Why the Rich Need the Poor

Reader Comments
Back to blog

It's more than the poor doing jobs for the rich in their homes, i.e. wiping their butts (Home healthcare for the elderly?), it's about the poor working for pennies (minimum wage) at McD's, etc. and increasing the bottom line for the mega-corps in which the rich have stock, which is exactly why those mega-corps that could, Dell, etc. outsourced overseas. Believe it, if McDonald's could outsource to India, (haha, deliver Big Macs from India cheaper than paying minimum wage here!!) they would!!
The true poor of America are overseas in developing nations, and we need them terribly to keep our consumer costs low, like paying $1 for a little plastic piece of crap. We've sold out our own economy for that plastic piece of crap.
The mega-corps are running the economic engine here and abroad and we are becoming a one-world society very quickly, in the blink of an eye.

Me of MD 12:29PM April 06, 2011

WHY THE RICH NEED THE POOR. Let's see. The rich need someone to take out their trash, mow their lawns, do their laundry, cooking, housecleaning and in general .... wipe their asses. The poor wish to be rich and the rich have no clue what it means to be poor. Aside from hitting the lottery, the poor have very slim prospects of ever crossing that economic barrier.

Ivan Acosta of NJ 10:36PM March 17, 2011

Rick, can you give us a better breakdown of those figures you cited on spending by income? The national argument is about the $250,000 per year household cutoff, and how much those alleged "job creators" contribute to economic activity. So I'd like to see a breakdown of how much those who make $249,999 and less contribute to the overall economy in spending vs. those who make $250,000 or more. It would certainly be a more dramatic difference, and perhaps more solidly put to rest the notion that it's the wealthy that power the economy.

KH of CA 2:43AM December 10, 2010

Amen to Susan of WI. Nothing lavish about trying to live on an unemployment check. You're not living high on the hog. You pinch pennies and hope there will be enough to go around to pay utilities, food. And I am not voluntarily carrying any debt in the form o car payments, credit card payments. I drive a Geo Metro which keeps my fuel bill low. The rich should try living with the heat turned down low or off in the winter in their homes to conserve money - not just to be green.

Lucia Knudson of ID 1:20PM November 21, 2010

you can make 3/4 your jobs income without working? sign me up!

joey of OH 8:12PM November 20, 2010

I was just reminded by one of those lavishly paid unemployed ...
The last set of unemployment extensions that Obama was able to get Congress to pass only apply to those whose benefits have not totally run out. If a person's benefits had already run out when the extension was passed, too bad, tough luck and good luck.

susan of WI 5:31PM November 04, 2010

The rich are feeling economic and financial stress? My heart bleeds for them. You mean they had one less weekend on the yacht this summer than before because of the high price of fuel and the downward value of their dollars? How horrible.
But mostly I got laughing so hard when I read the last paragraph. Yes, those "lavish unemployment" benefits that would make workers think that unemployment is better than employment!
Yes, because of those high and lavish unemployment benefits those lazy unemployed were able to rent out the rich guy's yacht for the weekend he didn't use it and take a cruise around the puddle in his poor man's backyard.
Yes, those lavish unemployment benefits added caviar to the family's dinner table that they just couldn't afford when daddy was bringing home a real paycheck.
Don't forget the Dom Perignon mom used to make her champagne jelly this year instead of the strawberry jam she used to make when dad worked and she had to rely on the fruit in her own garden instead of the luxury goods this amazingly lavish unemployment check let her buy instead.
Oh, and the lavish unemployment checks were more than able to pay for CORBA at 102% of the cost of medical insurance formerly paid for with contributions by the employee and his employer, plus meet the mortgage or rent, utilities, food and clothing needs of the family AND still provide a skiing vacation in Valle or Switzerland, a cruise to Club Med and a weekend at a Vegas casino that included two of the most popular club acts.
And if you believe that claptrap, you need a frontal lobotomy, or even a brain transplant -- I've heard that a few decades ago there was some success with monkey to human brain transplants being temporarily successful.
If you are lucky, your unemployment check will maximize out at 2/3-3/4 of your former earnings. If you are unlucky, 2/3-3/4 of your former earnings is higher than the maximum weekly unemployment check allowed.
Lavish?
Unemployment more desirable than employment?
Maybe Rick Newman should try it.

susan of WI 5:15PM November 04, 2010

Questions:
- How many politicians do you know personally?
- How many of them actually do REAL work for the society? How many work for lobbyists?
It is not your concern to know who you personally know/want to put in the "system", you need fresh blood that DON'T HAVE DEEP ROOTS in the "system". It's in their resume, not in your heart.
Bottom line is: Public servants doing the works for the public, not for himself/herself.

Tony Vu of OK 1:20PM October 27, 2010

Stephen: I appreciate your feelings, but banning all political money, in anything larger than a very small town, would inevitably mean that your "vote" would be for someone you didn't know personally, or in any other way either; in other words, a total gamble. And if everyone did that, no coherent program or set of agreed-on beliefs could possibly emerge.

shawn disney of VT 3:48PM October 23, 2010

Stephen: I appreciate your feelings, but banning all political money, in anything larger than a very small town, would inevitably mean that your "vote" would be for someone you didn't know personally, or in any other way either; in other words, a total gamble. And if everyone did that, no coherent program or set of agreed-on beliefs could possibly emerge.

shawn disney of VT 3:46PM October 23, 2010