Born Losers

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by daepp
My tax burden is now greater than 50%.

A bit off topic, I know, but if my tax rate gets any higher I don;t know if I want to keep building my business.

Could you delineate those taxes?

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock

I on the other hand, respect those who were creative/smart/industrious enough to rise to the top. I am just plain sick of hearing liberals denounce the likes of Bill Gates just because he happened to be very succesful in life.

I think I might have a different opinion of Gates were it not for the fact that his primary goal has always been to make money, not to provide something useful. He has never been an innovator.

Perhaps his turn towards philanthropy is an awakening on his part that greed does not satisfy.

[Rick Lee]

What does Gates have to do with greed? Did he illegally manipulate his stock price? Is there anyone in the world who has given more of his money away than Gates?

[stevepaa]

From inception it has been about making money. He was/is a pirate. A very succesful, legal pirate.

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by stevepaa
From inception it has been about making money. He was/is a pirate. A very succesful, legal pirate.

Were you ever under the impression that people found companies to provide jobs and pay taxes to the state?

[JCF]

Originally posted by legion
Bad things happen to good people.

I'm yet to figure out how it is my responsibility to fix this.

It isn't your responsibility to fix it. Or mine.
Nor is it any positive reflection on you or any country based on the ideals of "us vs them" - or to simply dismiss all unfortunate folk as losers and hurray for me and f them .
It seems to me we are all in this together and I for one don't mind that my taxes would go to helping, say those wounded vets or those people suffering from a natural disaster , or someone who needs health care.
Our responsibility should be to try to help where we can.
We don't need to get rid of government but to try and make it work better for all of us.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by stevepaa
I think I might have a different opinion of Gates were it not for the fact that his primary goal has always been to make money, not to provide something useful.

Not neccesarily agreeing with you on this statement, but if it were true, why does this make him a "bad" person? Making money should not be considered a crime. Most here make more money than homeless person. Does that mean that a homeless person should despise all of us because we are fithy rich in their eyes?

Did you go to college in hopes of getting a good paying job? Does this make you evil because you were only thinking of money?

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Were you ever under the impression that people found companies to provide jobs and pay taxes to the state?

If you like pirates, that is fine. I prefer those successful people who's first goal was to make an product/service from their own innovation, not others. If they make oodles of money, it was a side benefit of their passion for their product or service.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by Racerbvd
OK, I was born a loser, a runt, skinny, uncoordinated, dyslexic, my sister & brother were born with the high IQ, making straight As was easy for them, I struggled to make Cs, they are very artistically talented, I can't even draw a straight line, brother a star football player (who could have gone pro, if smoking Pot wasn't more important to him) and sister lettered in everything also too while I rode the bench. I started racing BMX when I was 10, to this day, the one thing that I'm most proud of is when my father told me, a month or so before he died, how proud he was of me, he said when I started racing bikes, he expected me to quit, since I was so much smaller than everyone one else, and was on a used piece built bike (if I paid & built my bike, they would take & pay for my local races) and I ended up earning State & National championships, sponsors, all without my father's buying me everything, then when he cut me off before college, I worked my ass off to pay for it. I was a successful businessman and multi BMX champion, on state, national & international level before he died. He told me that he didn't expect me to do what I ended up doing and how proud of the man I grew up to be. If I could make it, anyone could, and when losers like off-ramp whine about what others have, I laugh, as I went from nothing to something, and did it without the government giving it to me by taking away from someone else. My father was proud of me because I refused to give up or in, and made something of myself, and the one thing I cherish most is when he told me how proud he was of me because I was the one he didn't expect to be anything.

Great story!

I was not from such dire circumstances as you, I had parents that supported me to extents but were were not well off, my dad was off on a new carreer every 2-3 years since I was growing. College was not really a option for me although my parents were willing to scrape to get me to a Associates Degree I decided not to drain them any further and just get out in the work place after HS.

My father never had any kind words for me growing up. Never told me he loved me, never spent any real time with me. For a long time all I cared about was getting his approval, that was my drive. But, recently, maybe 5 years ago I stopped caring. All I care about is making a good life for my wife and kids.

I was very lucky to land where I am. I was in the right place at the right time. Even as the economy in Florida is changing I am still in good shape.

By all measures I should have been a looser in life. Funny part is as I left one employer he told me I would never amount to anything, even though I came into his company a grunt and left it a VP 10 years later. Then when I left a big corporation 10 years ago to go out on my own, they started a pool on how long before I went bankrupt.

It seems if you do not have a higher education you cannot be successful, according to those with degrees. 10 years later, I got the last laugh on them.

[Tim Hancock]

How can I get all the time I wasted on this thread back?

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by stevepaa
If you like pirates, that is fine. I prefer those successful people who's first goal was to make an product/service from their own innovation, not others. If they make oodles of money, it was a side benefit of their passion for their product or service.

Yes, I like pirates. I'll make the wild guess that just about every super rich person you can name is somehow guilty of something bad in your eyes.

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
Did you go to college in hopes of getting a good paying job? Does this make you evil because you were only thinking of money?

No, my first job was a teacher. I could not affrod to have a family on that income so I went back and got a MS in engineering to pursue my other passion in aerospace. Money was an afterthought.

And if you are only thinking of money, that is contrary to all morality that we know of.

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by stevepaa


And if you are only thinking of money, that is contrary to all morality that we know of.

Hmmmm. I don't think I'll lose any sleep over not conforming to a class warrior's notion of morality. Can't wait for that next commission check so I can buy more guns, porn, ammo and booze!

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Yes, I like pirates. I'll make the wild guess that just about every super rich person you can name is somehow guilty of something bad in your eyes.

Hardly. You guessed wrong.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally posted by Burnin' oil
Do I have to have 4/4 to be a winner? What about 3/4? Does that make me mostly a winner? What about 2/2? Does juvenile hall count as jail?

Well, its really a dynamic. An everchanging role. One thing is fer sure, 3/4 with the outliner being getting laid = whinner not winner. So its acceptable.

As for not being able to get a full belly cuz of sickness? Well, then doesn't count cuz you really can't stop that - unless it was becuz you did it to yourself then you are a loser.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by stevepaa
Hardly. You guessed wrong.

No he did not. He nailed you perfectly.

You could not "afford" a family as a teacher, so you pursued a career that paid MORE money.......hypocrite!

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Hmmmm. I don't think I'll lose any sleep over not conforming to a class warrior's notion of morality. Can't wait for that next commission check so I can buy more guns, porn, ammo and booze!

Ah, so you are a "greed is good" advocate. How about lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, envy, and pride?

[stevepaa]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
No he did not. He nailed you perfectly.

You could not "afford" a family as a teacher, so you pursued a career that paid MORE money.......hypocrite!

Ah, but the money was not the goal. Or can't you see the difference?

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by stevepaa
Ah, so you are a "greed is good" advocate. How about lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, envy, and pride?

Yes, what you call greed I call motivation to succeed. Unless you're a starving artist who turns down the big bucks to maintain your integrity, you are working for money and you will probably always want more of it. That's all there is to it. You can call it anything else - wanting a better life for your family, financial independence, personal success - whatever. None of those are bad things. Liberals just can't live a guilt-free life or at least without calling others names for doing what they feel guilty about.

[legion]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
I personally think you're way, way off of the mark. Microsoft has arguably been the most innovative company of the past several decades, and has changed the world more than any other company in history.

-Wayne

Initially, Microsoft did not create much. It bought products or companies and either altered them to fit its needs or sold them as-is. I would say that most of the products/companies Microsoft bought would have remained obscure or would have disappeared had it not been for them.