#16
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More power to Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Larry Page (Google), Sergey Brin (Google), Warren Buffett, Nick Woodman (founder of GoPro) and others like them. Their success demonstrates what can be achieved by hard work, good ideas & being at the right place and time.
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#17
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But of course, all the success and riches comes at a price. The worry of keeping food on the table and the electric bill paid is gone, and replaced by a whole new, and far more complicated set of worries. Maybe wealth is a bed of roses....but roses have thorns, don't they? I'm reminded of a line in the Eagles song, Sad Cafe......." Now I look at the years gone by, and wonder at the powers that be.......I don't know why fortune smiles on some....and lets the rest go free." |
#18
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Same here. He's gotten ridiculously wealthy by providing a ridiculous (IMO) product to people who are ridiculously addicted to it. Like HHP said, "More power to him."
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"To walk in the wonder, to live in the song" "The moment between the silence and the song" |
#19
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“I've been rich and I've been poor, and rich is better.” Mae West
My thoughts are that if someone is successful in this world, good for them. I try not to spend any time being envious. I am extremely grateful for the good life and living that I have been able to make. One thing I have learned: as Mae West commented so many years ago, having money is better than not having money. You can solve an awful lot of problems with money. It's not all there is or even how a person should center their life, but in my experience, having resources to help solve problems is extremely helpful. Car driving you crazy? You can get it fixed if you can pay for it. - Glenn
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#20
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The uncertainty was there but more for employers trying to find workers, now it is different. The social laws, minimum wages, leading to zero hours contracts, and all the other in and out of work benefits have probably changed our society more than we think. There is one fundamental difference ..... personal debt. The introduction of further education with enormous debts has made a generation happy to have debt rather than my generation being ashamed of it.
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#21
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The USA , whilst obviously contributing considerably to the latter years of WW2 and suffering considerable losses of men and materiel, did not have the blitz and so the manufacturing facilities/infrastructures were undamaged. Factories which had converted to the war effort were in a far stronger position to re-position into consumer products than those in the UK, and former occupied countries. Possibly because of what was done to Germany after WW1, Germany may well have been rebuilt somewhat better than those who "won the war!" - that was certainly the cry here.
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#22
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I've watched about 10 documentaries on that and it's more informative than that movie. Watch the Frontlines on them... they're great.
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#23
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Mark lives locally and by all accounts is a generous and well-liked person. His wife is a doctor and continues to fight dreadful commute traffic daily from Palo Alto to San Francisco and back to help others. And, Mark's been VERY generous with donations to worthy charities. He's a Good Guy.
Basically, there's only one person in the world who isn't jealous of someone's greater wealth, and that's Bill Gates. As the world's richest man it's hard to believe he only ranks 32nd in terms of the all-time wealthiest American when you adjust for inflation (John D. Rockefeller was BY FAR the wealthiest American ever). Last edited by 6L6; 08-27-2016 at 10:03 AM. |
#24
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#25
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"The rich are VERY different." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
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#26
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That's true. My Dad was an old school bank manager. Personal debt for a house or possibly a car he considered reasonable, but most other stuff he did not, and he actively helped customers avoid borrowing money and getting into debt. Contrast that with the predatory sharks who lie in wait for us at my bank here in the US. They get kickbacks from losers getting into debt, so they'll hang all sorts of temptations before the unwary to get them to buy things they can't afford. You almost wonder how some of these guys, from the top of the banking chain to the bottom, actually sleep at night. Presumably they consider themselves good people - maybe they manage to live easy with their devious and manipulative behavior by retreating into a form of idiocy - actually believing everybody wins and not just themselves. I remember when my Dad was in his 40s and 50s, the top management began putting pressure on branch managers to reach credit targets. Dad held out on principle for some time before applying for and getting early retirement at the age of 56. The banking world had changed and not for the better.
Last edited by ewalling; 08-27-2016 at 12:35 PM. |
#27
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And yet when they appear on the Tonight Show and its ilk, isn't it remarkable how one of the primary goals seems to be to present themselves as humble, flawed, and 'just like us'? I think this is particularly true of people who make vast sums in entertainment. Their continued prosperity depends largely on us continuing to love them, and they really know how to push that button. The number of times they'll tell a tale about being an 'ordinary Mom or Dad' or an ordinary confused person screwing something up or affirming their commitment to some down-homey traditional value is quite interesting. They seem to have an unerring wisdom about how we the public need to have our ordinary lifestyles celebrated if we are to carry on signing the cheques and ensuring that their lifestyles will be thoroughly extraordinary.
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#28
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"There has never been but one question in all civilization-how to keep a few men from saying to many men: You work and earn bread and we will eat it."
Abraham Lincoln |
#29
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While it is true that China has surpassed the US in manufacturing, we are still the worlds second largest in the manufacturing of products (THINGS ) The US produces more products today than at any time in history. The GDP is the highest it has ever been in history. While there has been the insistence by some, about the perception of decline in the view of higher education, it is voiced by a vocal minority, inflamed by extreme partisan viewpoints and fermented by specific national media. Yet according to a 2012 PEW study 60% of adult Americans view higher education as having a positive effect on how things are going in the country. While there is no question that income inequality has skyrocketed in the last 20 years, and is a concern. There is also no question that overall with few exceptions the American laborer is better off now than at in any time in history. And since it's inception America has always had both dedicated leaders, public servants and physicians, and those looking out only for themselves, that is as old as humankind. I know I received stellar care in the health issues I have dealt with in the last 4 years Sorry, I think the propagation of all this fear mongering doom & gloom and or just plain over subjective nostalga "it was so much better back when " Is a load of ill informed nonsense
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Ventura 12.2.1 Last edited by KevWind; 08-31-2016 at 08:09 AM. |
#30
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When I graduated high school I had the choice of over 50 jobs. When I graduated college, same metric. I am concerned for my children's future to find meaningful and lucrative work in a fast-food society that seems to encourage many not to work. When I try to refer patients to specialist doctors, they are refusing new patients. When we refer to other specialists, attorneys, they typically don't answer the phone or don't return the call. Why the national malaise? You must be taking better drugs than I am, Pollyanna, and maybe America will find a conscience, hopefully while I'm still on the planet. Last edited by Glennwillow; 08-28-2016 at 12:10 AM. Reason: removed politics |