patrick.net

Indiana Jones says

http://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/03/two-thirds-of-billionaires-made-it-themselves.html?view=story&%24DEVICE%24=native-android-tablet

Forbes has come out with a "self-made score" for its billionaires.

Here is Forbes' scoring system and billionaire examples for each score.

Inherited fortune, but not working to increase it: Laurene Powell Jobs

Inherited fortune, and has a role managing it: Forrest Mars Jr.

Inherited fortune, and helping to increase it marginally: Penny Pritzker

Inherited fortune, and increasing it in a meaningful way: Henry Ross Perot Jr.

Inherited small- or medium-size business, and made it into a 10-digit fortune: Donald Trump

Hired or hands-off investor, who didn't create the business: Meg Whitman

Self-made, who got a head start f...

The original post was how the rich got that way. No one said anything about billionaires.

This insistence by some that hard work is the main factor in getting rich looks to me like virtue signaling. Which is pretty ridiculous in an anonymous discussion. Both the claim and the action (practiced anonymously) are quite telling of their (lack of) intelligence.

Fucking White Male says

So once again I do not understand the point you are making

Did you read the article you linked? In it, the author Tanner defends the entire 1% (not just the lower 1/2 of the 1%) as self-made and hardworking. This is not true:

"By and large, the wealthy have worked hard for their money. NYU sociologist Dalton Conley says that “higher-income folks work more hours than lower-wage earners do.”"

He then goes on to lament the loss of wealth by the super-rich. This is not true:

"Because so much of their income is tied up in investments, the recession has hit the rich especially hard...

Among the “super-rich,” the decline has been even sharper: The number of Americans earning more than $10 million a year has fallen by 55 percent. In fact, while in 2008 the top 1 percent earned 20 percent of all income here, that figure has declined to just 16 percent. Inequality in America is declining."

He keeps defending the wealthy: "if the rich don’t create jobs, who will? How many workers have been hired recently by the poor?

...shouldn’t public policy be based on something more than class warfare, envy and stereotypes?"

What I don't understand is why you quote this cato institute article, if you are in agreement that the ultra-wealthy did not get there from hard work alone, because that is what this Tanner guy is saying.

It seems clear to me that hardworking individuals can make it to the top percentile up to 99.5%, whether a first generation immigrant or 13th generation American. But besides the likes of Oprah Winfrey, it is extremely rare for someone to make it to the very top rungs on their own. Also, if you read the article from the investment manager I posted above, it states that even those in the bottom 1% can experience a level of financial insecurity.

Who knew poor people are the most honest/have the best understanding of reality. 90% of wealth is inherited, so the rich are full of shit. Yes, there are a few who worship money enough to pull themselves up, but most people get it in a trust fund, or make the right connections. Success is the workplace is based FAR more on knowing what people want, than working hard.

FP says

This insistence by some that hard work is the main factor in getting rich looks to me like virtue signaling. Which is pretty ridiculous in an anonymous discussion. Both the claim and the action (practiced anonymously) are quite telling of their (lack of) intelligence.

As is the lack of cited study supporting your point of view(other than the richest few hundred or so which I readily acknowledged early on in this thread....before anyone else pointed it out).

Fucking White Male says

As is the lack of cited study supporting your point of view

Considering what the conversation is about, this must be one of the dumbest comments I've seen on PatNet.

FP says

Fucking White Male says

As is the lack of cited study supporting your point of view

Considering what the conversation is about, this must be one of the dumbest comments I've seen on PatNet.

You: x
Me: y because....link provided
You: x
Me: prove x
You: derp.