Rich // Current

Solid gold USB sticks

Just in case you thought there was a credit crunch on, the oddly-named Super Talent are making and selling USB sticks out of solid... more

purplefox
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For several years, I've been writing about Bushenfreude, the phenomenon of angry yuppies who've hugely benefited from President Bush's tax cuts funding angry, populist Democratic campaigns. I've theorized that people who work in financial services and related fields have become so outraged and alienated by the incompetence, crass social conservatism, and repeated insults to the nation's intelligence of the Bush-era Republican Party that they're voting with their hearts and heads instead of their wallets.

Last week's election was perhaps Bushenfreude's grandest day. As the campaign entered its final weeks, Barack Obama, who pledged to unite the country, singled out one group of people for ridicule: those making more than $250,000. At his rallies, he would ask for a show of hands of those making less than one-quarter of $1 million per year. Then he'd look around, laugh, and note that those in the virtuous majority would get their taxes cut, while the rich among them would be hit with a tax increase. And yet the exit polls show, the rich—and yes, if you make $250,000 or more you're rich—went for Obama by bigger margins than did the merely well-off. If the exit polls are to be believed, those making $200,000 or more (6 percent of the electorate) voted for Obama 52-46, while McCain won the merely well-off ($100,000 to $150,000 by a 51-48 margin and $150,000 to $200,000 by a 50-48 margin).

See link for more...

Right-wingers tend to dismiss such numbers as the voting behavior of trust funders or gazillionaires—people who have so much money that they just don't care about taxes. That may explain a portion of Bushenfreude. But there just aren't that many trust funders out there. Rather, it's clear that the nation's mass affluent—Steve the lawyer, Colby the financial services executive, Ari the highly paid media big shot—are trending Democratic, especially on the coasts. Indeed, Bushenfreude is not necessarily a nationwide phenomenon. As Andrew Gelman notes in the book Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State, the rich in poor states are likely to stick with the Republicans.For several years, I've been writing about Bushenfreude, the phenomenon of angry yuppies who've hugely benefited from... more

dmambo5
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13 responses

8 days ago

Parks can cut health gap between rich and poor

"Parks, playing fields and forests greatly narrow health gaps between the rich and poor, and governments should do more to... more

DeliaTheArtist
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11 days ago

Money As Debt

This 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is... more

covelogibbs
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11 days ago

The Broke Generation

If there's one thing that both parties, both candidates and the country can agree on it's that the economy is the most... more

CJCollectiveWorks
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13 responses

15 days ago

Life and Debt - Globalization and Jamaica

Utilizing excerpts from the award-winning non-fiction text "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, Life & Debt is a... more

covelogibbs
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15 days ago

Dollar bills you won't see

A collection of US dollar bills that you would not see anytime ... check out more pictures at the source ...

pushpinderbagga
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8 responses

17 days ago

Howard Zinn on taxes and class war

Howard Zinn: The US has always had class war over who gets taxed. Part 3

In part three of our discussion with author and historian Howard Zinn, Prof. Zinn lays out his analysis of taxes as a class phenomenon. He points to the current discussion of politicians as either pro-tax or anti-tax instead of discussing who will be taxed as an example of the misunderstanding of taxation being promoted. Prof. Zinn submits that the United States has always had a class war, and as such it is ridiculous to accuse people of inciting class war through talk of taxation. He then outlines his proposal that higher taxes for the rich and cutting taxes for the poor will be necessary for addressing the roots of the economic crisis.

Howard Zinn is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and playwright. He is best known as author of the best-seller 'A People's History of the United States'. Zinn has been active in the Civil Rights and the anti-war movements in the United States. Zinn was raised in a working-class family in Brooklyn, and flew bombing missions for the United States in World War II, an experience he now points to in shaping his opposition to war. In 1956, he became a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, a school for black women, where he soon became involved in the Civil rights movement, which he participated in as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC and chronicled, in his book SNCC The New Abolitionists. Zinn collaborated with historian Staughton Lynd and mentored a young student named Alice Walker. When he was fired in 1963 for insubordination related to his protest work, he moved to Boston University, where he became a leading critic of the Vietnam War.

See Part 1 at: http://current.com/items/89436711_zinn_vote_for_obama_but_direct_action_needed

See Part 2 at: http://current.com/items/89443553_zinn_bailout_is_trickle_down_theory_magnified

See Part 4 at: http://current.com/items/89447830_guns_or_butter

See Part 5 at: http://current.com/items/89453046_democracy_and_militarism

Howard Zinn: The US has always had class war over who gets taxed. Part 3 In part three of our discussion with author and... more

Vierotchka
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9 responses

25 days ago

Beijing is the most egalitarian city in the world

A UN report shows cities in South Africa and Namibia continue to have extremely high levels of income inequality, despite the... more

urlspotter
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26 days ago

Rich and poor gap 'narrows' in UK

The gap between rich and poor in the UK has decreased since 2000, an international survey has concluded. The Organisation for... more

DonkeyPong
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28 days ago

Got rich parents? Join the club

Are private memberships for well-heeled families breeding a new elite?

They have Marcel Wanders light fixtures and Arne Jacobsen tables; they run classic cartoon screenings and sushi-making classes; they even have their own art directors. Welcome to the world of private children's clubs.

Once the preserve of City suits and media luvvies, the private club has rolled out the alphabet blocks. With organic food made on-site and diversions for children and their adults, this new breed of club aims to fill those sometimes engaging, sometimes suicidal hours for parents that stretch between breakfast and bedtime. And now there is a platinum version.Purple Dragon opens next month near Battersea Park, southwest London. The 10,500 sq ft club caters to the under-12s and will be open daily from 9am to 9pm with theme-based “pods”, including five-hole mini-golf, a gaming area and a recording studio. Grown-ups can have manicures and neck massages in the spa or eat in the 100-seat brasserie. Founding members pay £2,500 for the first child, £1,750 for the second and £1,000 for the third. Additional children and babies under six months are free.

Kids' private clubs structure their fees in different ways, but with one common thread: you have to pay to play. Purple Dragon membership includes classes and use of all the facilities. At Maggie & Rose in West Kensington, London, families pay £500 a year and get reduced rates for individual classes and parties at the club.

Justin and Angela Hammond have three children under 3 and live in Putney, West London. “I see it in terms of costs and benefits like a gym, but we'll be using it far, far more,” says Justin, a GP who works in Chelsea. His wife, who works in media, anticipates not only coming with her children for cooking classes but to play during bad weather. “It just takes the stress out of it all,” she says. The couple are one of about 230 families who are already signed up to join. Membership is capped at 500 families. Are private memberships for well-heeled families breeding a new elite? They have Marcel Wanders light fixtures and Arne... more

bmltv
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1 month ago

India's rich

India's wealthy have been increasingly seeking European-made luxury clothes in the new shopping malls in New Delhi, the... more

oblivious
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3 responses

1 month ago

We've Got You Covered 10.09.08

Sarah Palin's Pores, America's Richest People, and the Battle of the Money Honeys in roundup of the week's... more

infoMania
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1 month ago

Bloody shark bath

More than 400 sharks fight in the ten million-litre aquarium in a new Dubai shopping centre. Fears are rising that the amazing... more

mcamca
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11 responses

1 month ago

Cujo Chuggie and Matt - A Very Special Episode

Cujo Chuggie and Matt have a rap session about a very important issue.

relativefreedom
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1 month ago

Make Extreme Wealth History

Every 3 hours... Bono & U2 earn $42,808 Tom Hanks earns $25,342 Sean "Diddy" Combs earns $11,986 Brad Pitt &... more

accidental
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1 month ago

Mannequin Gossip: Episode 3 - Wishful Friendship

Wishful thinking gets tested between a popular celebrity and her biggest fan.

relativefreedom
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1 month ago

Be As Healthy As the Wealthy

The rich are different from you and me—they live longer. The good news: You can add healthy years to your ledger, too. Simply steal these rich-guy lifestyle moves that won't cost you a dime.

Join me, if you would, on a street corner in southeastern Washington, D.C. It's not a great neighborhood. There's a little liquor store that does a brisk business selling "40s" of King Cobra. Other signs of economic life include "TRY OUR VALUE MEAL" and "WE BUY GOLD."

As if the residents had any of that lying around.

Now let's hop a train at the nearest Metro stop and ride out to affluent suburbia. Our destination is Montgomery County, Maryland. Our tour guide: the pioneering British epidemiologist Michael Marmot, Ph.D., who wrote about this journey in his provocative book The Status Syndrome. For every mile we travel on this Metro route, the life expectancy of the citizenry rises about 9 months. That's right: There's a difference of 12 years between the poor (and mostly African American) people at the beginning of our journey, and the relatively rich (and mostly white) people at the end.

Yes, the rich really are different. They have better health. Not only do they enjoy greater longevity, but their days are less burdened by disease. Don't be fooled by the old idea that more money creates more problems. When it comes to health, the poor are much more likely to suffer physical and mental indignities—everything from asthma and accidents to chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. The lower your position in the economic hierarchy, the more susceptible you are to virtually every major disease affecting men.

The differences are shocking. Take mortality, for example. Harvard University researchers crunched more than 40 years of U.S. Census data to reveal that the gap in premature death rates between the poorest and the richest Americans has nearly doubled since 1980. In fact, people who earned less than $36,000 a year in 2000 faced a 64 percent higher risk of early death than those in households bringing in more than $101,000 annually. Get the raise, or die.

"Social class is simply the best predictor of health," says Nancy E. Adler, Ph.D., a professor of medical psychology at the University of California at San Francisco. "If you could know only one thing about a person and predict that person's health and longevity, you'd ask about social class. It's even more important than family history."

In cases where someone has bothered asking poor people about their health, research confirms the trend: The poorer you are, the less healthy you're likely to feel. That's the finding of a recent Columbia University study. And results of the CDC's National Health Interview Survey make the case even stronger. In 2006, nearly nine times as many lower-income adults (whose families earned less than $35,000 a year) reported being in fair or poor health as affluent adults (whose families pulled in $75,000-plus). Wealth and health go hand in hand.

---More at Link--

Another Article:
"Health Brings Wealth: Just Look at what you Burn when you Smoke (My Jacksons)"

http://current.com/items/89322822_health_brings_wealth_just_look_at_what_you_burn_when_your_smoke_my_jacksons

Do you consider yourself healthy or wealthy or a healthy wealthy?The rich are different from you and me—they live longer. The good news: You can add healthy years to your ledger, too.... more