Jeff Bezos tops the Forbes Rich List 2018

[waddamon]

Here is the short.  There are always scumbags at the top and bottom. Always taking advantage of a system.  Name them, who cares?  In my experience advising people I have always seen expansion which includes new employees and their own opportunity when business owners reduce expenses, which in 100% of the cases taxes is the largest expense.  Just today I met with a doctor and in reducing his taxes 60% we are,putting money in his employees pocket, that's real.  That being said, I am a minority in the USA, ethnically speaking.  I worked from 10 years old to today, mowing lawns, delivering pizza to advising millionaire.  All the cards were stacked against me and my brothers.  Never once did I think because someone has more, they owe me money or other benefits.  Single mom making 7.25 an hour.  I worked full time through,college as did my brothers, high school too.  No handouts.  My parents gave me 500 for college, thats it, that's all they had.  The USA is about opportunity.  I worked hard, I am a "minority", I almost failed three times.  I wanted more for me and my family.  I worked hard, harder than many. I am in my late thirties, I own a business, I employ people, I am upper middle class.  No one gave me anything.  In this country you can be what you want to be, if you want to work.  Never once did I think that I was owed "things" because I was poor.  I earned it!  Entitlement is a manufactured belief.  Both of my brothers also own their own businesses, architecture and graphic design.  Poor, very poor, as I was doesn't make me entitled to take other people success.  The USA is a remarkable place to call home, where I could be what I wanted to be, not defined by my race or my socioeconomic class!  There are always scumbags.

[thirsty]

Waddoman is the only guy in this thread who knows what he is talking about.  I find it surprising that out of all the replies not one mentions the outsized and unquenchable demand for 'other people's money' that government has.  Instead we talk about how we can squeeze more taxes out of the already overly squeezed.  Anybody believes that government being 50% of GDP is even sustainable hasn't read much history.  The real talk should be how government can be reduced and what programs go on the chopping block.  And this is a problem throughout the western hemisphere, not just several random countries.

 

Won't happen though, nothing will get done until the crisis.  Interest rates are a direct barometer of people's willingness to lend money to government long term.  Has nothing to do with inflation or any other fey Central Bank explanations.  When people realize the risk and price in lack of confidence the resulting 8% 10 year bond that will be responsible for swamping Bezos and his loser company Amazon will kick the crap out of every government in the western hemisphere and reduce them to ashes.  The western world had a choice ten years ago to go down the other fork in the road.  Instead it doubled down on moral hazard and kept on heading to stupid town.  Well good luck with that.  Ten years ago we could have lost an arm, maybe a foot.  Where we end up now there wont be a limb left.  Including the head.   

[asharerin]

On 3/6/2018 at 7:29 AM, donbee said:

That’s because Gates gives away billions of his fortune every year.
Bezos literally only gives millions.

Bezos is giving ALOT more than that. Bezos is spending billions of his own money building his own rocket launch complex and developing infrastructure that will allow the NEXT generation of entrepreneurs to take advantage of very cheap off planet transportation. His vision is to make earth a park and take manufacturing off planet. Just as he and his company benefited immensely from the already developed highway and aircraft transportation systems on earth he is donating his talents and energies to put all of that in place for the next generation to exploit almost limitless energy and resources in our solar system where the only roadblock is the massive expense to get off planet. 

We are entering the next phase as a human race where government becomes less important and private enterprise takes over almost everything. Musk, Bezos and Branson are leading the way in space, not NASA. Bezos, Dimon and Buffet are also going to revolutionize healthcare in the USA. 

To help others you must make it first. Gates made it along time ago. Bezos is just getting started.

 

[exciter1]

I'm still waiting for my cake.