The problem with our country summarized

Unless you are paying, it is never relevant what you think about another persons salary.

 

No one person is forced to work for any wage here.

 

Why red thinks it is any of his business what people make is beyond me.

My bartender gets paid pretty well by me. I wonder if red would say he is overpaid or if it's my goddamn business how much I pay People. What if my bartender does a terrible job and I still pay him well, would that bother red?

 

If your bartender is terrible and you still tip "HIM" well it might bother Red that you've caught the ghey or you are thinking of holding "it" in your mouth till someone with the ghey shows up........not that there is anything with that, just sayin.

 

I'm not saying Mitt hasn't put in some long days but who hasn't? I am also not advocating that we should all be paid the same. I am a capitalist to the core and capitalism has been very good to me. That said, all things being considered, if a guy works his ass off in a plant making 70 grand a year and another guy works his ass off in an office and makes 20 million per year, is because the second guy worked harder? no. Is it because his education makes him that much more qualified? no. Is it because his Daddy was rich and he had every single advantage, even access to a guy named Howard Bain who helped float Bain Capital? not all of it, but that guy making 70 grand in a plant's Daddy didn't make it possible for him to have access to hundreds of millions. My point is that no one person is worth 285 times more than another, regardless of what their education is or expertise is.

 

The wage market says otherwise.

 

If that is a personal opinion I can understand what you are saying but how do we decide such a valuation? Does Drew Brees deserve his $20MM? It seems some begrudge Mitt his money because his start came from family & friends (Bain). However it was his skill that created the vast majority of his wealth. What about Steve Jobs? Sure his family was middle class but he had the fortune to grow up in Silicon Vally and knew Bill Hewlitt and others and had connections to VC that started Apple. It takes a combination of talent, connection and plain good fortune to make this success.

Right now it sems there is still a path to such great fortune that doesn't require daddy. I know a couple of bankers that came from New Orleans and gained the highest level of the Morgan Stanleys, Goldman Sach, Merrills etc and retired with many tens of millions of dollars. They worked their way up. As I understand it most millionaires and super rich make their money rather than inherit it. Look at Tom Benson, Mark Cuban. Lok at Gary Chouest of ECO here in La and Otto Candies, they took advantage of the oil boom and made 100's of millions of $; or at any type of business and you see new money rather than old for the most part. It is this open opportunity to make or break your fortune that makes America great. People of all stripes flock here from around the world for that chance.

Finally what is the difference if you don't reach such high levals. I still believe that we can succeed in the manner that fits our talent and still live well. I don't begrudge the Mitts and Jobs and Zuckerberg's sucess. There is much to be done to improve our economy and provide better opportunity. There may be reason to modify tax rates etc but to me that isn't part of the discussion of value. I don't believe you are jealous of Mitt Tiger but some are.

 

I do not begrudge those who have done well; I would be a hyprcrite to do so because I have done very well. I sympathize very little with the Mitt Romney's of this world because I came from nothing and earned every penny I've amassed. I have great admiration for those who have done the same because I understand, first hand, the price one pays to reach such a level of success.

That said, no one person's time or expertise are worth 285 times more than anothers. It is palatable when it is someone like Jobs, Zuckerberg or Cuban because I know they've come from nothing and have worked their way to the top. The same is not true of Mitt Romney. I don't care what kind of picture he paints, he reaped the benefits of his Daddy's status and wealth. Average guys like me do not have access to the likes of Howard Bain for 100 million in capital to start a business. In fact, when I started I had nothing.....not a fucking dime; just a good name and a good work ethic. It took me a lot longer to reap the benefits but we made sacrifices (the whole family) and kept our nose to the grind stone. Romney likes to make it out like he earned his own money and I have one thing to say about that: bull shit.

You are right, Winston. I am not jealous of Romney. I have been very blessed and I am perfectly content with the life we've created. That said, having known the hardships that accompany starting a business and struggling to get it off the ground and make it flourish, I have little sympathy for the ones like Romney who never had to work for it or suffer for it or sacrifice for it. I call them Daddy's Boys.

 

My bartender is from county cork Ireland and it a good fellow. When people annoy me he kicks them out. He makes me look good in front of the local ladies. If I get drunk and act like a dick, I apologize later and he says he doesn't remember me acting poorly. It's great. No one should ever live more than a block from a proper pub. Guinness pints and Jameson whiskey and working class sluts. That's good times.