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To The Rich, From America
Yes, we've heard that the widespread woes of subprime borrowers are now hurting the primest of prime borrowers (an act of karmic justice, perhaps?). Thousands of investment bankers are losing their jobs, and year-end bonuses for many on Wall Street were disappointing. We feel your pain. But that's no reason to stop spending. Stagnant wages haven't stopped us middle-class Americans from going to the mall and eating at Sizzler. (The Census Bureau tells me real household median income in 2006 was actually 2.2 percent lower than it was in 1999.) When we run out of cash, we borrow against our homes. Then we max out the credit cards, and start raiding 401(k)s and penny jars. We regard living beyond our means as a patriotic duty.
The latest investment trends similarly lead me to think you may not be acting in the national interest. America's private-equity firms are plowing into India, China, Asia and Latin America, and private bankers are urging clients to drop the home bias (don't think condos in Palm Beach and ski chalets in Aspen; think beachfront property in Thailand and ski resorts in the Alps). A Spectrem Group survey of people with more than $500,000 to invest found that 31 percent are putting more capital to work internationally than in the past. "The rich are investing a larger share of their capital overseas," says "Richistan" author Robert Frank.
Just when the economy has started to take on water—and we don't know if we've just sprung a leak or we've hit an iceberg—it seems like the wealthy are piling into the lifeboats. So consider this a plea not to abandon us. Ski at Sugarbush instead of Gstaad. Invest in P.F. Chang's China Bistro instead of China. It might not be as rewarding, financially or psychologically. But your country needs you now, more than ever. And after all we've done for you, it's the least you can do.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: John Luma @ 01/26/2008 11:56:14 AM
Comment: To protest the law requiring everyone to identify themselves honestly before voting is ridiculous. Voting is a right for citizens only, yet there are many today who would like to extend this right to foreigners for political reasons. Who want to allow illegals who are not citizens, to vote. Asking someone to show a photo ID is hardly fascist or a sign of hating democracy. It is a way of preserving citizenship and the meaning of citizenship. It is a legal requirement much as writing a check at the grocery store or showing photo ID at the entrance to private property. If you want to live in a non-photo ID world I'd advise moving to an Arabian desert or deep in an African jungle. No need to prove who you are at all.
Posted By: John Luma @ 01/26/2008 11:36:01 AM
Comment: Bravo, thanks for a finger pointing that needs to be pointed. When F.Scott Fitzgerald looked in awe at the lifestyles of the wealthy and said, "The rich aren't like you and I," Hemingway retorted, "Yeah, they've got more money." Both were true and it's still true 80 years later. Money doesn't guarantee happiness, but you don't see rich people giving it all away and going back to middle-class living. That's because everyone knows that wealth protects us from the harsh realities of life -- it affords us greater freedom of choice, better health care, better schools, and the emotional safety net of nicer homes, better food and the status of fashion, cars and great vacations. But it's time the wealthy step up to the responsibilities of their higher position in life and support the ambitions of the poor and middle class in Education, Job training and Mentoring programs, so others can learn their steps to success. We need the wealthy, those who have multiplied opportunities for so many already, to lead with the positive moral force only they can give.
Posted By: Mwalimu @ 01/24/2008 4:15:13 PM
Comment: One of the most insidious legacies of the coddling rich is their assault on democracy. In Indiana, their henchmen, the Republican legislature, passed a law requiring all voters to a photo ID such as a passport or a drivers license in order to vote. Supposedly the Indiana legislature fears voter fraud, but exhaustive studies conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University debunk prove that voter fraud is virtually non-existent (I invite any one to check out these reports on their website.) The Republican legislature is simply trying to restrict voting to people who can afford to buy a car or people who can afford a Mediterranean cruise. The Republican party plans to instigate similar laws in other states. The voter ID law is merely a thinly disguised version of the poll tax, but the Supreme Court, packed with reactionary justices is likely to uphold the Indiana law. The passage of the restrictive voter ID law in Indiana by the Republican governor and legislature proves that the wealthy hate democracy - They wish to replace our democratic government with a neo-fascist so-called ???Federalist??? republic.