Wealth inequality

[lawgator1]

Sanders says that one family, the Walton family that started and owns Wal-Mart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the country. That's one family with as much wealth as 150 million people.

If correct, is that cause for moral concern? I.e. is such distribution of wealth fundamentally morally wrong?

 

[LouderVol]

oh goodie. opcorn:

 

[hog88]

Sanders says that one family, the Walton family that started and owns Wal-Mart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the country. That's one family with as much wealth as 150 million people.

If correct, is that cause for moral concern? I.e. is such distribution of wealth fundamentally morally wrong?

No.

No.

 

[1972 Grad]

Sanders says that one family, the Walton family that started and owns Wal-Mart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the country. That's one family with as much wealth as 150 million people.

If correct, is that cause for moral concern? I.e. is such distribution of wealth fundamentally morally wrong?

As a major stockholder in Walmart, I am happy that they have done well.

 

[LouderVol]

and no. the waltons weren't wealthy. started a business and got wealthy. you act as if there is a set cap to the wealth. so if there was a fixed amount of money you might have an argument, might. but as it is make that money.

 

[ClearwaterVol]

and no. the waltons weren't wealthy. started a business and got wealthy. you act as if there is a set cap to the wealth. so if there was a fixed amount of money you might have an argument, might. but as it is make that money.

Not taking either side, but is there an infinite amount of money?

 

[Gramps]

Sanders says that one family, the Walton family that started and owns Wal-Mart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the country. That's one family with as much wealth as 150 million people.

If correct, is that cause for moral concern? I.e. is such distribution of wealth fundamentally morally wrong?

No that shows how good a business man Sam Walton was. He built an empire.

 

[LouderVol]

Not taking either side, but is there an infinite amount of money?

I would say there isn't a cap. Not quite the same as infinite, but no one is stopping the poor from making more money so that its only 39% without taking from the Waltons.

if we were on the gold/silver standard I would say yeah there is a cap, you can only split a coin so many ways. but as you hear it from some on this site our dollars are like "Whose Line Is It Anyway". so if you subscribe to that I don't see how it matters as "everything is made up and the points don't matter". I don't subscribe to that line of thought but as of yet I have yet to see any real limit put on the amount of money in the system. if anything the complaint seems to be that we are putting more "dollars" into a system without increasing the value.

 

[lawgator1]

and no. the waltons weren't wealthy. started a business and got wealthy. you act as if there is a set cap to the wealth. so if there was a fixed amount of money you might have an argument, might. but as it is make that money.

The second part of his observation was that many Walmart workers make so little that they have to use Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing to survive. Costs which are shifted to us.

Does that change your conclusion?

 

[bamawriter]

Not taking either side, but is there an infinite amount of money?

There is not an infinite amount of money, but wealth isn't defined solely in dollars and cents. And wealth is not a zero sum game.

 

[bamawriter]

The second part of his observation was that many Walmart workers make so little that they have to use Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing to survive. Costs which are shifted to us.

Does that change your conclusion?

You've laid out some of the significant reasons why I haven't shopped at Wal-Mart in almost a decade, and why I plan to never shop there in the decades to come.

I consider Wal-Mart a morally repugnant business. But they aren't morally repugnant because the family has made a lot of money. You can be both successful and decent. I hate the idea that it's an indication of a moral failing if one has a lot more money than another.

 

[hog88]

The second part of his observation was that many Walmart workers make so little that they have to use Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing to survive. Costs which are shifted to us.

Does that change your conclusion?

You shop at Wal-Mart?

 

[LouderVol]

The second part of his observation was that many Walmart workers make so little that they have to use Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing to survive. Costs which are shifted to us.

Does that change your conclusion?

not at all. they should see Sam Walton as an example, not an evil basterd that enslaved them to a minimum wage system. don't like your situation, better it. The only people who truly can't are the people who won't. (excluding the obvious cripples etc etc).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6He0FWoFj0[/youtube]

hopefully the youtube inbeds, i generally suck at that though. but there are cases of people with autism and other mentally handicapped running successful businesses. Absolutely no offense meant in this next statement but, if they can do it anyone can.

 

[IBlvNTmWrk]

Was it a major problem over a century ago with the Rockefeller's, Vanderbilt's, Carnegie's, Morgan's, etc? It's been reported that Rockefeller's worth, alone, was 1/65 of the entire nation’s GDP. And according to other reports, in the early 20's the richest 1% of the country controlled over 37% of the nation’s wealth.

 

[Gramps]

The second part of his observation was that many Walmart workers make so little that they have to use Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing to survive. Costs which are shifted to us.

Does that change your conclusion?

The same can be said about many businesses. IMHO the one thing that has killed the blue collar workers is the manufacturers use of temp services for their workforce. It has changed what was $16-20 per hour jobs to $8.50 -10.50 per hour for the exact same job. It would be difficult for the vast majority to have their wages cutting 40-50% and that is what has been going on for the last 10 or so years.

 

[LouderVol]

I also wonder how it is wrong? how is it a problem? seems like having a lot of wealthy people means they are going to spend more money, have more businesses and invest and donate more money; than if we set a cap at a billion dollars and just redistributed everything else.

 

[LouderVol]

The same can be said about many businesses. IMHO the one thing that has killed the blue collar workers is the manufacturers use of temp services for their workforce. It has changed what was $16-20 per hour jobs to $8.50 -10.50 per hour for the exact same job. It would be difficult for the vast majority to have their wages cutting 40-50% and that is what has been going on for the last 10 or so years.

recession vs now. at least here in Atlanta in the building industry we are very quickly moving away from the temp work because it isn't as good. a lot of buildings built around town on shoddy/cheap work just to get it done and now the owners are facing the consequences. ultimately its what the client wants to pay for.

 

[hog88]

The same can be said about many businesses. IMHO the one thing that has killed the blue collar workers is the manufacturers use of temp services for their workforce. It has changed what was $16-20 per hour jobs to $8.50 -10.50 per hour for the exact same job. It would be difficult for the vast majority to have their wages cutting 40-50% and that is what has been going on for the last 10 or so years.

Rules and regulations brought on the temp labor onslaught. Place the blame where it belongs.

 

[Gramps]

Rules and regulations brought on the temp labor onslaught. Place the blame where it belongs.

I didn't place the blame on anyone hoggy. I said the use of those has killed the blue collars worker and it has. To say otherwise is......well stupid.

 

[Gramps]

recession vs now. at least here in Atlanta in the building industry we are very quickly moving away from the temp work because it isn't as good. a lot of buildings built around town on shoddy/cheap work just to get it done and now the owners are facing the consequences. ultimately its what the client wants to pay for.

Here in East Tennessee it is and has been several of the larger manufacturing plants. It is good business sense to the company as far as the bottom goes but it has hurt the worker extremely bad which hurts the economy in general

 

[McDad]

Not taking either side, but is there an infinite amount of money?

Yes. The instrument of exchange is finite. The instruments available aside from currency are numerous and the velocity with which those instruments are passed between parties essentially guarantees "money" is infinite.

 

[hog88]

I didn't place the blame on anyone hoggy. I said the use of those has killed the blue collars worker and it has. To say otherwise is......well stupid.

Root causes sir. Always have to look at the root cause to fix the problem.

 

[volprof]

No that shows how good a business man Sam Walton was. He built an empire.

And we subsidize half of Wal-mart's employees through public coffers while his grandchildren make out like bandits.

Yes, you're right. He was a genius.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Sanders says that one family, the Walton family that started and owns Wal-Mart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the country. That's one family with as much wealth as 150 million people.

If correct, is that cause for moral concern? I.e. is such distribution of wealth fundamentally morally wrong?

No. It's called Success.

 

[FLVOL_79]

And we subsidize half of Wal-mart's employees through public coffers while his grandchildren make out like bandits.

Yes, you're right. He was a genius.

Or Wal-mart employees are morons.........