My brother is a 1%er

[San Onofre Guy]

I attended a family gathering last weekend and politics came up. My brother ranted about anyone is better than the tax hungry Obama. My brother didn't become a parent until he and his wife had been married for 15 years and in their late 40's. His wife inherited a seven figure sum two years ago and that was after their house was paid off. Both have great jobs.

I then asked if he still owned Apple stock. He said that he did but can't afford to sell due to the $56,000 gain. I told him that 15% of that amount would be $8,000. He then went on a rant about how much he pays in taxes to support freeloaders.

With that I walked back to the bar.

When I think about it, he socializes with friends who are actually in better financial shape than he and he is the senior non-family member in a family owned conglomerate. I doubt if he knows anyone who has lost a job, lost a house to foreclosure or lost health insurance.

I understand not wanting to pay taxes, but when did he become so selfish?

[sweetana3]

Sometimes what comes out of people's mouths is what they listen to on the radio or other media. At least I sincerely hope so.

I have one brother who I have zero in common with. I dont like to read anything he posts on Facebook and we can have no conversations at all. The other brother is much more "normal" and reasonable and moderate in his thinking.

I am a 1%er due to savings and investments and working hard. Taxes are what I pay to live in the US and I am grateful that I do.

[Gregg]

Is it possible that the setting wasn't conducive to an in depth conversation on this topic? Maybe a leisurely ****tail (silly filter) on his deck, or yours, without everyone else around would give you both more opportunity to work through this. I play golf and have found the old adage about learning more about a person in 18 holes than you can learn in years of work almost always holds true. Just a thought...

[Life_is_Simple]

I hope his kid(s) don't turn out as selfish.

[Jemima]

I have a long-term friend who is very much like this to the point that I'm questioning keeping in touch with her much longer. First she was ranting about tax money being spent on illegal immigrants' medical care and then went on to other subjects, all of which dealt with unworthy people taking her money, all the while holding herself forth as a Christian. I don't think it's very Christian to prefer that people, citizens or not, suffer or die for the sake of lower taxes. The reason we get taxed to cover these things is that so many people clutch their money tightly and won't give to the needy.

She's also one of the people who expects the government to take care of her and has spent most of her retirement writing letters to politicians. I've tried to get through to her about Peak Oil and how to prepare, but she won't even cook for herself, let alone plant a garden. Unless she snaps out of it soon, she's going to be one of those people who crack up when the economy gets even worse.

Often having a lot ruins people far more than not having enough. :(

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well ... if you dislike what you do for money, whatever you get paid is never really enough (and of course most people do dislike what they have to do for money, I suppose). HOWEVER ... 7 figures and a paid off house should provide some flexibility in opening up options of what you have to do for money, I mean you would think, duh :). Although healthcare issues could put some obstacles in the way of even this I guess. And you still might resent what you had to do in the past for money I suppose. And if you are unhappy not even just with work but with life in general, then no amount of money is ever going to be enough (but it doesn't make up for the fact I was abused in childhood ... no ... and it never will).

The hanging out with super rich people could also be demoralizing I suppose. Oh yes, here's going to visit the friends in the massive mansion again ....


and he is the senior non-family member in a family owned conglomerate.

that could be rough too, never a real insider ... always an outsider no matter how senior.

[JaneV2.0]

Federal income taxes are the lowest they've been in my living memory, which is one reason--along with a bloated "defense"--for our pesky budget woes.

[Zoebird]

to be clear, a 1%er is a person who is has both money AND the power to create policy or do certain actions.

it does not mean "a wealthy person." you can be *extremely* wealthy and still not be a 1%er. I know several extremely wealthy people (who exceed the $50mil mark), and yet they really have no more impact on policy than you or I do (they vote, go to meetings, etc -- but they do not, for example, have a friend who used to be in their company who is now working for the FDA who will allow certain regulations to fly because they know your business interests, nor can they pay for "consultants" like Newt Gingrich).

For example, Romney would be an example of a 1%-er -- technically speaking, because he has money and a certain mode of business, which he can then support methodology based on being a representative in government and, if he becomes such, the president. But even MORE specifically, 1%ers are those who run *extremely* large companies that have great influence and power over the government (such as monsanto) as well as those who run very large banks (goldman sachs).

What you have is likely a person who has become wealthy and who fears loosing his money, but who likewise is listening to too much yelling-head radio and TV. I don't care if it's conservative or liberal, yelling-head radio and tv is bad for the brain. It mucks with you.

And if that's what your friends are listening too, and then you're going to listen to keep up, and then you'll start believing the hype. It was like that in high school with Beverly Hills 90120. Everyone was watching it -- but I wasn't allowed. So I had NO CLUE who those people were or why everyone was getting all this adn that and excited about it.

Same thing for most of this.

That being said, my family is being very weird. They support Santorum -- for reasons I cannot figure out -- and yet assert that they support the Tea Party, but have no interest in organizations like the Cato INstitute or other libertarian groups that hold the conservative lines of the Tea Party. It's like they joined the party when the Theocons got involved -- and I'll be honest, the whole thing is really darn confusing to me. It's, like, cloudy.

And, they assert -- always -- that I am "diametrically opposed" to whatever it is they believe, when in actuality, I simply point out that their source material is erroneous by bringing in articles from conservative perspectives that provide actual facts, which I then back up with, say, clips of speeches or actual laws with actual written language and so on.

Which they then consider to be "attempting to win by simply using a lot of words" that they then don't even read because "we are diametrically opposed."

The last one -- for which I opted to unsubscribe to them ob FB -- was really stupid. They posted something that Rush LImbaugh was on about (before the girl gave her thing wherein he called her a prostitute or whatever), but about that same issue of insurance companies providing birth control. . . and how they are proud catholics and support religious freedom and blah blah blah and how Obama is overstepping his bounds, etc.

Then, i pointed to the specific law and language. I then linked the Cato Institute -- a conservative organization -- and their take on the idea itself and how they didn't disagree with it, as well as another organization that was linked with the Tea Party -- the group that they assert they belong to and support.

They simply asserted that I "love big government!" and "don't believe in freedom!" and am "diametrically opposed to their position!" And I asked them how they came to that conclusion, and they said "by your posts!" And I said "you mean the cato institute and this other organization linked to the tea party?" And they said that they *never* read what I post because I am "diametrically opposed."

It's really goddamn frustrating.

[HumboldtGurl]

I understand not wanting to pay taxes, but when did he become so selfish?

You have to love those family get-togethers. DH and I have a couple of similar types of relatives in ours. It's always best if we stay away from them when alcohol is involved (which it always is, so we just don't see them! :cool:

He's threatened, it's that simple. How sad.

[Jemima]

One thing I've noticed since I bought my house out here in Suburbia is that a lot of people who live here have apparently never met a real poor person. (This area has a lot of very well-paid folks who work for Merck Pharma, and some of them are second generation suburbia and Merck-employed.) Without personal contact, the media cliche of "freeloaders" is easy to accept.

I left one church because of this lousy, un-Christian attitude and wrote the minister's wife a long letter about their shabby treatment of people who came to the church for material needs. Poor folks who patronized the emergency pantry and rummage sales were automatically assumed to be thieves who had to be watched every minute, and the attitude was quite apparent to the clientele.

This is one of the reasons our country is so polarized economically - the rich and poor no longer see each other, literally, one of the results of suburbanization.

Your brother is scapegoating the poor. I hope someday he'll see the light and direct his anger at the real culprit, a big, stupid, greedy government that cares not a whit for any of us.

[cattledog]

I then asked if he still owned Apple stock. He said that he did but can't afford to sell due to the $56,000 gain. I told him that 15% of that amount would be $8,000.


Huh?? He is still clearing $48K. How can you not afford a profit?

[maribeth]

I try to stay out of these conversations. If pressed, I tell people I support a tax scheme in which everyone who makes less than or equal to my own salary in any given year should pay no taxes, and everyone who makes more than I do should pay really high taxes. And usually they laugh and change the subject.

[citrine]

I don't understand either. I have really wealthy people in my family and noone donates anything to anything. I have never made over $60,000/yr and half that now with my business...but everytime we buy something new, the old is either reused in another way or donated. I try to give as much as I can every month to various charities. What has happened to the basic compassion and empathy towards others, especially when they are in need and you have more that enough.
I don't agree with supporting the ones who are blatantly scamming the system....but I do believe that we need to help those that need it. I also believe that people need to pay their fair share of taxes based upon what they make.....simple math people!