Where is the guy who started this thread ? He bailed.
He bailed because he have only enough smarts to use a computer, find some tidbits of news that put US in a negative light, and let people, especially those with the wrong definition of wealth, make their own interpretations of US.
No idea, but for the record...
Being wealthy on it's own is nothing to be a ashamed of, or sorry for. You folks should be proud for having some of the most successful people on earth who were born, raised, and made in the US.
Ultimately, what other people thinks of US are largely irrelevant. But for the sake of discussion, 9 out of 10 people on this forum have either the wrong definition of wealth or an incomplete definition of the same, including different sub categories of wealth, and how wealth is generated.
Your Pakistan have a literacy rate of below %70, is that correct? Most people in the world live literally a hand-to-mouth existence. If they see millionaires in their own countries, they will believe that the American counterparts must be several times more so. What most people know of wealth, or what they believe they know of wealth, came from dubious sources like the entertainment industry or intellectually dishonest Marxists, and of there are plenty of the latter. Most people believes that a millionaire got his wealth either thru immoral or even outright illegal means, and if it is an American millionaire, the guy must be an outright crook without the benefit of a trial.
So far in this thread, I have yet to see a reasonably correct interpretation of wealth. This thread is NOT about even a pretense of trying to discuss what is wealth at a practical level, let alone in the abstract, but about insinuating the worst of humanity to Americans.
Part underlined, it's probably just slightly above the 70% mark, but it's pathetic even so and female literacy is criminally low.
I agree with everything you said there. I have literally nothing to say about it. Most people do believe as you've said and they're wrong. And I agree, none of us have defined wealth correctly. But I don't think anyone has tried to, twice I've talked about wealth and I've made it clear, I'm not attempting to define it in an absolute way, I'm looking for certain aspects and scenarios, then drawing some very basic conclusions, nothing complex so as not to be drawing incorrect assumptions due to the simplicity of the interpretation.
If you think you have something more to add on out understanding of wealth and related subjects, please let us know, every person it seems has their own take and I'd love to hear it. But even if you do so, there will be things that you miss out and your definition will be incomplete, and possibly wrong in some places and possibly only partially correct/relating to only some instances that validate the definition.
I did not dispute the fact that jealousy is inherent in human nature. But I do have a problem with anyone just simply saying so, like academics so often love to do. Maybe it is the engineering side of my character that is often annoyed at people who just simply state the obvious, knowing that what is obvious contribute to a problem, and offer no solution or even a band-aid fix.
When it comes to wealth, and the only way to know if someone is 'wealthy' or not is through his/her physical expressions of their (allegedly abundant) assets, jealousy is the worst motivator for anyone to exercise his/her economic freedom to gain/increase his/her own wealth. Jealousy is destructive to character, impedes spiritual and moral maturation, and because the spirit did not grow, jealousy often leads to illegality.
That's fair enough. I've gone from arguing with you to liking this post. You're right. I too believe that jealousy has some undesirable aspects despite having some desirable effects if channelled effectively and balanced. But fine, there's nothing wrong at all with what you've said.
And I'm trying my best not to be over technical and nit picking here.
This is what this thread is about: To incite petty jealousy. Am I being cynical of the people on this forum ? You betcha.
I personally didn't even see this aspect until you pointed it out. I just read the thread, took the facts for what they were and then talked about inequality, and it's not me being jealous of the wealthy. I even mentioned me, I live comfortably, there is a very real gap between me and others around me, and for those who have not wealth, but struggle to sustain their lives, I didn't get the jealousy aspect until you mentioned it here, I can see how that is a factor in the response by some members.
