Wealth makes people better ?

And maybe I’d be wealthier if I was a better person...?!

You deserve to be wealthy Nigel. The definition of quality in ISO9000 should read 'fit for purpose with obvious attention to detail'. I've seen a photo of one of your bikes. I would say one thing about the British - as far as quality is concerned, they usually 'do it right first time'. In Australia, it is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. It is all about VALUES. If you are ignorant, you don't value anything except the necessities. There is often a big difference between value and price.
 
Al, when you say “Altruistic people rarely ever seem to become wealthy.” you err profoundly.

Just the opposite - wealth is a prerequisite to real, consequential, charity.

Yes, we all, even the poorest among us, are capable of kindness and modest generosity. A good thing.

On the other hand, when one cannot afford such altruism, then altruism can be self destructive and selfish - false. Virtue signaling
 
Danno-

Great write up on post WW II China.

There is a glaring omission however- the critical role of Stalin’s spies/influencers in the FDR and Truman White House/State Dept/Treasury/OSS-CIA during that period.

The biased media, Hollywood, (both then under communist influence), the Democrat Party, and academia all in solidarity still deny the fact that FDR and Truman, by neglect and naivete and even outright communist sympathy, handed China’s people into communist enslavement under Mao.

Similar crimes against humanity occurred in Eastern Europe.
 
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As for “trickle down,” the real driver of our current undeniable “wealth disparity,” is called “The Cotillon Effect,” but it is best thought of as “closest to the faucet” economics.

Who/What is the faucet? The central banks and treasuries.

Who is “closest to the faucet?” The crony bankers, investment brokers, Wall Street, City of Londin financiers, and those closest to the faucets controlled by n Tational treasuries and national central banks all over the world.

That is, the politically connected, are closest to the faucet. They are the 1%. They get first drink and “borrow” at super low rates; then they re-lend at higher rates. Leveraging that money at a 10:1 “reserve ratio.” Turning $1 into $10.

This would be impossible without Keynesian economics. Keynesian economics says “pump money into the economy and all will be well.” Politicians love that idea! All governments do it. Keynes’ “money pumping is the paradigm of our age.

They used to print it. Nowadays it’s created by keystrokes. Some guy or gal at a central bank just types it into existence. Meanwhile, some guy or gal at the Treasury types up a bond and “sells” it to the central bank in exchange for the new keystroke money.

Wall Street/City if London financiers are “allowed” to do the same. This is where they too get keystroke money. Voila! The 1%.
 
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I come from a poor family but we survived and since leaving school I worked hard and lived on low wages but I always put money aside to buy my toys then got married had kids still working on low wages bring them up and still have my toys, we all been happy with our lives and I own everything own my house that I have lived in all my life except when I ran away a few time lol, we have good food on the table, I have my big workshop up the back just for my motorcycles and my last job working at a TEC College for 31 years I built up my Supa funds for retirement and 6 years ago the GOV at the time decided we were no longer needed so I took a redundancy and lucky I could get my Supa at 55 and now am living on a low self funded pension and only 6 more years to get my old age pension, I am still poor but I am living the dream, no dets, can ride my bikes when ever I want, can go away when I feel like it without the wife most of the time I just hop on my bike and go for weeks if I want to.
Yes I am still poor but I am rich in life, would being rich be any better, a little bit more money would have help through my life but I am a surviver, my kids are all grown up, been married for 30 years own everything so really life for me couldn't be any better, still have my toys and a understanding wife who lets me do what I want and lets me go when I want on the bikes she puts her trust in me (silly girl lol) no we are just enjoying life and you do what you have to, to be a surviver.

Ashley
 
My life pretty much same as Ashman , except we got 40 years in , my Wife worked full time as well ,we now live comfortably on our savings and our fixed value pensions

In the local paper last week a columnist claimed Canada’s 45 billionaires could buy entire Atlantic Provinces of Canada , that would be New Brunswick ,Nova Scotia,PEI, and Newfoundland ,Labrador based on total GDP of the area .... seems out of balance that 45 could have that much buying power .....
 
My life pretty much same as Ashman , except we got 40 years in , my Wife worked full time as well ,we now live comfortably on our savings and our fixed value pensions

In the local paper last week a columnist claimed Canada’s 45 billionaires could buy entire Atlantic Provinces of Canada , that would be New Brunswick ,Nova Scotia,PEI, and Newfoundland ,Labrador based on total GDP of the area .... seems out of balance that 45 could have that much buying power .....

Your lucky my wife never worked she was unemployed when I started to go out with her but her dad was my dad's best friend so we have know each other since we were kids but was 30 years old before I went out with her, just thought it was time to have kids lol, we had our hardships together but we pulled through the bad times as that is all part of life, I have never really worried about money, but it would of help to have more when things were bad but we got through it, but the house bills still keep rolling in and the rego's keep going up as all the bills, Goverments just makes things a bit harder, as our famous bush ranger said before they hunger him "life wasn't meant to be easy".

Ashley
 
Just as there are good people and evil people when you get a dozen or so stranded on a desert island, there are good RICH people, and evil RICH people, exactly as there are good POOR people, and evil POOR people.

It is the PERSON, not the money, that is good or evil.

Same with a gun. Good people with 5 guns each kill ZERO other people. Evil people with ONE gun each kill MANY people. The GUNS are not evil, the PEOPLE are evil.
 
I guess the poor man with one gun and 6 hungry kids and no job/money or prospects is more apt to use his gun for the wrong reasons though ....
 
Your hypothetical sure sounds nice.

I have never come across a boss who would gladly triple my salary for going
"above and beyond".

Future partner in a multi-million dollar company starting at 25k??? You kiddin me?

This is FAR cry for the reality of the average american.

As for the general sentiment of this thread I do agree, wealth doesn't make you a bad person. Like anything, some bad people find their way into wealth.

Still, trickle down ain't trickling down. It's a fact.
The huge tax cuts recently given to corporations haven't trickled down at all. Most of the money intended to spur factory building, r&d and increased wages has gone for stock buybacks and other schemes to pocket the dough rather than spend it on anything beneficial.
 
China will never become a democracy and as they become richer they plan to rule the world, they don't need to invade they will and have done so far by throwing money and build infurature to the poor nations that need help, they are already doing it in the South Pacific Islands and they were going to help our nearest neighbor Papua New Guinea, but Australia decided to throw more money to them to try and stop China getting a foot hold and this was only a day or so ago, they are also building islands in major sea routs for defence reasons, no country would even think about nuclear war with them as they have the biggest defence force in the world and have the arsenal to go with it.
They can out price any manufacturing country in the world with their cheap labour, Chinese people have populated all over the world and starting to get their foot in other countries Goverments, in Australia they are buying large farm lands to feed their own country, a Chinese company has a 99 year leese on Darwin harbour and the worst thing our Government are letting them all for money and this is only the beginning.

Ashley
Another insidious methodology they are using, putting forward Cultural Learning plans in our school systems to teach Mandarin and Chinese history to kids in Canadian public schools. Completely funded by government of China with salaries for Chinese nationals to-do the lessons. Money also given to the schools as incentive. I'm all for encouraging language education but when there is overlaying political propaganda mixed in and elimination of unfavourable topics, it gets a bit scary.
 
I am not wealthy because I have absolutely no interest in money except for when I want to spend it. I come from a poor family, but my father always had two or three jobs going at the same time. He was an inveterate gambler, but my mother used to grab money off him when he was silly enough to let her know he had it My mother was taken out of school when she was 15, but she was super-smart. We all got by. When I was 19, I got a job and went to night school and became qualified as a scientist in about 7 years. I was still studying part-time at age 57. The only time I ever got a decent salary was after I retired and went 'on contract'. But doing that, you never have a holiday or you lose your tenure.
When I divorced my ex, I handed half of my super to her because she was there when it was earned, then lost half of the remainder because of the GFC. These days I get by, but I have the joy of mentoring five lovely young step-grand-kids.

If I want to ride my race bike, I have to save-up. But if I really have the urge to race, I find the money. The only blight in my existence, is all my friends seem to be dying these days. Grief is horrible - very demotivating.
 
I am convinced that many smart people are absolute idiots. Over the years, I have had a lot to do with academics in tertiary institutions. We hear all this stuff about climate change from universities, but what is never recognised is that universities can provide an answer to the population explosion. Education is the only factor which has ever substantially slowed the rate of population growth. Yet university academics seem to be paranoid that people might get a freebie. In Australia, our day-time TV is appalling. With our National Broadband Network we have an opportunity to create online interactive classrooms. When people become educated, they usually become wealthier and have fewer kids.
 
In Australia our Universities are over run by Chinese students they pay big money to get degrees here and the student councils are being run by Chinese students and are under control of the Chinese GOV. and of course the Universities just love the money rolling in, so they already have their foot in our major learning hubs, my wife and myself had to go to the University of QLD about 2 weeks ago and it was hard to see a Aussie student from all the Chinese students.
It seems making money over rides training our own.

Ashley
 
I guess the poor man with one gun and 6 hungry kids and no job/money or prospects is more apt to use his gun for the wrong reasons though ....
I really haven't seen that. Most mass shootings are perpetrated by dim bulbs with emotional revenge agendas. Mostly with legally-purchased firearms.
 
In Australia our Universities are over run by Chinese students they pay big money to get degrees here and the student councils are being run by Chinese students and are under control of the Chinese GOV. and of course the Universities just love the money rolling in, so they already have their foot in our major learning hubs, my wife and myself had to go to the University of QLD about 2 weeks ago and it was hard to see a Aussie student from all the Chinese students.
It seems making money over rides training our own.

Ashley
Someone said "If an alien fell from space, he'd think our universities were the biggest hedge funds going."
 
I am convinced that many smart people are absolute idiots.

The mind is a vessel that fills up with something and excludes all else. Working construction jobs in universities, I have seen highly intelligent people do profoundly stupid things. An employee at one of the schools told me "The more and higher degrees someone has, the less common sense."
 
I really haven't seen that. Most mass shootings are perpetrated by dim bulbs with emotional revenge agendas. Mostly with legally-purchased firearms.

I didn’t mention the “postal” shootings ....was talking ‘bout the little poor guy with nowhere to turn , lots of ‘em in North America and beyond .. more folks die by gunshot during robberies/personal beefs than “postal” shootings .......
 
Working construction jobs in universities...
Well, we have that in common!

Those were the best-paying years for me. Company truck with unlimited personal miles, full medical coverage for the family, and highest salary with company retirement money that gave me a nice bonus when I exited. I could have done that till I retired.

The angle that speaks to is, when government is paying for education, they SPARE NO EXPENSE, damn the results!

You really don't want to get me started on the Laredo public school construction scene - it has been ONE wealthy construction company building several absurdly overpriced schools every year for 40 years. Dude is a Billionaire, the elementary schools are as nice as university buildings, and the school scores and grades are near the bottom of the entire country...
 
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