Not everyone who's rich is a scumbag who doesn't deserve their money. And likewise, not all of them hoard their money and just spend it on themselves. Look at Bill Gates. I'd say he deserves his money, plus he donates millions and millions of dollars to many causes.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Bill gates is a tool. But that's just my anti windows opinion. I never said they were scumbags. Just that there are so many American families who can't afford to eat everyday and you've got CEOs buying million dollar cars and having four and five mansions... If they just cut back a little and spent more modestly, so that they could help others, we wouldn't have kids without shoes, food, and electricity. Helping others should be a priority in life especially if one has the means to do so. If they've worked hard and made a lot of money, go ahead and enjoy it, they do deserve it but just helping out major charities to help tor reputation while you've got 50 cars you'll never drive is a bit much. And most people can contribute more they just refuse to.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I never said there weren't some of them like that, but your post made it seem like all rich people need to have their stuff taken away from them for a little while just because they're rich. And I don't like Windows either, but I respect Bill Gates as a person and for his products.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Its not like they won't get it back... And if they're so convinced that its easy to be poor, it'll teach them that rich isn't the only living situation. There are real people in the world who are really struggling to live. At least the president should have to live on minimum wage just so he sees that it isn't enough. It just bothers me that America is the richest nation in the world and it won't even share its riches with itself.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why is it that you think the President, of all people, needs to have money taken away? The US President arguably has the most important job in the world, and yet he still doesn't make the money that some people do. The President understands the problem, it's just getting people to agree on a solution that gets in the way.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The president could help more if more people were in a position to pay taxes, thus helping out the people who say got crippled in an accident, rather than those who did drugs through high school and college.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You are quite visibly a Mac user

by Anonymous 12 years ago

LINUX, actually... Why would I pay for something terrible when I can get something good for free?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I completely agree.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

This is sort of unrelated, but I think everybody, rich or poor, should have to live on that low for a while, be it a week or a month. But honestly, live on even less. You think people in Haiti live on what the poorest American family has? They make less and even the homeless here still have semi-regular access to food kitchens and air conditioned libraries. I also don't think that it's anyone's place to say who does and doesn't deserve the money they have but the US seems really focused on letting people who make money keep money when in actuality the richest people (well, less so people and more so large corporations and companies) pay a LOWER percentage of taxes than even the middle class simply because they have the money to hire someone to find ways out of paying, which is wrong. That's unrelated to the post though. I just think that as a nation we tend to not understand exactly how bad things get. Not just for American families, though that gets bad enough, but also in other countries where children do literally starve TO DEATH and have NO options available for help.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't think rich people who have typically worked hard to earn a living should deserve to live like that, even for a month. If they're not generous, they're not generous, you can't force them to be, and overall that's a stupid idea. If anything we should do something about the people that intentionally slack off and don't work but still receive welfare because they have some minor handicap or something. Those are the people that we need do something about, not the few rich snobs that aren't philanthropic.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Communism? No thanks.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I like the first bit but we shouldn't practice this

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It's their money, and they can do whatever they want with it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It's YOUR money. Use it when YOU need it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Rich people are rich because they work for their money. My dad makes a good income, but he worked hard all the way through high school and college when he was dirt poor. He works hard at a really stressful job every single day. You can't say that he doesn't deserve that money and doesn't have the right to do with it what he pleases.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm curious about how a lot of people are saying the poor are lazy slack offs but isn't that just as much a generalization as saying rich people are all snobs? Especially in this economy where a lot of people who worked hard their whole lives are getting ripped off, and hard, by rich people who were just being greedy.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

RIGHT?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Because this is America, land of opportunity, so obviously anybody who isn't a multimillionaire must be either a moron or a lazy bastard who deserves to live in poverty.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I say let the rich should spend more so our economy will feel better.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

COMMUNIST! O.O

by Anonymous 12 years ago

In all seriousness, I have 8 years of school ahead of me to get my doctorate in Pharmacy. Sure, Pharmacists make really good money, but I've got a lot of hard work ahead of me in order to earn it. Sure, not all poor people are poor because they're too stupid or lazy to do something with their lives, but there's a good number of them who are. I don't think I should be expected to give them any of my money. I do, however, plan to donate to charities, but if I work hard to earn my money, and I want/can afford five mansions, I should be allowed to have 5 mansions without being criticized or blamed for the world's poverty. Furthermore, charity work should be done out of the goodness of people's hearts, and should in no way be required. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that more people should donate time/money/etc to charities and people in need, but it's morally wrong to require somebody to do so. I would even compare requiring people to donate money as stealing, because you are forcing people to give up their money against their will.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My parents are doctors, but they live very simply because they work for a nonprofit organization. Every time we have needed something, rich people have stepped in and given it to us. Most rich people are very generous when they can see that they are giving to someone who needs it, not someone who was too lazy to work, and that's the way it should be.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I love you for saying this. Luv Clo

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Or maybe, we shouldn't punish everyone because the faults of some. Maybe we should just continue to give to charity and volunteer our time to help others in need. Cos not every person who's poor is lazy, and not everybody who's rich is a snob.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If the OP is an American, this is one of the main differences between the US and a country like Canada that leans more towards being a welfare state were the gov't gives money to the poor. I agree with you about the fact that the poor should be helped, but I'm not fond of the idea of my tax payer dollars going to those who choose to abuse the 'generosity' of the government and refuse to go out and help themselves when they're presented with many opportunities to do so. Some of us work our asses off to get to where we're going, we shouldn't be forced to pick up the tab for the ones that don't care.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

At the very least it would at least be nice to know what family your taxes go into the welfare of

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Although I voted down, I do somewhat agree with your communist tendencies. I know communism is bad and doesn't work, but I like it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Except most of the world is capitalistic

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I would've agreed if you didn't say the last part. While I don't believe in spreading the wealth, there is a lot of truth in that many-- not )l-- rich people are a bit naive to life in poverty, I firmly do not believe in spreading the wealth. Luv Clo

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Not all* Luv Clo

by Anonymous 12 years ago

In my country 90% of the poor are only poor because of past situations, not because they are lazy or don't want to work. They are poor because they are under educated/skilled or were born into an under privileged lifestyle. I'm not saying that the rich should give up their lifestyles (HARD earned in some cases and inherited in others),but helping to enrich the poor with an education, food, skills and job opportunities can do a country no harm. If only more educated/privileged people could take the time to help educate the poor. It is quite sickening to think that some people spend millions on lavish,barely used items whilst other people are starving, have no homes etc etc. Luxury is great, but only so much can actually be enjoyed until the point where it becomes decadence/extravagance.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm sorry that a lot of you missed the point here. Maybe I worded it poorly? I don't think that the wealthy should just give everyone else all their money. But when you have people who have BILLions of dollars, complaining about paying more of their share in taxes while people are homeless because they make minimum wage, things are a little out of balance and should be corrected. I'm sorry if you don't agree that people who grew up in a broken system and got very little opportunity to thrive should be able to afford things as basic as shoes and food. Maybe not letting people who have more money than they can spend in two lifetimes have their money for a short amount of time might put the real world into perspective for them and they'd realize that just because they can afford a Rolls Royce for everyday of the week, doesn't mean the world can. Some people can only find jobs at Walmart or McDonalds. Its not that they were lazy, its that they were forgotten by the system that was supposed to be helping them.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I understand what you mean, but a lot of the rich people work really hard for their money and that's why they have it all. A lot of the poor people don't have jobs and just get money from the government, when they don't have a sickness or anything that stops them from working. Why should the rich people have to work hard to support people that don't feel like working at all?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't understand how people are getting things mixed up with this. I DON'T THINK RICH PEOPLE SHOULD SUPPORT THE WORLD AND KEEP NOTHING FOR THEM SELVES. I think that they should live life as a poor person so that they know how hard it is. NOT ALL POOR PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND JUST WAITING FOR A HANDOUT. Some people grew up with no opportunity to succeed. Those are the people I'm talking about. The elderly who make almost nothing on social security, the single mother who lost everything and works at McDonalds and lives with her parents just to support her family. Donate food, clothes, money, set up a scholarship to help everyday people. Who needs 25 billion dollars? Most of that money could help people who struggle everyday. People don't need 50 cars and six houses. They don't need more jewelery. But people do need to eat and to wear shoes everyday. I wrote this because I was abandoned as a child and I was raised by my retired grandparents. They lived on social security for three months before they were broke and my grandmother had to take a minimum wage job as a waitress. I was lucky to get new clothes every year. I just wish that someone like bill gates who had more than enough

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Would have stepped in and said hey, these people are barely living and I can help. I'm 22 now and I don't have enough money to get my drivers license. So I don't have enough money to get a job. There's no public transport system and the closest hiring company is 30 miles away from me. I'm doomed to a life of poverty because no one wants to help people like me. I'm not lazy, I'm just unlucky.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I hear people complaining about the recent proposed tax raises. Rich people going on about how they can't live on 400,000 a year. I don't even make 4,000 a year. I don't think they have a right to complain.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Rich people who earn millions should give a small portion of their wealth to charities that are dedicated to providing education funds. I've heard that its extremely expensive to get a tertiary education in the US, which hinders the growth of society. By giving people an education, you empower them to make something of themselves and not expect handouts. Maybe a once of handout to the poor to help them get the ball rolling is a good idea, but no more than that. Basically it's the give a man a fish or teach a man to fish thing.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah it's really expensive to get a tertiary education almost anywhere in the world. Not everyone can afford to spend thousands and thousands of dollars per year, I agree with what you're saying. I suppose this was why some scholarships were made up.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Ya, I disagree with how education has become so business orientated. Obviously the universities need to make a profit, but at what cost to society's growth? I'm glad my government subsidises 75% of it's citizen's university fees, it makes things so much more affordable!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm America, everything is business oriented.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agreed with you right up to the phrase "This should be a mandatory practice in our modern world".

by Anonymous 12 years ago