. Amazon did so by creating a business model that reduced the cost of operation by not operating in brick and mortar locations and leveraging the burgeoning internet age. Underpaying your staff is also not a way to make a profit, particularly in a market where labor is competitive such as we had just prior to the Coronavirus shutdowns. People offer compensation based on the labor market conditions. In a time when labor is scarce, wages go up. In a time when labor is plentiful, wages go down because supply of labor is plentiful.

The rich seem to have no qualms outsourcing their manufacturing base to places like China and Korea, so they pay less than minimum wages.

Companies make the decision to outsource based on a host of criteria (tax incentives or disincentives, trying to get into a new market, cost of living and operation, and of course labor costs). However, you are assuming that the standard of living or cost of living is the same in all places. This isn’t the case. A company may offer a wage less than the federal minimum wage in the US in a place such as China or Korea, but this wage might be a competitive middle class wage in that location. Other locales in the world deserve opportunities too, and if they can offer the same or similar product for cheaper, why would a company not consider manufacturing in that location? Pretty sure you when you go shopping for yourself, you don’t purchase the most expensive item on the shelf. Same thing with business.

Walmart staff work close to minimum wages, so the Walton family can earn their billions.

Walmart attempts to offer wages that are in the 75th percentile for the job description they are looking to fill. In other words, Walmart goes out of its way to pay a competitive wage in comparison to its local competitors. They don’t want turnover, which increases labor costs and decreases productivity. They will pay what they believe they can to keep the people they hire. Also, the current CEO of Walmart is not from the Walton family. He started in the company as a stock boy 30 years ago and worked his way up through the company which pretty much shreds the idea that they are just trying to keep their employees down.