We got a communication yesterday, unsolicited, from an alleged adult who says he’s “sick of rich old white men” running for president. We must note that he himself is a rich old white man.
Is it possible there are registered voters out there who really, truly think that skin color, sex, and age are important things to be considered, in choosing a president? I mean, does this guy even understand what a president is, and does? That “president” is a job–and that to do it well benefits the whole world, but to do it poorly can bring to large numbers of people hardship, frustration, loss, and even wounds and death.
As for being “rich,” let’s see… hmm… when was the last time an indigent was elected to high public office in America? [Riffles through history] Ooh-ooh–never! No poor homeless person has ever been elected to anything!
What we are hearing from, here, is a silly old ass who seems to think being “a woman of color” or something, or at least young and poverty-stricken, would by some weird alchemy make you a good president. It is a shame that he can vote. It can’t be a good thing to let utter chowderheads vote.
Heaven help us, if they ever again get to choose a president.
Yes, it is astounding to see how many people have “drunk the koolaid”.
Have they never read any history of this country at all? I know men of all colors make many mistakes, but so do women of every color. It has been the position of men to do the work of setting up governments (and in Colonial days, women were right at their sides), it was mostly all white men who fought the revolutionary and civil wars and established our freedom and wrote our well-working Constitution and all that. Yes, they had the help of women, too, but men are to be admired and honored for all they have done for this country.
Joe Collidge would call that hat speach.
Well, phhhttt to old Joe. I don’t care what he and his crowd think.
This was a real person, but I’m not giving his name.
Hating the rich is a stupid folly. Many wealthy people became wealthy because of hard work and skill. That sounds like a good thing in a leader.
As far as riches are concerned, when it comes to income, I am the 18,652,583rd wealthiest person on earth and in the top 0.31%. When it comes to accumulated wealth, I am the 273,213,241st wealthiest person on earth and in the top 6.07%. Which is to say that I have not accumulated all that much in the way of durable wealth. IOW, while I have a decent job, there’s not all that much left over for savings or investment, and my home has proven a marginal investment, at best. I am far from alone in this.
I had a friend that was a doctor and my gross income wouldn’t even cover his income tax deductions, yet, that’s not rich. He still had to work every day, including a brutal commute across Denver and he still had a mortgage on his home and an installment loan on his car. In fact, he told me that when he bought a modest musical instrument for his son, he had to make payments on that. I plugged in the average income for his specialty and he is the 3,740,663rd wealthiest person on earth according to income. Now this fellow takes home about 2.8x what I do, and he’s not hurting, but if you have to make payments for a student musical instrument, you are not rich.
My point is this, defining “rich” is not so easy to do. If a person is living on a certain amount of money, they might think that doubling their income would make them rich, but that’s not the case. As income increases, so do expenses. Having a running car that works every day is costly. Working during business hours means paying others to do things you are capable of doing, but don’t have the time to do (yard work, laundry, repairs, etc).
But, according to the numbers, I am a rich, old, white man, and yes, if you account for the poverty of the entire world, I’m pretty rich. However, if I compare myself to the average American, I have a middle manager’s income, modest equity and some savings, but I am in no way rich. I joke about Mercedes of Tucson, but I’m much more likely to be a Kia customer than a Mercedes customer, and I would think long and hard before I took on payments, for even the most modest of automobiles.
So, would I do a good job in office? I guess it depends upon who you asked. I think I would have compassion and understanding for working people. I came from a very modest background, so I know firsthand the struggle of bettering oneself. I would certainly have compassion for the poor, but I don’t believe that handouts are the answer to poverty. I would probably be accused of “favoring the rich”, because I don’t believe in heavy taxes, just because someone has found success.
Complaining about “rich, old white men” is just demagoguery. Criticizing success is folly. When I was a young adult, I started listening to “rich, old white men” and took note. The prosperous taught me how to manage money and that spending to the limits of my income and/or living in unnecessary debt were not smart. I learned to save and to plan for the future. I wish I had paid attention even earlier in life. If a person can’t manage their own finances, they are unlikely to do well in a position of political power.
Yeah, we’d love to have a president who never held a good job, etc. Uh, wait–we did have one of those…
Yep. And he sure didn’t impress me.