The European Tribune is a forum for thoughtful dialogue of European and international issues. You are invited to post comments and your own articles.
Please REGISTER to post.
Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie, T. Boone Pickens, Rockfeller-I could go on. Why dont you look them up and see what these people started with. Terry
If Bill Gates ripped off somebody's software, someone would have sued him. It's not too hard to find a lawyer in the US.
Luck always helps. But let's face it, he created something from nothing. Terry
My my, you socialists are so envious of other people. If you want to tell me some soccer player makes way too much, I might go a short distance with you.
Some of you just dont like reality. People create things, produce things, provide services to make money. They do this to feed their family and buy things they want. Some do so well that they amass a lot of wealth. So what? The additional wealth creates more jobs and provide great things like that computer your typing on. The computer helps doctors, business and other industries provide better services and products. How do think that computer got in front of you? Elves didnt make it. Because of profit motive. You should probably thank these people rather than sneer at them. Terry
I live in a well functioning society where the differential between the top and bottom salaries is something of the order of 48:1. In your country it is 480:1. My well functioning society produced Nokia.
I only sneer at the people who want too much and who will trample on the rights of anyone else to get it. You can't be me, I'm taken
Most individuals want to achieve something with their lives by using the talents they have. They also have obligations, like the need to eat, the need to live somewhere and perhaps, a family to educate and take care of.
In my opinion, developing your talents to the best of your ability (ayn rand would call it "productive work") is one of the most important factors to happiness. Family, recreation, friends, love are some of the others.
48 to 1? 480 to 1? Are you saying it should be 1 to 1? 10 to 1? 5 to 1? What is fair? Who is to decide what a doctor should make and a janitor should make? Should they make equal salaries? Incomes do vary greatly in the US. The real question is what is the living standard of our poor. The answer is that the living standard of the poor is quite a bit better than most people in the world. The majority of the poor have 2 televisions, a phone, a computer, a place to live and, often, a car. That doesnt mean their life is as comfortable as say, mine. Thankfully, the US system allows for a lot of upward mobility and opportunity for those that apply themselves.
Your country may have produced Nokia. But the telephone was invented in the United States. Ironically, it was invented by a Scotsman who came to find opportunity. I wonder why he didnt stay in Europe? Terry
Thankfully, the US system allows for a lot of upward mobility and opportunity for those that apply themselves.
Unfortunately that is a myth, the US alongside the UK come at the bottom of measures of Social mobility. all of those socialist countries that you criticise come way above both of those countries. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
When I was in college, I worked at a bagel store. The store hired some Polish immigrant cheap to clean the floor. A grim task with all the fish we also sold. Within in a year, he was a baker. Two years later, he owned his own store. Terry
That's why everyone flocks here. The "myth" of opportunity and social mobility.
if you go and look at Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America (pdf warning) a report by the centre for economic performance, you'll see that you're far more likely to have a chance to improve yourself in Europe than you are in the US. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 2 2 comments
by Oui - Dec 10
by Oui - Dec 9 6 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 3 2 comments
by gmoke - Nov 28
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 21 10 comments
by Oui - Dec 96 comments
by Oui - Dec 88 comments
by Oui - Dec 718 comments
by Oui - Dec 54 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 32 comments
by Oui - Dec 214 comments
by Frank Schnittger - Dec 22 comments
by Oui - Dec 26 comments
by Oui - Dec 114 comments
by Oui - Dec 14 comments
by Oui - Nov 306 comments
by Oui - Nov 289 comments
by Oui - Nov 276 comments
by gmoke - Nov 26
by Oui - Nov 268 comments
by Oui - Nov 26
by Oui - Nov 2513 comments
by Oui - Nov 2318 comments