Poll

" There has to be poor in modern free market Economies for it to work"

No26%26% - 18
Yes73%73% - 49
Total: 67
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,073|7218|PNW

There doesn't have to be, but there will always be...through circumstances ranging from both their own fault to those out of their hands.

Another way to look at it is that if you had a society (of modern dollar value, that could magically not collapse under these circumstances) of billionaires and $1M was minimum wage, the low-end millionaires would be the poor ones.
CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

There doesn't have to be, but there will always be...through circumstances ranging from both their own fault to those out of their hands.

Another way to look at it is that if you had a society (of modern dollar value, that could magically not collapse under these circumstances) of billionaires and $1M was minimum wage, the low-end millionaires would be the poor ones.
No millionaire would clean toilets, serve coffee or collect garbage.
Hunter/Jumper
Member
+117|6801

CameronPoe wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

There doesn't have to be, but there will always be...through circumstances ranging from both their own fault to those out of their hands.

Another way to look at it is that if you had a society (of modern dollar value, that could magically not collapse under these circumstances) of billionaires and $1M was minimum wage, the low-end millionaires would be the poor ones.
No millionaire would clean toilets, serve coffee or collect garbage.
wrong.
CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

There doesn't have to be, but there will always be...through circumstances ranging from both their own fault to those out of their hands.

Another way to look at it is that if you had a society (of modern dollar value, that could magically not collapse under these circumstances) of billionaires and $1M was minimum wage, the low-end millionaires would be the poor ones.
No millionaire would clean toilets, serve coffee or collect garbage.
wrong.
Wow. Are you seriously telling me that there are millionaires out there who clean toilets, serve coffee or collect garbage for a living and continue to do so? Wow.

Last edited by CameronPoe (2007-06-07 02:19:33)

Hunter/Jumper
Member
+117|6801
yep, a lot of self made people just don’t hit a point and say

" I have made enough money and now let me waste it. "

The biggest land owner in Vermont owns more land than the Federal and State Governments combined and he still wears a shirt with DAVE stitched on the chest ! he's cool has a huge indoor pool that the whole town uses, but he's frugal. I get your point tho Im just knit picking. I aint super rich but I have a maid and don’t clean anything myself. Some times I even wreck my house before I leave to get my moneys worth out of her.
Skorpy-chan
Member
+127|6791|Twyford, UK
If some people don't have less than others, it's not a free market system. It's communism or anarchy or somesuch.
S.Lythberg
Mastermind
+429|6893|Chicago, IL
today's poor are much better off than the poor 100 years ago, so the system does work.  It may not be the prettiest thing, but it does work.

Last edited by S.Lythberg (2007-06-07 18:33:42)

Hunter/Jumper
Member
+117|6801
Our poor usually weigh in at 300 plus pounds
CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

yep, a lot of self made people just don’t hit a point and say

" I have made enough money and now let me waste it. "

The biggest land owner in Vermont owns more land than the Federal and State Governments combined and he still wears a shirt with DAVE stitched on the chest ! he's cool has a huge indoor pool that the whole town uses, but he's frugal. I get your point tho Im just knit picking. I aint super rich but I have a maid and don’t clean anything myself. Some times I even wreck my house before I leave to get my moneys worth out of her.
Wow. You mean he really wears a shirt with DAVE (!) stitched on it? OMG that's pretty amazing. Amazing but also completely failing to address the point I made. No toilet cleaner would continue in their job if they won the lottery. Fact. The person would have to be some kind of borderline retard to continue in that job.
madmurre
I suspect something is amiss
+117|7157|Sweden
I though the system were built around Poor and Rich as Cameron has pointed out ^

The world is simply not enough for all of us to live equally i´m just damn happy i was born in Sweden and honestly me like pretty much everyone else in Europe the states don´t give a shit about the Education-Countries ( Africa, Asia etc ) sure it´s nice to talk about it but that does´nt mean anything it´s your actions that count.
Hunter/Jumper
Member
+117|6801

CameronPoe wrote:

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

yep, a lot of self made people just don’t hit a point and say

" I have made enough money and now let me waste it. "

The biggest land owner in Vermont owns more land than the Federal and State Governments combined and he still wears a shirt with DAVE stitched on the chest ! he's cool has a huge indoor pool that the whole town uses, but he's frugal. I get your point tho Im just knit picking. I aint super rich but I have a maid and don’t clean anything myself. Some times I even wreck my house before I leave to get my moneys worth out of her.
Wow. You mean he really wears a shirt with DAVE (!) stitched on it? OMG that's pretty amazing. Amazing but also completely failing to address the point I made. No toilet cleaner would continue in their job if they won the lottery. Fact. The person would have to be some kind of borderline retard to continue in that job.
the point was I basically agree ( It was obvious to anyone ) but  he still considers himself a blue collar working man and he is not above getting his hands dirty, He is Not the aristocracy of  society, although he is self made, not some cog functionary  whose is redundant, lost in a huge utility effecting no one to no real purpose. I think we can all agree we weren't discusing the habbits of Lottery Winners. typical

CameronPoe wrote:

I enjoy annoying people by acting arrogant and condescending - get over it.
There is something to be said for your consistency.

Last edited by Hunter/Jumper (2007-06-08 11:53:51)

CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

yep, a lot of self made people just don’t hit a point and say

" I have made enough money and now let me waste it. "

The biggest land owner in Vermont owns more land than the Federal and State Governments combined and he still wears a shirt with DAVE stitched on the chest ! he's cool has a huge indoor pool that the whole town uses, but he's frugal. I get your point tho Im just knit picking. I aint super rich but I have a maid and don’t clean anything myself. Some times I even wreck my house before I leave to get my moneys worth out of her.
Wow. You mean he really wears a shirt with DAVE (!) stitched on it? OMG that's pretty amazing. Amazing but also completely failing to address the point I made. No toilet cleaner would continue in their job if they won the lottery. Fact. The person would have to be some kind of borderline retard to continue in that job.
the point was I basically agree ( It was obvious to anyone ) but  he still considers himself a blue collar working man and he is not above getting his hands dirty, He is Not the aristocracy of  society, although he is self made, not some cog functionary  whose is redundant, lost in a huge utility effecting no one to no real purpose.
You agree. At last. He sees the light.

PS What are you? King of the world or something? I work for a company that employs 200 people. Mostly degree/masters/PhD-holding engineers. Decisions we take and work we do affects security of electricity supply for the 5 million residents of Ireland, the price of electricity for those people, the 24/7 task of actually keeping the lights on from the National Control Centre here and the planning and building of reinforcements to the Grid to ensure there is sufficient capacity on the Grid for new industry, which provides employment for the people. www.eirgrid.com

We've also performed the role of Transmission System Operator in Alberta, Canada; are about to do likewise in South Africa; get consulted upon by US and Middle Eastern utilities for guidance/consultancy and are at the forefront of the modelling of wind turbines.

Hunter/Jumper wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

I enjoy annoying people by acting arrogant and condescending - get over it.
There is something to be said for your consistency.
Mr. 'Sharkfinhead' says 'thank you very much'.

Last edited by CameronPoe (2007-06-08 05:47:40)

Skorpy-chan
Member
+127|6791|Twyford, UK
Hmm. That reminds me.

Modern technology means that we can safely dispose of most useless job and replace them with robots. Toilets can clean themselves, the streets can be swept by robots, and burgers can be flipped and assembled by robots and sold from a vending machine.
Do we really need the poor anymore, other than a moral duty to support them?
Braddock
Agitator
+916|6737|Éire

Skorpy-chan wrote:

Hmm. That reminds me.

Modern technology means that we can safely dispose of most useless job and replace them with robots. Toilets can clean themselves, the streets can be swept by robots, and burgers can be flipped and assembled by robots and sold from a vending machine.
Do we really need the poor anymore, other than a moral duty to support them?
We need cannon fodder for the front lines in wars.
CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002

Braddock wrote:

Skorpy-chan wrote:

Hmm. That reminds me.

Modern technology means that we can safely dispose of most useless job and replace them with robots. Toilets can clean themselves, the streets can be swept by robots, and burgers can be flipped and assembled by robots and sold from a vending machine.
Do we really need the poor anymore, other than a moral duty to support them?
We need cannon fodder for the front lines in wars.
Yeah I wonder how many millionaires are out in Iraq in the marines right now?
Braddock
Agitator
+916|6737|Éire

CameronPoe wrote:

Braddock wrote:

Skorpy-chan wrote:

Hmm. That reminds me.

Modern technology means that we can safely dispose of most useless job and replace them with robots. Toilets can clean themselves, the streets can be swept by robots, and burgers can be flipped and assembled by robots and sold from a vending machine.
Do we really need the poor anymore, other than a moral duty to support them?
We need cannon fodder for the front lines in wars.
Yeah I wonder how many millionaires are out in Iraq in the marines right now?
Prince Harry ...no, wait!
Pug
UR father's brother's nephew's former roommate
+652|6988|Texas - Bigger than France

CameronPoe wrote:

Yeah I wonder how many millionaires are out in Iraq in the marines right now?
It's a volunteer army.  Therefore, how much money you make doesn't depend on your service.

Right now I know two personally, and two who will be millionaires in about 15 years.

The two are captains - one commands a destroyer (38 yrs old from a wealthly family), one is a pilot who married into money prior to joining.

The other two are kids of a extremely wealthy oil family - 22 yrs old army artillery, 24 yrs old special forces (probably black ops).  They'll probably go into politics.

Rare yes, but it's possible.  I'm one who believes the armed forces as a career is an option, and the reason why you don't see the rich there is because the opportunity to serve isn't as attractive as other options.
CameronPoe
Member
+2,925|7002
You have a point there - aspiring politicians in the US now seem to have to have military credentials so you may see more of the rich kids being sent off to boot camp.
Braddock
Agitator
+916|6737|Éire

Pug wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

Yeah I wonder how many millionaires are out in Iraq in the marines right now?
It's a volunteer army.  Therefore, how much money you make doesn't depend on your service.

Right now I know two personally, and two who will be millionaires in about 15 years.

The two are captains - one commands a destroyer (38 yrs old from a wealthly family), one is a pilot who married into money prior to joining.

The other two are kids of a extremely wealthy oil family - 22 yrs old army artillery, 24 yrs old special forces (probably black ops).  They'll probably go into politics.

Rare yes, but it's possible.  I'm one who believes the armed forces as a career is an option, and the reason why you don't see the rich there is because the opportunity to serve isn't as attractive as other options.
They don't get sent to the front line as cannon fodder very often though... military careers are not be sniffed at but the majority of the grunts are not coming from wealthy backgrounds.
Pug
UR father's brother's nephew's former roommate
+652|6988|Texas - Bigger than France

Braddock wrote:

Pug wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

Yeah I wonder how many millionaires are out in Iraq in the marines right now?
It's a volunteer army.  Therefore, how much money you make doesn't depend on your service.

Right now I know two personally, and two who will be millionaires in about 15 years.

The two are captains - one commands a destroyer (38 yrs old from a wealthly family), one is a pilot who married into money prior to joining.

The other two are kids of a extremely wealthy oil family - 22 yrs old army artillery, 24 yrs old special forces (probably black ops).  They'll probably go into politics.

Rare yes, but it's possible.  I'm one who believes the armed forces as a career is an option, and the reason why you don't see the rich there is because the opportunity to serve isn't as attractive as other options.
They don't get sent to the front line as cannon fodder very often though... military careers are not be sniffed at but the majority of the grunts are not coming from wealthy backgrounds.
Flying an A-10 over Iraq, artillery in Iraq, black ops (who knows where), and destroyer duty in the Gulf isn't the front line?

What is then?

Last edited by Pug (2007-06-08 07:02:51)

Braddock
Agitator
+916|6737|Éire
I would consider ground troops being sent into towns and villages in hostile regions as the front line.
Pug
UR father's brother's nephew's former roommate
+652|6988|Texas - Bigger than France
Then one of four qualify by that criteria
Agent_Dung_Bomb
Member
+302|7182|Salt Lake City

Although most aren't this way, look at Warren Buffett.  The man lives in the same small home he has lived in for, it's the last 50 years.  Have you seen his suits?  They look like a K-Mart special.  He really is quite a rare breed when it comes to people with that much money.

As to the original question, I say yes.  Unless you set a baseline minimum under which no person could go (not just wages, but overall income adjusted for inflation), then there will always be poor in a free market economy.
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|7095

I love H/J's posts. He's the new FadedSteve, each one of them provide me with a good chuckle. Steve appears sadly to be coming more rational though.
Hunter/Jumper
Member
+117|6801

ghettoperson wrote:

I love H/J's posts. He's the new FadedSteve, each one of them provide me with a good chuckle. Steve appears sadly to be coming more rational though.
Thanks, Your posts always provide An area unoccupied of function.

Last edited by Hunter/Jumper (2007-06-08 12:02:47)

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