Re: [Phys-l] SOLAR , NUCLEAR ENERGY etc.

[Marty Weiss <martweiss@comcast.net>]

This whole discussion has been way off the track for a physics forum.   
However, in keeping with the same thread...

	To all who have the impression that making a lot of money requires  
some major contribution to society and somehow *grows the wealth*...   
where does this idea come from?   How many of these people in the news  
today actually CREATED something useful?   Maybe Frank Perdue and Ray  
Kroc and a few more (there were many more in history... Henry Ford and  
Carnegie come to mind...look up Asa Packer, for example and the family  
who invented Campbell's Soup)  but far fewer today, and a far greater  
proportion of the very very wealthy contribute NOTHING to society  
except for doing one or more of the following *Ponzi* schemes ala  
Madoff:  a) inheriting their wealth and passing it on;  b) inventing  
hedge funds and other esoteric ways to multiply their wealth at the  
expense of others;  or c) sit on boards and figure out ways to lose  
money for their companies while scheming to take over other companies  
and move the jobs overseas so cheaper labor can be utilized.    I know  
several wealthy people in my neighborhood who made their money by  
shuffling around various warehouses and selling vacant buildings  
during the boom all the while voting down school budgets because the  
schools were spending the money on such superfluous items as teacher  
salary increases, roof repairs, and school buses.
	No, my dear naive physics friends,  many of the wealthy in today's  
society don't actually do anything to earn their wealth.  They  
actually LOSE money... Donald Trump is a perfect example... his  
casinos are bankrupt and his wealth is actually shrinking at the  
expense of the workers in his so-called empire who take the cuts and  
layoffs at his whim.  Bankers are another example  (almost all of  
them);  all they do is invent ways to invest their own money while  
passing along usurious interest rates so the people who do the  
consumption (which according to most economists, contribute the most  
to the economy)  can never get out of debt.  No, my friends, money is  
simply moved around from one wealthy person to another while the  
working people who really contribute their blood, sweat, and tears to  
the wealth of this country get circuses and entertainment to calm them  
down so they can no longer think about the wool that is being pulled  
over their eyes.
	And, if that's socialist thinking, well, so be it.

Marty

On Apr 12, 2009, at 7:13 PM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:

> Wealth does not require redistribution in a free society that has a  
> constitution that respects it's citizens and their property rights.  
> Wealth goes to those who most deserve it - and indirectly, even to  
> those who don't. The wealthy grow the wealth of the entire country  
> while they are gathering their own. The non-productive elements of a  
> free society get to partake partake in that increased bounty. The  
> rich (in a free economy) deserve their wealth - the poor deserve  
> their smaller portion.
>
> None of us would sanction taking points from the high achievers in  
> our classes and redistribute them to the non-performers. Yet somehow  
> that's OK when wealth is involved.
But, often, we do pair off the slower kids and the quicker ones and  
make sure everyone is learning.  A good teacher can do that efficiently.
> If one really wants to clean up the environment, vigorously support  
> economic and social freedom for everyone - especially those in  
> countries ruled by despots and other central planner types.
And, support better stewardship of our own resources so the SUV and  
Hummer crowd
> Bob at PC
>
> _