goofus,,,thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Not sure what you are talking about. The life insurance thing is a documented fact. Look it up.

Edited to say: Don't get me wrong, one of my dreams is figuring out how to get a shitload of money.

Going back to your original question - is it possible to EARN $1billion, my answer is "Not very likely"
If one begins working at 18, and works until age 68, that would be 50 years. At about 40 hours per week, that would be 2000 hours per year, or 100,000 hours for a lifetime,

$1,000,000,000/100,000=10,000 per hour. (or $5000/hour working 80 hour weeks) I don't know of anyone who can EARN $10K per hour consistently over fifty years.

I don't begrudge any earned income - but I do believe that unearned income (such as on dividends etc) should be taxed, and loopholes should be closed.

Well most people who accumulate a billion dollars work much more than 40 hours a week, but you not putting risk/reward into the equation. If I take $100,000 and risk it by buying a business that could very well go under (taking the money with it), but I succeed and double my money, is that money earned or just luck? There is more to earning money than punching in on a clock somewhere.. Much more..

A lot of it is gambling - nothing really wrong with that unless you're doing it with other folks' money.

And there's a big difference between earning money to live and hoarding it. Nothing wrong with saving for a rainy day or a nicer home or a pre-war 00-18 Martin. But 1% of the U.S. population hoarding 80%+ of the wealth........I see lots of things wrong with that.

One more point: "Earning" money at the expense and to the detriment of others is not a nice thing to do.

What is your definition of hoarding? Investing your money into the stock market and watching it grow.. Is that hoarding? Is Warren Buffet hoarding? Who is making money at the expense of others? Is there some form of slavery I am not seeing in this country?

There are many forms of slavery alive and well in this, and many other countries.

Such as?

There's always this:

http://goo.gl/7rKqG

Lets not quibble over definitions. Exploitation feels a lot like slavery to those being exploited. Our extreme and fanatical form of capitalism is exploitive by nature (and lack of regulation). Our system is like a monopoly game where some players start off with stacks of money and others with nothing. The game is rigged before you ever roll the dice. "Get a job!," some scream. Great idea, until one finds there is no job to be had, or one which pays enough to eat and cover the bills. Capitalism requires an unemployment rate to keep wages low and collective bargaining out.
Opportunity in America is like a game of musical chairs - 10 people circling only 6 chairs - when the music stops, there's gonna be some folks sittin' on the floor.

What about the kids on the streets. Going to anybody that will feed them and keep them warm. That's if they're lucky and aren't indentured to someone...

That's one major way marginalized young people fall prey to exploitation (slavery). Another vulnerable population are immigrants brought here specifically to perform ultra-low wage jobs and "work" in the sex trade. The way it usually works is that, instead of making money, they end up actually owing money to their "owners" for room and board because it is more than they make. The "owners" are holding their passports, and often threaten harm to their families if they are not obeyed.
There are laws against these practices, just like there are laws governing big corporations, but they lack teeth. Imagine what these practices would look like without any meaningful oversight.
Oh yeah, we don't have to imagine - we can just look around.

You are referring to criminal behavior, not something condoned by society. All societies have crime. There are murders that happen here every day (more than slavery) but I would say that we are not a nation of murderers.



LACK of regulation? Really? I am not trying to be rude here, but what country are you referring to? I could hire someone right now, RIGHT NOW were it not for onerous regulations. I am talking about a good paying job too. Trust me, there is no lack of regulation, in fact there is way too much regulation.

How is Capitalism exploitative by nature?



If you look at some of the most successful capitalist in our society, most started from modest beginnings. This class envy argument I find to be high in populism, low on facts. I know a few rather wealthy people that started with much less than what welfare recipients have today.



This depends on your definition of bills.. Many of the people I see complaining are wrapped in expensive cell phones (with monthly plans), and living with color TV, cable, internet, car payments, college loans, etc., which when I was growing up were not considered bills, they were considered luxuries. The problem is, we have taught Americans that they are too good to pick vegetables and that everyone deserves a doctors pay the day they step out of school. Tell a kid he has to work some kind of manual labor job when he gets out of school (after being scammed out of a buttload of money in our criminal student loan system) and they look at you like you just asked them to walk the plank. There is no problem finding jobs, people are just shocked that they cannot find the job they want. Welcome to life. It took me YEARS to get the job I wanted.



Well, we have just come off a long period where unemployment was below 5%, which most economists will tell you that means full employment (always 5% in flux, moving to new areas, getting fired/laid off, health issues, starting businesses, etc..). How is it capitalism survived so long?

What is your replacement plan for capitalism?

The principles and philosophy you accept is a widespread phenomenon that I am continuously amazed at. It is also key to how those who have vast power and wealth retain it: getting a significant number of folks who will never become members of the top 1% to defend their practices and position for them. It's a brilliant strategy.
And no, exploitation is not "just criminal behavior." It is systemic and institutionalized de-facto slavery. Google "Human trafficking for the Super Bowl" and you will find statistics showing the supply and demand for tens of thousands of indentured sex workers for just that event.

The ability for people to assume massive unproven conspiracies amazes me too. I suppose this is some Illuminati plot?

This whole 1% nonsense is illustrative of your belief system in that we have to carve people up into classes and then pit them against each other. If it wasn't so illogical, it would be fascinating. Using this logic one could say that since 1% of musicians actually attain any kind stardom, that there must be some kind of cabal of people like Arlo keeping the other 99% from becoming stars.