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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSo a guy who made 100 million selling his business is lecturing me on Income Inequality?
Not to mention he profits and his employees get screwed. The rich are not like us are they.
In my new book, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, I highlight the problem of increasing income inequality that is plaguing the societies of almost every industrialized country in the world. Despite being the richest country in the world, the United States also suffers from one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world.
In order to make the U.S. system of capitalism truly sustainable, we must tackle this unhealthy concentration of wealth.(sing it Al) The wealthiest one percent of Americans now have more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. The gap continues to widen as the top one percent receives almost 25 percent of annual U.S. income, up from 12 percent just 25 years ago.(right on bro)
http://blog.algore.com/2013/03/worsening_income_inequality.html
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dawg
(10,777 posts)Excessive income inequality is a cancer on our society. Thank God for the relatively few rich men and women who are willing to admit it.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)to his actions. That is The American Way.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)
MH1
(19,259 posts)Interesting topic you've chosen to post about.
Do you think Gore is as complicit in shafting the lower classes in this country as, say, Sheldon Adelson or the Koch brothers?
Are you one of those who thinks it was pretty much a wash (i.e. "not a dime's worth of difference"
whether Gore or Bush won the presidency in 2000?
bhikkhu
(10,789 posts)Its how a person uses that that matters most. Too many of the wealthy care only about more wealth, and probably most of them wouldn't lift a finger to make a difference, unless it pencilled out well as a tax deduction or something. Most just take their money and run, off into little lives of petty ease.
Beating down one guy with money who is trying to make a difference and promoting our goals is stupid.
on edit - money is why he could get the best education and run for office, and find time to write books and think about things. And its why he can fill halls and have people listen when he speaks. At this point, its the message that matters.
Without money, he might just be another guy on an internet forum griping about inequality, with no one in particular listening.
Wealthy families might send their children off to college to get a well-rounded education, including arts, philosophy, social sciences. They might spend their lives living off their family wealth and devote their time to such things. Now? They go to school to learn how to make money, and spend their lives doing so any way they can.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)Gore is not perfect, far from it in fact, but at least he can recognize his own privilege and acknowledge that something needs to be done about inequality.
Gore has access to a microphone because of his wealth and privilege, those of us without money and power don't have access to that microphone so we don't have a voice. That is why we need wealthy people like Gore that will acknowledge the struggles faced by those of us without access to huge piles of cash. It certainly shows major problems with the system when the working class has to depend on a multi-millionaire to get their message out, but that is the system we live in and I would rather have Gore speaking out on inequality than no one at all. There are no working class people given a voice in our media, only rich people tend to be given a voice and that is the real problem not Al Gore.
JI7
(93,876 posts)who gives a shit if he made money ?
should FDR have done nothing to help the poor because he was wealthy ?
and using the term lecturing against Gore is what wingnuts always do because they can't debate the points made. next you will complain about what color shirts he is wearing of his hairstyle ?
riverbendviewgal
(4,396 posts)you lean towards the right, eh?
MH1
(19,259 posts)Funny thing bout that, eh?
SidDithers
(44,333 posts)Sid
gollygee
(22,336 posts)Or do you just not like him?
JI7
(93,876 posts)YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)...but would you rather have him lecture you about why "job creators" need to have their taxes cut even more?
JI7
(93,876 posts)But at the same time, I do kinda understand the "rich person lecturing others on inequality" may come across as a bit...condescending to some.
I agree with Gore's words, btw.
JI7
(93,876 posts)there is nothing hypocritical about it.
people who have more should speak out and do something about it. there is nothing condescending about it.
it's condescending when Romney attacks the poor and says shit like they don't take responsiblity for their lives and other crap.
YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)And this looks to be a troll thread anyway, so you can disregard what I wrote re: hypocrisy. 
I mean, if he truly believes that huge inequality is a major problem for our society, then couldn't he reduce that inequality - at least a little bit, by distributing that $100 million to some people at the bottom?
I mean, nobody gave Rick Warren any credit for giving away 90% of his income, and Warren probably is on the wrong side of this argument
But what is Gore doing about the problem, besides writing a book?
Sarah Palin was called a "grifter" for making money from the things she did, but she had a PAC that was trying to help elect conservatives. Is there a GorePAC trying to help elect liberals? Did he help in any campaigns in 2010 or 2012? I mean, I myself spent a whole $3,500 in 2010 to run for Congress, and then about $1200 to run for County Treasurer. Coulda used some financial help. A trip to Wichita or Topeka or KCK by Gore would probably have helped our Governor candidate in 2010 as well as our other statewide elections. I'm not seeing him on the front lines here, although promoting this book may help to start a conversation on the topic.
JI7
(93,876 posts)don't really care much for personal charity done for tax purposes while still benefiting from a system that favors them mostly.
gore is trying to change the system.
palin starting a pac is something good ? hahhah
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)which contributes to income inequality not to mention a host of other issues, it does ring a bit hollow.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)Saying, "Rich people should pay their fair share and working people should make a living wage" doesn't mean "nobody should be rich." There's nothing hypocritical in believing we have too much income disparity and being rich.
YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)I wish more rich people agreed with Gore, for the record.
EDIT: I actually am suspicious of the OP in this thread, to say the least....
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)This is like a colossal train wreck in slow motion
And it's been going on, day by day, getting worse and worse ever since
Reagan, and no one is apparently able to stop what is obviously happening.
The alarm bells have been going off on this, for three fucking decades, at
least, yet everyone goes about their business as usual, except for that
all-too-brief moment in the OWSun, before the FBI orchestrated it's demise.
We the People have been relegated to the baby's seat, with only a faux
"steering wheel", under the illusion we're "democratically steering" the ship
of state, to make things better, to somehow turn around this massive cancerous
maldistribution of wealth to the very top 400 ... but the train wreck continues
unabated, inch by inch, day by sickening day.
My prayer is that Team Obama will take this monster on, at some point,
but rope-a-dope time has long since passed IMHO. It's pretty much now
or never, and each new day it's looking more & more like never. 
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)So, what brings you out this evening to diss Al Gore? I will be interested to see how many more posts you can make.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)
Skittles
(172,821 posts)the results do get dutifully reported though