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You're mistaking a bunch of zeroes on a bank balance for actual wealth when there is a considerable difference.

Robert Dunsmuir was worth US$15 million when he died which, when adjusted for inflation, is around US$800 million today. But that does not speak to his relative wealth.

$15 million was what he was worth in a time when a skilled tradesman could earn $1 a day. Meaning Dunsmuir's wealth represented what a skilled tradesman could earn in 15 million days.

A skilled tradesman these days (like a plumber) can make $50 an hour so that works out to $400 per day.

That means Dunsmuir's relative wealth would be worth US$6,000,000,000 today.

And Dunsmuir wasn't even in the top 20 of wealthiest Canadians in his time.

These days he'd be in the top five.

Seriously, there is far less concentration of releative wealth anymore than in historic times and all too many people are fooled into thinking that twenty dollars in 2013 money is worth more than $1 in 1900 money just because there's a bigger number.

The truth is much different from the initial perception.

   

Straw man much?

I'm not arguing that a dollar in 1918 is worth the same as a dollar will be in 2018.

I'm arguing that the rich keep getting a larger portion of overall wealth and power in comparison with the middle class and working man.

Here have some data from the university of California for an example of what my actual point is.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

   

Of course they do. That's why they're rich!

The thing is that anyone can repeat those same actions to attain wealth themselves, the question is are they willing to do what it takes?

My father-in-law, with an eighth-grade education and a career as a glazier managed to die with a net worth of over US$4 million. He scrimped and saved and started investing at an early age and he bought stock back in a time when common people did not do such a thing.

Me, I did similar things and took risks early on and it's been a few years now since Lisa and I saw our net worth move into the seven digits.

The simple things are often the hardest for many people and it's hard to save when you're young because a growing nest egg presents temptations a-plenty to impetuous young people. It's also hard for young people to avoid debt when they just really, really, REALLY convince themselves that they need a new car and when they tell themselves that they really need a doctoral degree in Latin-American Cultural Studies.

How does anyone get wealthy when they're saddled with debts that are designed, at their core, to make someone else wealthy?

Seriously, I cannot even begin to tell you how many younger people I know who whine about income disparities and wealth differentials while they're busy working hard to make someone else rich.

Want to address income and wealth disparities? Start with yourself.

Pay off your debts and don't incur any new ones. Pay cash for whatever you want or live without it. Save back 10% of your income. You can do that. People used to give 10% of their income to their churches so it's not impossible to save back 10% of your income for yourself. You can do this.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I did all of the above and Lisa and I have never had excessive incomes (save for 1993 when I made some mad money) and now we are debt free and we have money in the bank, money in the safe, and three properties that we own free-and-clear along with 600 acres of land in Nevada we got at an estate auction for a song.

Meanwhile one of the managers I work with committed suicide when he lost his house to bankruptcy and foreclosure. He made over $10,000 per month and it wasn't enough.

He had a fancy house, a fancy car, had fancy vacations, and had astronomical bills.

His choice.

Likewise, your choices determine your future and your wealth. Obsessing over what someone else does or does not have will not improve your situation one iota. Not one.

The only thing you really need to know about the (honestly) wealthy is how to become wealthy yourself.

   

Bart you have never sounded so much like an old man who is just whining about the youngsters while totally ignoring any actual problem.

No one here is "obsessing" over anothers wealth. What we are doing is expressing concern with the very real problem that the non wealthy have less and less of the total pie to try and live on.

No one is dismissing that the wealthy will always have the biggest slice of pie. That's not some magical wisdom that you seem to be trying to confer.

What we are talking about here is a concept called "buying power" escentailly how much purchasing power and ability to maintain financial stability compared to how much work you put into the system.

It's a very real and very troubling problem. Basically the middle class has never been so poor.

I'm afraid it's a bit more complex then "you whippersnappers just need to work harder".

That and as a conservative who actually cares about the middle class families (you know actual conservatism) I don't understand how stupid the Republicans and CPC have become that they don't see this as one of the biggest possible issues to grab a huge portion of the vote.

   

No, you're obsessing about what someone else has. That's called 'envy' or 'jealousy'. Worry about your problems and fix those first before you go after someone else.



There's no reason why you can't join them. That would be the wisdom I'm trying to pass along.



You're not including the facotr of personal choice here. Some moron who spends every last penny he earns will never be rich or secure. Fixing his income won't fix anything because the nitwit will just spend all of that, too.



Actually, the middle class has been living beyond their means and now they have to pay their bills.



Who said anything about what kind of work anyone does? I'm just saying spend less, save more.



You mean if only we'd embrace Fabian socialism people would love us?

Uh, no thank you.

   

First of all I'm not jealous of the rich in any way. I'm more then happy making my 50k a year and I would consider my quality of life to be very content. Even more so when you compare it to world standards.

Secondly your dead wrong that anyone can join the rich. That used to be the case but it's simply been lost as the buying power of the middle class has dropped. Simply put people don't have the ability to open up mom and pop enterprises like they used to. As a larger and larger portion of the wealth ends up with fewer and fewer people we end up with more megacorps and less income out there open to investment in competition.

Thirdly it's not the middle class that's been living beyond it's means it's the government not having the balls to actually tax what it needs to in terms of balancing the budget. Frankly everyone's tax rates have to go up a fair amount and the rich are paying far less in taxes then the rest of us for sheer % of income.

Finally it IS conservative to take a firm stand that says "We are the middle class family with two kids and we deserve better". It is very conservative to see value in the idea of a traditional suburban family and fight for it over and against the rich.

I will never understand how that core element of conservatism has been lost to a bunch of stupidity and willingness to simply bend over to lobbyists and corporations rather then taking a firm responsible stand of maintaining the current order of society.

Sadly I'm starting to find these days that the traditional brand of middle class conservatism is starting to have more common ground with the NDP and Liberal party more then ever before. It's really saddening and very worrying.

   

Good.



Yet poor immigrants come to Canada and the USA all the time and what's the very first thing they do? They start a business.

Seems to me the native born folks have the opportunity to open a business but, like you said, they lack the ability which necessarily includes the drive to succeed.



Here you go again focusing on the wealthy. There's a reason why envy is a sin in the Bible and that's because it causes the most harm to those who are held in thrall by it. Stop paying so much attention to what someone else has and instead focus on what you can do to better your place in the world.



It is a conservative value to pursue a better life, it is most certainly NOT a conservative value to blame rich boogeymen for your failures in life.



You managed to write quite a bit here while saying next to nothing of any actual substance.



Looking at your posts here seems to me that you fit in quite nicely with the NDP and Liberal parties and your problem with conservatives is that they're not Marxist enough for you.

   

Greed's a pretty severe Biblical sin too, dawg.

   

Sure they can. They just opt not too because few people these days are willing to take that risk or are in a position to take that risk. People looking to start a business rarely know what to do, the questions to ask or where they might be able to secure funding.
We don’t do enough to encourage small business to develop.

It’s both. Personal debt in this Country is on the rise as is that of our government.

How so?

   

Wow, that blog's full of more holes than Swiss cheese.

First off, the whole point of a progressive taxation system is that the wealthy pay more than the poor - as they can more easily afford losing a chunk of their income than a poor person can. For you Christian types, read Luke 21: 1-4 for extra clarity...

Secondly, this blogger should have looked at the numbers he's using. $147,500 in 1982 is actually worth $306,205.83 in 2010 dollars, so the fact is that there were more '1%ers' in 2010 than there was in 1982 (given that $201,400 was now the bottom of the 1% in 2010).

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/relate ... alculator/

Further, the way he/she picks and chooses numbers if baffling. Comparing 1982 and 2006 and 2010 is a bit of an apples/oranges proposition because he's comparing two totally different government styles (Liberal vs. Conservative).

To anyone with a brain, it should come as little surprise that taxes reached their zenith under a Liberal government and fell under a Conservative one. Why is he surprised that the amount of taxes paid by filers has dropped under a Conservative government that has cut taxes since it got into power?

Finally, the blog doesn't address any of the items BF mentioned, so the entire thing is suspect and really comes across as nothing more than a rant.

   

Indeed, it is. But it's not my place to condemn someone else for their greed. It is my place to look in the mirror and control my inclinations towards envy and jealousy.

   

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