[onlooker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')ich people are less empathetic, less altruistic and more selfish than those of the lower classes, according to new research from University of California at Berkeley and at San Francisco.

[Cog]

Don't care.

[Outcast_Searcher]

That's easy to say. And yet, who pays the bulk of the income taxes? Who is writing the big checks to charities? As a group, it's the rich.

And who is expecting society to pony up and take care of them via government programs? By and large, it's the poor.

I wonder if studies like this correct for the idea that the rich are ALREADY contributing significantly to society via taxes (including wealth redistribution programs), whether they like it or not.

I know that during my career, that this idea was pointed out to me (i.e. I already pay a LOT in income taxes, so I don't like people bugging me about donating to cause "X") by a number of folks.

Practical point: Claims of empathy, whether valid or not, don't pay the bills.

[mmasters]

They should dig a little further and elaborate on those who made it rich themselves and those who inherit their wealth. Otherwise, it's just a generalization.

[onlooker]

I don't think you quite got it Outcast. It is about being stirred in your heart and giving of your own free will. Taxes are a forced obligation

[Cog]

So its all about feelings eh?

[Newfie]

Cog,
Being non-empathetic does not make you rich. It makes you a poser.

In fact being rich does not make you wealthy. Wealth, true wealth, is not about money but richness of life.

I would not trade my life riches for Bill Gates. But I’m a pretty happy and lucky guy.

[Cog]

I reserve what little empathy I have, for those who deserve it. I have zero empathy for those who have created their own misery but yet feel entitled to gain from my empathy.

[Newfie]

Nothing wrong with that. I’ve often been accused of being a prick, probably rightly so. I know that when I see someone struggling I have much more sympathy or empathy than someone who expresses entitlement, no matter how refined they are.

Perhaps the difference is the way I see folks with little struggling forward. Most often the “rich” guy has come from a privileged class. Maybe he is smart and motivated, but the poor person has to be smart, motivated, and overcome a culture designed to keep them down.

[Cog]

Motivation can make up for a lot of early disadvantages, particularly in the USA.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '
')Perhaps the difference is the way I see folks with little struggling forward. Most often the “rich” guy has come from a privileged class. Maybe he is smart and motivated, but the poor person has to be smart, motivated, and overcome a culture designed to keep them down.

[onlooker]

I ask rhetorically, is the only measure of success making good money?
Perhaps we should feel empathy and compassion for those believe this

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '
')
Perhaps the difference is the way I see folks with little struggling forward. Most often the “rich” guy has come from a privileged class. Maybe he is smart and motivated, but the poor person has to be smart, motivated, and overcome a culture designed to keep them down.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat Jesus said: I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

As it is hard for a rich man to sit and break bread with the poor on equal footing.

[onlooker]

Rockdoc, the study does NOT say all rich. Certainly, they're are kind hearted giving rich people. But the issues revolves around who CAN more easily identifiy with the hardships of others. Certaily, poor people who may come from bad family backgrounds as you see here in the US or poor people in poor countries who have to work so hard just to survive can then identify with others who may have similar problems or anybody who has experienced any suffering and/or hardship. Plus, remember rich have abundance of money so they CAN donate, while less affluent maybe cannot. Finally, you also see incidents and trends of the rich "hiding" their money in tax havens. Not even willing to pay their fair share of taxes that presumably can be of benefit to the entire society.

[KaiserJeep]

That is, after all, why money was invented. So that we could keep score, and therefore have a motive for working harder than others, in order to have more money than those others have.

What one does with the money they recieve from working is another entirely seperate thing. In our society "income" is extorted involutarily from most, using the powers of government. I don't know about most of you, but I was never very happy with my middle class tax bill, knowing all too well what it cost me in terms of labor, time away from family, and stress.

I never signed a check to the IRS or Franchise Tax Board without resentment, and I never recieved a refund from them without even more resentment. The cause of most of this was observing how politicians squandered tax money.

Most of my charitable donations therefore involved my own time, in fundraising and cooking for the high school, the local battered women's shelter, and so forth. I am certain that those people were helped. I no longer do anything to aid the homeless, as my area has been and is being victimized by crimes committed by them, and is being made unsafe by their behavior.

[onlooker]

Kaiser, your post certainly shows empathy. However, we cannot operate on the premise of only what if or what should be. In the US like virtually every country people have to pay taxes. Your success and those of others depends on a adequately functioning society. Or else you could NOT have had this particular success. So, everyone, from the richest to the poorest then all paying into supposedly the full gamut of services and functions that allow society to exist and even thrive. Remember the word society comes from social. When I said fair share, the rich earn more, thus logically and fairly they should be expected to pay more. Again, I know this is your money but it is the contract that society has in fact assumed. So as long as the rules are set up this way, the social contract applies and the fair administration of that contract should require everyone to pay into the system in accord with their ability. As for your donations and time/effort given it is commendable. We each can do things that do not necessarily involve handouts of money. And the problem of homelessness illustrates how important taxes and people respecting the social laws and contract is to an adequately functioning society. Of course it would help if the politicians would do something effective for society with our money for a change, instead of blah blah blah.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rockdoc123', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat Jesus said: I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

As it is hard for a rich man to sit and break bread with the poor on equal footing.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', '
')I never signed a check to the IRS or Franchise Tax Board without resentment, and I never recieved a refund from them without even more resentment. The cause of most of this was observing how politicians squandered tax money.