Support NeoGAF

[HerbertFish]

[Citation needed]

Okay. Roughly 70 percent of the richest 400 people are entirely self made according to Forbes. The average American doesn't have a college degree and works roughly 30 hours a week. Less for the most part when it comes to Europeans. Asians tend to work slightly more. Obviously you can always combat this argument by changing how you view what work is and looking at outside factors but yes, in general billionaires work harder to get where they are then the average person unless you believe they got there working 30 hours a week. I personally do not think so, using any sort of common sense

 

[WalkMan]

If your income reflected the amount of work you put out and difficulty of your job I'd say the current 1% would maybe lay in the 30%. There are plenty of hard working people out there that aren't being paid what they're worth.

Who's fault is that? It's certainly not the unfairness in life, if you think you are worth something then prove it. If you can prove it then someone will give you exactly what you are worth, otherwise you are overvaluing yourself. Also I can say the counter and there are many people that are lazy/unskilled yet get to charge $400/hr.

Anyways, with regard to CEOs, they deserve their pay - every decision they make influences their employees whether for good or for bad. They're getting paid to make the right decision.

 

[adj_noun]

Hey they had to fight a lot of other sperm to get to that egg.

The other sperm were lazy and went for ovian handouts. The righteous sperm spontaneously developed boostraps and used 'em to pull themselves along the fallopian tube, aided by both the invisible hand and the trickle down effect of their wake.

 

[epmode]

I'm not sure what's worse, the ridiculous gap between the income of the 1% and everyone else or the way the ultrarich have been taking to the media with stories of PERSECUTION.

 

[SystemShock2]

Incredibly close minded view.

 

[Razzer]

Okay. Roughly 70 percent of the richest 400 people are entirely self made according to Forbes. The average American doesn't have a college degree and works roughly 30 hours a week. Less for the most part when it comes to Europeans. Asians tend to work slightly more. Obviously you can always combat this argument by changing how you view what work is and looking at outside factors but yes, in general billionaires work harder to get where they are then the average person unless you believe they got there working 30 hours a week. I personally do not think so, using any sort of common sense

The point many are making is that the amount these people make relative to the rest is much larger than the amount of work relative to the rest. Yes, a lot of them work very hard, but not 10,000 times harder.

 

[ToxicAdam]

ITT poor people get to shit on and generalize about rich people to temporarily make themselves feel good for a fleeting few seconds.

 

[gogosox8]

There are different types of skilled work valued differently with workers coming from a range of economic classes born with different opportunities and innate skills. Attributing their success to work ethic is moronic.

Still, I do think that the 1% gets pummeled because it's politically convenient.

I don't understand this notion of the 1% being "pummeled". Are they being thrown in jail? Hauled off to gitmo? Prosecuted for crimes they didn't commit? As far as I know, none of those things are happening so I don't get the persecution complex so many of them have. They still have their money and more importantly they hold an incredible amount of political power b/c they can simply buy off politicians. So I really don't see why we have to be concerned or even care that their feelings are being hurt honestly.

 

[UltimaPooh]

The point many are making is that the amount these people make relative to the rest is much larger than the amount of work relative to the rest. Yes, a lot of them work very hard, but not 10,000 times harder.

Bringo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MpyHBoiTwk

 

[Zen_Arcade]

ITT poor people get to shit on and generalize about rich people to temporarily make themselves feel good for a fleeting few seconds.

I can't tell if you're worse at trolling or reading the thread to know what you're talking about.

 

[ToxicAdam]

I can't tell if you're worse at trolling or reading the thread to know what you're talking about.

All three.

 

[Omegasquash]

The point many are making is that the amount these people make relative to the rest is much larger than the amount of work relative to the rest. Yes, a lot of them work very hard, but not 10,000 times harder.

My fear with that point is that it leads to saying that "well, billionaires are just smarter."

 

[jgmo870]

Pummelled with low taxes, little regulation and direct access to politicians.

What counts as little regulation? And while I do agree that large corporations aren't taxed enough, let's be honest, neither political side cares about sound economics. They wouldn't use that revenue towards real growth.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

I can't tell if you're worse at trolling or reading the thread to know what you're talking about.

I can tell he's best at watching Fox News.

 

[fallagin]

What a coincidence, billionaires also happen to be the most narcissistic assholes on this side of the moon.

 

[EmiPrime]

Self-made now means having the best education that money can buy and wisely investing the $1m daddy gave you after graduation.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Man, if the poor actually do rise up and eat the rich do you think he'll be tender from the years of non physical labour or tough and stringy?

 

[ToxicAdam]

I can tell he's best at watching Fox News.

awww .. siiick burn, bro.

 

[FairyD]

More evidence that money corrupts.

 

[Balphon]

I'm sure some of them work very, very hard.

But the "idle rich" is a term for a reason.

 

[Omegasquash]

Man, if the poor actually do rise up and eat the rich do you think he'll be tender from the years of non physical labour or tough and stringy?

Well if Zell were to get chomped he'd definitely be salty.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

awww .. siiick burn, bro.

Funnier then anything you've said.

 

[User 100115]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

 

[NullPointer]

We could have a new reality show where we take the 1% and subject them to some classic "dirty jobs" for 30 days, and require them to pay for food and lodging and transportation (and any medical care) from those paychecks. And then we can all judge them on their performance.

Prove it to the world fellas.

No friends, family or associates to put in a good word or pull strings. Just the work and glorious bootstraps.

Edit: OK Fiction, lets partner up on this

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Okay. Roughly 70 percent of the richest 400 people are entirely self made according to Forbes.

Unless they founded and built a company entirely single-handedly wihout any outside help or any employees (and not counting any privileges they started off with) then no, they didn't.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

It's not a game show but you're basically describing Undercover Boss as far as the doing jobs thing goes.

Seems pretty fake though.

 

[fallagin]

ITT poor people get to shit on and generalize about rich people to temporarily make themselves feel good for a fleeting few seconds.

Oh you're right. We shouldn't be allowed to do that. I wonder when that will get put into law...

 

[HerbertFish]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

Undercover boss covers some of that, sort of.

 

[zma1013]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

That's sort of the idea of The Apprentice, except that it quickly devolved into a show where the stars just do fundraisers and beg other rich people for money. Occasionally they get to do a regular person's job, but it's mostly fundraisers now.

 

[jgmo870]

I don't understand this notion of the 1% being "pummeled". Are they being thrown in jail? Hauled off to gitmo? Prosecuted for crimes they didn't commit? As far as I know, none of those things are happening so I don't get the persecution complex so many of them have. They still have their money and more importantly they hold an incredible amount of political power b/c they can simply buy off politicians. So I really don't see why we have to be concerned or even care that their feelings are being hurt honestly.

I'm assuming he's talking about the social and cultural views towards the 1%.

 

[KingGondo]

Okay. Roughly 70 percent of the richest 400 people are entirely self made according to Forbes. The average American doesn't have a college degree and works roughly 30 hours a week. Less for the most part when it comes to Europeans. Asians tend to work slightly more. Obviously you can always combat this argument by changing how you view what work is and looking at outside factors but yes, in general billionaires work harder to get where they are then the average person unless you believe they got there working 30 hours a week. I personally do not think so, using any sort of common sense

I'd like to see how Forbes defines "self-made." And I'm curious what you mean by "average American", or from where you got the statistics you cited.

 

[gogosox8]

Okay. Roughly 70 percent of the richest 400 people are entirely self made according to Forbes. The average American doesn't have a college degree and works roughly 30 hours a week. Less for the most part when it comes to Europeans. Asians tend to work slightly more. Obviously you can always combat this argument by changing how you view what work is and looking at outside factors but yes, in general billionaires work harder to get where they are then the average person unless you believe they got there working 30 hours a week. I personally do not think so, using any sort of common sense

So how much harder would you say they work than the rest of us? 20% harder? 50% harder?

 

[Crantius_Colto]

So, what's with all those people having burnout. Didn't work hard enough correctly, eh?

 

[User 100115]

It's not a game show but you're basically describing Undercover Boss as far as the doing jobs thing goes.

Undercover Boss is close, but it's not 'stranded on an island Survivor'y enough for what I am thinking. They would have to live in shitty apartments and eat shitty food and work 60 hours a week just to make their stupidly high rent. Whoever lasts the longest without folding wins.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Unless they founded and built a company entirely single-handedly wihout any outside help or any employees (and not counting any privileges they started off with) then no, they didn't.

It's a silly point. If it were so easy, everyone would do it.


Why not you Cheez-mo? Why don't you go out and get some people to help make you a million dollars?

 

[Vermillion]

We could have a new reality show where we take the 1% and subject them to some classic "dirty jobs" for 30 days, and require them to pay for food and lodging and transportation (and any medical care) from those paychecks. And then we can all judge them on their performance.

Prove it to the world fellas.

No friends, family or associates to put in a good word or pull strings. Just the work and glorious bootstraps.

Edit: OK Fiction, lets partner up on this

Everyone keeps saying this, but physical labor isn't the only type of hard work.

 

[Omegasquash]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

Feeling better about themselves. Seems that the 1% are on the defensive these days, so there would likely be some of them that would love to reflate their feelings of superiority.

 

[John Kowalski]

What a dumb way of looking at this. And an excellent way of dismissing the problematic around the mass concentration of wealth.

Because of course the only problem with the 1% is that everyone else is jealous of them.

Your median billionaire has worked a lot harder than your median citizen.

You mean they worked more than 14 hours straight everyday for seven weeks? Cause i did and i'm still dirt poor.

 

[NihonTiger90]

I think a lot of former employees of Tribune Media would disagree with Mr. Zell's comment.

 

[gohepcat]

There are different types of skilled work valued differently with workers coming from a range of economic classes born with different opportunities and innate skills. Attributing their success to work ethic is moronic.

Still, I do think that the 1% gets pummeled because it's politically convenient.

They get pummeled because the rest of us have worked incredibly hard for the last 30 years and have not seen any increase in our wealth, while the very top has seen the greatest prosperity in 100 years.

How is this not clear? This is a huge problem.

You either tax these people now, or in 20 years their heads are going to be on pikes outside of the Whitehouse.

 

[empty vessel]

Anyways, with regard to CEOs, they deserve their pay - every decision they make influences their employees whether for good or for bad. They're getting paid to make the right decision.

That's hard work? Many, many millions of people could perform as an executive with very minimal training and do it just as well as anybody else. Their pay is outrageously criminal and represents a market failure that cries out for intervention.

ITT poor people get to shit on and generalize about rich people to temporarily make themselves feel good for a fleeting few seconds.

Tit for tat, I guess. Except one side is utterly delusional and criminal.

 

[ronito]

Now I want to make a reality show where the wealthy compete by doing the jobs of and living like the poor. Like a rich people survivor.

But what would their incentive be? Shit.

Actually I'd love to see that. "Uncover employee" where the employee gets to make decisions and sleep in mansion. Cause the 1% has it so hard.

 

[NullPointer]

Undercover Boss is close, but it's not 'stranded on an island Survivor'y enough for what I am thinking. They would have to live in shitty apartments and eat shitty food and work 60 hours a week just to make their stupidly high rent. Whoever lasts the longest without folding wins.

Yeah, this was my inspiration: 30 Days: Minimum Wage

Crazy episode, especially when Spurlock gets injured and has to go to the hospital.

You either tax these people now, or in 20 years their heads are going to be on pikes outside of the Whitehouse.

I wouldn't even give them 20 years. They'll bring us all another crash soon enough.

 

[Omegasquash]

You mean they worked more than 14 hours straight everyday for seven weeks? Cause i did and i'm still dirt poor.

I think you need better bootstraps. Some folks certainly think that you do. God forbid you have responsibilities like a sick relative, education debt....children.

 

[ronito]

You mean they worked more than 14 hours straight everyday for seven weeks? Cause i did and i'm still dirt poor.

They obviously meant it more than you.

 

[Razzer]

Everyone keeps saying this, but physical labor isn't the only type of hard work.

Well, let's say we convinced a CEO of a company to take part in this show. How about we get them to start working at another company in the same business at the lowest level and see how they do. If what Zell is saying was correct they should shoot up the ranks no problem.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Why not you Cheez-mo? Why don't you go out and get some people to help make you a million dollars?

Because I'm not a thieving parasite who thinks they're entitled to the produce of the wealth-creating working class, HTH.

 

[SlipperySlope]

The point many are making is that the amount these people make relative to the rest is much larger than the amount of work relative to the rest. Yes, a lot of them work very hard, but not 10,000 times harder.

Of course they don't work 10,000 times harder. But the majority of the richest are, frankly, 10,000 times more valuable to their companies compared to the average worker.

Look at Microsoft for one example. All this hubub about who the next CEO would be. The pick could make or break the entire company, and if it's a break, 100,000 people could be out of a job.

Or look at Sony's new CEO. He's staging a turnaround attempt, and if successful, could help 10's of thousands of people keep their jobs.

It's more value than work, although they do work much harder than the average worker, especially when they were at school.

 

[Wazzy]

Your median billionaire has worked a lot harder than your median citizen.

This is such bullshit and you know it.

 

[gogosox8]

I'm assuming he's talking about the social and cultural views towards the 1%.

Still don't see why I have to care that some billionaire is upset that I call him an asshole on a forum one time. And I honestly don't see why they would even care either honestly. Its not like all of their money and influence is going to disappear b/c people don't like them.