tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post208596647165051423..comments2024-03-21T03:55:51.565-07:00Comments on Omniorthogonal: Perverse attraction to wingnut douchebagsmtravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-29517481640079150022012-07-25T12:45:14.654-07:002012-07-25T12:45:14.654-07:00People tend to generalize from their own experienc...People tend to generalize from their own experience in life - even though that experience may not have been typical. I suspect that when Obama said in his Roanoke speech "...you didn't build that - someone else made that happen," this is what he was doing.<br /><br />Obama's net worth has been estimated at $11.8 million. See: http://www.therichest.org/celebnetworth/politician/president/barack-obama-net-worth/<br /><br />An $11.8 million net worth is hardly a Romney-sized fortune. However, it is quite a respectable sum. Most people who have attained comparable wealth are successful small business owners at the peaks of their careers. Thomas Stanley's book "The Millionaire Next Door" describes the typical course followed by such people. As Stanley observes, "It is seldom inheritance or advanced degrees or even intelligence that builds fortunes in this country. Wealth in America is more often the result of hard work, diligent savings, and living below your means."<br /><br />How did Obama accumulate his $11.8 million? A good question, considering that he had just one position in business in his life. He didn't work very long at it, and it was not highly remunerative. Clearly he didn't make $11.8 million because of his business acumen. In his case, it's correct to say that "someone else made that happen." <br /><br />Obama had patrons, backers, and handlers from a very early point in his career. The following describes just one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Rezko#Ties_to_Barack_Obama<br /><br />The great majority of small businessmen have not benefited by connections of this sort. Yes, they do benefit from roads and bridges - for which they pay taxes just as other people do. However, such benefits of government are counterbalanced by the hindrances and obstacles it sets in the path of the entrepreneur. The life of the small businessman is largely spent swimming against the current of hostile regulatory and tax measures put in place by politicians like Mr. Obama.fsascottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-15625748623192273202012-07-23T13:15:40.196-07:002012-07-23T13:15:40.196-07:00You write: "we aren't all equal and every...You write: "we aren't all equal and everyone knows it, but it is not polite to say so."<br /><br />Why is it not polite to say so? Why should it not be polite to acknowledge the obvious? <br /><br />In the past, conventional politeness demanded a delicacy of expression about certain subjects because blunt or plain words describing them were thought coarse or vulgar. Yet pointing out the obviousness of human inequality never was considered vulgar in the past. Fifty or one hundred years ago every well-bred person would have taken it for granted. We should be no more ashamed of doing so than were our ancestors.scwnoreply@blogger.com