Couple of rich people's statements last week makes me wonder if being smart is a prerequisite for becoming wealthy in this country or that once you became rich you have lost all perspective. Tom Perkins, a venture capitalist, said that people should only be allowed to vote if they pay taxes and it is one vote for each dollar a person pays. He also said that the assault on the rich today is like the Nazi's assault on Jews. Frankly I do not know of anyone who is assaulting the rich today that can send Tom Perkins to the gas chambers. I am shocked that no Jewish group has come out to attack Perkins for making light of the Holocaust. Asked in what way are the rich being assaulted, Perkins cited higher taxes under Obama. I think that a lot of Jewish people who perished under the Nazis would have been glad to pay Perkins' tax rate. As for one dollar one vote idea, I always thought that this nation was created under the idea that all men were equal. So Perkins believe that if you pay a million dollar in taxes and I pay a thousand, then he is one thousand times greater than me. I think he needs to go back to high school history class. And with the one person one vote system we have now, there are many millionaires in Congress but no one on welfare is in either chamber. So in what way are the rich being underrepresented now?
Then there is Bud Konheim, CEO of a luxury retailer. He claimed that people at the poverty level in this country would be rich in 99% of the world. He set the poverty level at $35,000. I am sure a lot of poor people in this country, not just in other parts of the world, would be happy to be making $35,000. But of course by making this argument in the first place shows how absurd his thinking is. I am 5 ft 5 in tall. I am taller than overwhelming majority of the people in the world. (Don't forget women, old people who have shrunk, and of course children). This fact does not make me feel tall, nor would anyone consider me to be tall. A person making the minimum wage in this country cannot take his money and buy food and housing in Africa some place. He has to eat and live here! To make such statement just makes me wonder how this guy got rich in the first place.
These two guys proves Warren Buffett's point. That is just because you are good at something and also was lucky to be successful, it does not make you a better person. Buffett said that if someone puts him in the jungle somewhere, he would not survive. He was just lucky that investing pays off well in this country. I agree with him. I consider myself a hard working, self made immigrant. But if I grew up some place else, under different circumstances, I would not have done anywhere as well. So yes, I know there are irresponsible people who take advantage of the system and blame the rich for their problems. But it is fair to say that those who have made it rich, depended on the system to help make them succeed. They did not do it by themselves. If they think they can create wealth without the system, then I suggest that Perkins and Konheim be dropped off in the jungles somewhere with a couple of welfare recipients and see who survives better. I will bet on the welfare recipients.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
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I am not going to comment on what Perkins and Konheim said other than "wow". I don't know these people and I don't know their backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see what would happen if they were dropped off in a jungle somewhere with a couple of welfare recipients and see what happens.
I would like to see what happens with the recipients if they were given the same opportunities as the two wealthy men.
The more I read about Warren Buffett, the more I like him. I think I'll pick up a biography on him someday. I am usually skeptical about a person's public persona. But he seems to walk the talk, so to speak.
On a sports note, I recently read there was a debate of who should be on basketball's Mt. Rushmore (players). I heard that Kobe bitched and whined that he should be on it but when it came down to public opinion, he wasn't on it.
I don't remember who ended up on it, but here are my four.
Jordan, Magic, Chamberlain and I have no idea who to place on the 4th slot. There are so many deserving players. I thought Russell, Kareem, even Lebron. Am I missing anyone?
I am a huge Dr. J fan, but I don't know if his whole body of work gets him on there. But he, to me, is the first high flyer.
-LBOAYM
When the original Dream Team was formed, SI tried to name an All Time Team of 12 players. There was a lot of controversy back then. So can you imagine instead of 12, you just name 4? Not only that, since that time you have Kobe and Lebron wanting to be included. It is a totally subjective endeavor with everyone having some bias, probably for the players he grew up watching.
ReplyDeleteFor me the criteria would not be who are the 4 greatest players. That you can argue all day and is not relevant because who is to say that the four on the real Mt. Rushmore are the 4 greatest presidents? One more criterium for me would be not include anyone active. I won't judge LeBron or Kobe until they are retired. They may exceed the four I choose because they may have more international impact such as Kobe in China. Or they may be found to be taking steroids and be eliminated for consideration a la Barry Bonds.
So my first 3 picks are Magic, Bird, and Jordan. I think before Magic and Bird, the NBA was consider a minor "black" league without a great deal of interest outside of the inner city. The Bird and Magic rivalry changed that. Remember before then, the NBA finals were not even televised live most of the time! Jordan then took the NBA to the next level. The fourth pick for me is Kareem. He is the all time leading scorer and while his stat on average was not as dominant as Wilt, he had much better competition as Wilt had nobody near his size, except for Russell, during his prime. Kareem's hook shot was a thing of beauty and I consider it the greatest offensive weapon in the history of the game. So those are my four and I will certainly understand anyone who picks someone else and disagree with me.