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



And... how many sports figures pull down $1,000,000 + salaries for doing nothing more than chasing a ball around a field....

Mark
________________________________________
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Marty Weiss [martweiss@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 6:25 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] SOLAR , NUCLEAR ENERGY etc.

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

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