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>Rich people are assholes in my experience. They may have better manners and stuff, but their intentions are evil I'd keep that attitude in check, if you are i

>Rich people are assholes in my experience. They may have better manners and stuff, but their intentions are evil I'd keep that attitude in check, if you are in a western nation you are likely in the top 1% - 2% in terms of income globally. Things would end pretty badly for you if 98% of the planet decided people like you are evil.

pc86 9y ago
I upvoted you because it's a good point, but if you're discussing interpersonal behavior, does it really matter if someone living in poverty in the American deep south is in the top 2% globally for PPP? Studies like this are not looking at the world as a whole, they're looking at interpersonal relationships, by definition very local or regional.
- KekDemaga 9y ago
  The super wealthy proclaiming without citing evidence that the mega wealthy are evil or cheated somehow is a pet peeve of mine, it just seems petty when you put it into a global context.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    But maybe the effect actually works in a local context. People probably measure wealth relatively to their peers, not on a global scale.
  - KGIII 9y ago
    Yeah, people were mad at some of my comments during the OWS phase. They were making comments about stuff like hanging and shooting the 1%. I'd point out that, if they were online, in Slashdot or Fark, in a home with regular power, and had clean water, they were quite probably in the world's 1%. My point wasn't that there was no reason to complain, indeed there are many reasons to complain. My point was that making generalizations and threats based on an arbitrary number wasn't very productive or honest.
  - pc86 9y ago
    My point was specifically that a global context doesn't make sense here.
trapperkeeper74 9y ago
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Excusing greedy behavior won’t make it right, ever.
- KekDemaga 9y ago
  Lets say you work hard and with some savings you go ahead and buy an iPhone, that iPhone is produced by workers in the third world who make much less than you and costs much more than they will make in a month. Now lets say we add a few zeros to your income to move you from the top 1% globally to the top .1%. Jobs that pay this kind of money are difficult, so you work really hard as well. Instead of an iPhone made in the third world you buy a yacht or sports car made in the first. The first world workers make much less than you do, but have a pretty good standard of living globally speaking (but not compared to you). What is fundamentally different about those two cases? Can it really be said with a straight face that one is greedier than the other? In fact, it seems the "wealthy" person actually created better outcomes for the people creating his luxury product as compared to the first example. This is a glass house sort of situation when you really consider it.
maxxxxx 9y ago
Sometimes I think we Western people are basically evil, or to be more precise, willfully ignorant. We live in our sheltered world eating organic food thinking about how good we are for drinking "fair coffee". At the same time a lot of our companies are polluting the third world and exploiting poor workers there. We finance civil wars often for economic benefit and destabilize countries. So I wouldn't be surprised if one day the global poor would say "enough is enough".
- QAPereo 9y ago
  Just remember that the difference is in circumstances, not humanity: it’s not westerners who suck, its a majority of people. Whoever is on top at the time just had the opportunity to hurt the most below.
- webkike 9y ago
  Who's we? Not everyone in the western world is ignorant of their actions externalities
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Right on! I'm merely apathetic.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    But you have to ignore them. When I look at my lifestyle and its resource consumption it simply is not possible to bring the whole world population to that level. I am aware of that but I still drive my car, fly on vacations and consume a lot of other stuff. I also buy shirts at Walmart although I know that they were probably produced by 12 year old in a sweatshop in Bangladesh.
    - jjawssd 9y ago
      The 12 year old in a sweatshop in Bangladesh might be supporting a family and may otherwise have to resort to a lower income, starvation, or death without the opportunity Walmart offers.

pc86 9y ago

I upvoted you because it's a good point, but if you're discussing interpersonal behavior, does it really matter if someone living in poverty in the American deep south is in the top 2% globally for PPP? Studies like this are not looking at the world as a whole, they're looking at interpersonal relationships, by definition very local or regional.

KekDemaga 9y ago
The super wealthy proclaiming without citing evidence that the mega wealthy are evil or cheated somehow is a pet peeve of mine, it just seems petty when you put it into a global context.
- icebraining 9y ago
  But maybe the effect actually works in a local context. People probably measure wealth relatively to their peers, not on a global scale.
- KGIII 9y ago
  Yeah, people were mad at some of my comments during the OWS phase. They were making comments about stuff like hanging and shooting the 1%. I'd point out that, if they were online, in Slashdot or Fark, in a home with regular power, and had clean water, they were quite probably in the world's 1%. My point wasn't that there was no reason to complain, indeed there are many reasons to complain. My point was that making generalizations and threats based on an arbitrary number wasn't very productive or honest.
- pc86 9y ago
  My point was specifically that a global context doesn't make sense here.

trapperkeeper74 9y ago

Two wrongs don’t make a right. Excusing greedy behavior won’t make it right, ever.

KekDemaga 9y ago
Lets say you work hard and with some savings you go ahead and buy an iPhone, that iPhone is produced by workers in the third world who make much less than you and costs much more than they will make in a month. Now lets say we add a few zeros to your income to move you from the top 1% globally to the top .1%. Jobs that pay this kind of money are difficult, so you work really hard as well. Instead of an iPhone made in the third world you buy a yacht or sports car made in the first. The first world workers make much less than you do, but have a pretty good standard of living globally speaking (but not compared to you). What is fundamentally different about those two cases? Can it really be said with a straight face that one is greedier than the other? In fact, it seems the "wealthy" person actually created better outcomes for the people creating his luxury product as compared to the first example. This is a glass house sort of situation when you really consider it.

maxxxxx 9y ago

Sometimes I think we Western people are basically evil, or to be more precise, willfully ignorant. We live in our sheltered world eating organic food thinking about how good we are for drinking "fair coffee". At the same time a lot of our companies are polluting the third world and exploiting poor workers there. We finance civil wars often for economic benefit and destabilize countries. So I wouldn't be surprised if one day the global poor would say "enough is enough".

QAPereo 9y ago
Just remember that the difference is in circumstances, not humanity: it’s not westerners who suck, its a majority of people. Whoever is on top at the time just had the opportunity to hurt the most below.
webkike 9y ago
Who's we? Not everyone in the western world is ignorant of their actions externalities
- icebraining 9y ago
  Right on! I'm merely apathetic.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  But you have to ignore them. When I look at my lifestyle and its resource consumption it simply is not possible to bring the whole world population to that level. I am aware of that but I still drive my car, fly on vacations and consume a lot of other stuff. I also buy shirts at Walmart although I know that they were probably produced by 12 year old in a sweatshop in Bangladesh.
  - jjawssd 9y ago
    The 12 year old in a sweatshop in Bangladesh might be supporting a family and may otherwise have to resort to a lower income, starvation, or death without the opportunity Walmart offers.