rich and poor

[The Tree]

does anyone else think there is too great a division between rich and poor.i find it a bad state of affairs that some people have more money than they will ever need and other people are out on the streets barely able to afford to keep themselves fed.i think a great deal of the problem is greedy companys/businessmen trying to squeeze every bit of profit.in which way they make more money and the poorer person who buys this product is struggling to keep up financially.i really think some people are way too greedy and just think of themselves.there must be some in between we could agree on to keep everyone happy

[Lonnie]

It all depends how the rich got their money.

If they've worked for it, its rightfully theirs.

If they've inherited it, its rightfully theirs.

I think that if it belongs to them, we don't have any right to tell them how to use it, make suggestions maybe, but thats all.

But you are right, some people are too greedy, but that is a trait that people from all walks of life have, there is good and bad in all.

its the rich, (Private firms), that employ so many, and gives us our livlihood, but they do need to be kept in check, which is where properly run unions come in handy.

[Ouisch]

But doesn't everyone have the same opportunity to work and study hard and eventually better themselves? A lot of the world's most successful people have worked their way up from being dirt poor.

[The Tree]

i understand what you mean.but the way i see it is if companys charged less for their products they would still make a profit but people who have less money could still afford stuff.it would be the first step to balancing things out.i know they have to make a profit to pay workers etc but the guy on top puts crazy prices on things.and thats not to pay his workers and get supplys.its for himself.and even though he raises the prices and brings in more money its seldom he will raise the workers wages.pure greed.so basically he has his employees working for damn all money,happily takes money off people who can just about afford it just so he can have everything he wants.i dont think earning your money that way is fair.thats what causes the divisions

[dannydingbat]

Its far more complicated than that Tree. Man makes goods, sells them to wholesaler who gets his bit when he sells it on the retailer who puts it in his shop at a price. Rich man can afford to pay price better than poor man. Poor people nick goods from shop because they can't or won't pay the price. Retailer has to put up price to make up the loss. Who's penalising who?

[noxlumos]

There is a huge division between the rich and the poor and that is a gulf you will never totally close, it being an impossible thing to do in a democratic society.

Because one man decides to work all the hours God sends and make a decent business for himself and ends up with a great deal of money does not give another person the right to tell him how he should spend it.

I do agree that everyone should have enough, that should be a basic human right and more needs to be done to address the problems encountered by those who find they have too little to really make ends meet without significant stress.However you would not find many businessmen prepared to work for a minimal wage for the huge amount of hassle involved and don't forget also that businesses don't just spring fully formed from someone's good idea, they take years of hard graft sometimes before they bear any fruit.I nearly went bankrupt on at least a dozen occasions trying to build what I have and now I feel I have the right to enjoy what I created from less than nothing. That being said I try very hard not to exploit anyone unduly and I don't know of many people who sit in their offices counting their piles of gold whilst their Bob Crachett like workers toil away beneath them.

[MrPahoehoe]

An admirable idea, but very hard to put into practise (see: communism). I think the problem with your statement is that you are attributing human emotions to profit driven companies. If businessman x decides to work towards your idea and his company were to find out that he were sacrificing their profits for the benefit of the consumer, its highly likely that he would find himself unemployed.

Some people are greedy, but you can�t really blame businessman x for shafting the consumer in order to keep his job. I don�t think that this situation can be attributed to the individual.

Whilst large organisations maybe much more culpable, they cannot be apportioned all the blame. If a company reduced its profits to provide a service that would benefit poorer people, then another company would merely take on from this mantle, providing a cheaper service minus the ethical conscience. For example: Fair Trade chocolate would seem to have the same aims that you expressed, but this requires a higher production cost that will in turn raise the price of the end product. The collaboration of the consumer is required to make this an effective alternative.

Unfortunately it seems that morals cost money and as we are a money driven society this will always benefit the unscrupulous. I can see two ways around this: tighter state regulations, enforcing various changes to �big business�, at which point we cease to be a democracy and become a fundamentalist state, or increased education of the populous that would hopefully lead to an improved moral conscience.

[dannydingbat]

Tabathazig - I agree entirely. The point I was trying to make was that its not just rich businessmen who determine the price at which goods are sold, its a lot more complicated. People who can't or won't pay the prices asked but want the goods anyway play a part, by their thieving in how much is charged. I was not seeking to defend them or their actions as anything but making the situation worse.

[Goodsoulette]

I cant be bothered to think about this too hard but why should people struggle so hard when Shell made 13 billion profit last year!!

[nfn]

<PRE>their 50% tax will hopefully help the needy but I fear it will help aid our troups going into Afghanistan</PRE>

[nfn]

by aid I mean pay for, I don't think any of our guys, girls or their families will benefit financially! Just wanted to make that clear!