General Discussion

El_Johns

(1,805 posts)

76. Her being on assistance is immaterial. ditto springsteen's alleged "poverty".

Sun Dec 29, 2013, 06:11 PM

Dec 2013

Though I do have to note in passing that Rowling was born into an upper middle class family (father an engineer for Rolls Royce) & she went to a top 10 university in the UK (Exeter). She worked for Amnesty International & her ex-husband was a Spanish journalist. Also, at the time, UK welfare benefits were rather generous.

Springsteen came from a working class family that was stable, if not well-heeled. He graduated from high school in 1967 & had a recording contract with Columbia by 1972. I remember very well all the hype surrounding Springsteen's Born to Run album (1974 -- I myself bought the album because of the hype) & it was very clear the company was putting a lot of money into pushing him as "the next big thing".

This has more materiality than anything else.

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There are exactly two ways to get rich [View all] jmowreader Dec 2013 OP

3) win a mega lottery Skittles Dec 2013 #1

Lottery winners pay taxes. And spend a lot of it. Archaic Dec 2013 #4

Now we're talking about the ways people *stay* rich demwing Dec 2013 #66

very true. liberal_at_heart Dec 2013 #2

J.K. Rowling, Michael Jordan, and Bruce Springsteen would disagree. n/t bluedigger Dec 2013 #3

maybe they can lend me some money to start a business. liberal_at_heart Dec 2013 #5

They all fall under #2. El_Johns Dec 2013 #13

No they dont. nt stevenleser Dec 2013 #15

Why do you think so? El_Johns Dec 2013 #25

He doesn't - he thinks not. Why do you think so? demwing Dec 2013 #65

He thinks so: that it's not. I asked the poster the question. El_Johns Dec 2013 #69

let's assume he disagreed because demwing Dec 2013 #99

They do... canuckledragger Dec 2013 #29

Those aren't friends demwing Dec 2013 #64

They actually do jmowreader Dec 2013 #30

If you are setting the bar that low, I guess. bluedigger Dec 2013 #45

I don't think they necessarily had a rich friend treestar Dec 2013 #55

Bullshit. Rawling was on public assistance when she started writing as a way to relieve her bluestate10 Dec 2013 #75

Her being on assistance is immaterial. ditto springsteen's alleged "poverty". El_Johns Dec 2013 #76

Huh? seattledo Dec 2013 #115

What do you think they're respective opinions of Warner/NBA/Columbia Records are? n/t Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #49

OK way 3 treestar Dec 2013 #54

And each of them was made super-rich by selling their talent to huge corporations. Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #83

Statistical outliers. YoungDemCA Dec 2013 #90

According to the OP there are NO outliers. Dr. Strange Dec 2013 #100

And they will remain the ONLY TWO ways to get rich jmowreader Jan 2014 #141

Most huge corporations started by middle class people-Nike, Apple, Walmart, Microsoft etc. ErikJ Dec 2013 #6

Phil Knight was the son of a lawyer turned publisher. Knight's father sold out El_Johns Dec 2013 #12

What about the hundreds of others? Very few created by supposed "job creators" ErikJ Dec 2013 #17

"Middle class tinkerers" with intelligence & Ivy League backgrounds. El_Johns Dec 2013 #19

I'd bet for every corporation started by Ivy Leaguer ErikJ Dec 2013 #24

You mentioned specific corporations. El_Johns Dec 2013 #26

And all started by middle class ErikJ Dec 2013 #28

I addressed your first list of "middle class" people; Steve Jobs was the only one who could El_Johns Dec 2013 #33

Garage tinkerers rarely get rich. jmowreader Dec 2013 #31

I heard only one of 2000 patents makes a profit. ErikJ Dec 2013 #47

It's a fact? Where's the study showing that? El_Johns Dec 2013 #58

Middle class? enlightenment Dec 2013 #57

Rich kid, Lower Middle Class kids, Rich kid, Very, Very Rich Kids. Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #82

So you SUPPORT the idea that tax cuts for the rich (job creators) WILL be good for job creation? ErikJ Dec 2013 #84

I didn't say anything remotely like that. Did you reply to the wrong post? Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #86

My WHOLE POINT is that 99% of our corporations were conceived by independent people ErikJ Dec 2013 #88

We agree on the cause and solutions to the problem. Where we disagree is your assertion that huge Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #93

Most if not all corporate founders are INDEPENDENT INNOVATORS and entrepreneurs. ErikJ Dec 2013 #94

Where are you getting this "tax cuts for the rich" crap? You are the only one talking about this Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #97

RW propaganda is that we have to cut taxes for the super-rich BECAUSE they are the "JOB CREATORS"! ErikJ Dec 2013 #98

OK, Let's talk about Edison. El_Johns Dec 2013 #108

Thanks for proving my point. A strong middle class is what creates innovators and entrepreneurs. ErikJ Dec 2013 #110

With backing from big money. Without that, bupkis for the good ideas. And big money doesn't El_Johns Dec 2013 #111

Thanks for making my point again. ALL of them ultimately CAME from the middle class FIRST. ErikJ Dec 2013 #112

No, they didn't. Bill Gates was the great-grandson & grandson of bankers, a birth member of El_Johns Dec 2013 #113

Thats absurd. They ultimately all started out poor ErikJ Dec 2013 #114

What in the hell are you talking about? Now you're claiming that because maybe Gates' El_Johns Dec 2013 #116

I said Paul Allen was true founder of Microsoft anyway. ErikJ Dec 2013 #117

OK, now Paul Allen is the founder of MS because Gates doesn't fit your storyline. El_Johns Dec 2013 #118

Oh yeah as if university employees in the 1960's were multi-millionaires. ErikJ Dec 2013 #119

Do you always need to resort to straw men? It bespeaks the lack of a strong argument. El_Johns Dec 2013 #120

NO university job pays upper middle class except for football coach!! ErikJ Dec 2013 #121

Sorry, you have no idea what you're talking about. El_Johns Dec 2013 #123

Youre stuck on temporary income--theyre ALL from MIDDLE CLASS STOCK ErikJ Dec 2013 #126

"stock" = yeah, they're all ultimately descended from poor cavemen. El_Johns Dec 2013 #128

Youre absurd. Is that why Google's founders RENTED A GARAGE? ErikJ Dec 2013 #131

You mean the poor guys had money to RENT a garage???? El_Johns Dec 2013 #133

Right. It takes money to make money. There are TONS of talented, brilliant people valerief Dec 2013 #138

More high-tech companies started with funding from other corporations: El_Johns Jan 2014 #139

You keep asserting that but I haven't seen any evidence but your list of corporations which El_Johns Dec 2013 #101

Youre obviously incapable of understanding the point. ErikJ Dec 2013 #106

Please point me to where I (or the OP) claimed that corporations were founded by other El_Johns Dec 2013 #109

I did however point out that your premise of average Americans starting huge corporations was wrong. Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #89

I am FOR business and corporations. They DO create jobs and a strong economy. My problem ErikJ Dec 2013 #92

For the last time, your claim that 99% of these huge corporations were started by people from Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #95

I dont care if the founder is an upper middle class millionaire's son or not. ErikJ Dec 2013 #96

Edison Electric was founded from the beginning with backing from Western Union, controlled El_Johns Dec 2013 #122

Even Vanderbilt came from middle class parents ErikJ Dec 2013 #124

Oh for god's sake. You're ridiculous. El_Johns Dec 2013 #127

Again, NOTHING compared to billionaire income. ErikJ Dec 2013 #129

You don't know bupkis about "ferry operators then" & dont pretend you do. Yeah, the El_Johns Dec 2013 #130

You sound a bit bitter now-what happened? ErikJ Dec 2013 #132

Straw men & personal attacks, it's all you got. It's been fun, but I'd rather argue with someone El_Johns Dec 2013 #134

YEAH? WELL GO TELL IT TO YOUR SHRINK! ErikJ Dec 2013 #135

You have a problem. Your alleged class origin (1%) is probably why you think people of your El_Johns Dec 2013 #136

Couple more... Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #7

Exactly. WillowTree Dec 2013 #11

This message was self-deleted by its author Electric Monk Dec 2013 #23

Lovely Defense Of The Weathly HangOnKids Dec 2013 #107

Without capital how do you market, develop, manufacture your product? As you acknowledge in El_Johns Dec 2013 #14

Convince the SBA or a bank or group of investors to fund it. They dont have to be friends. nt stevenleser Dec 2013 #16

"Friends" used loosely, & if they're "friends" it sure helps to get in the door. Point 2) still El_Johns Dec 2013 #18

No, point two doesn't stand. None of the SBA or Bank or group of investors is your friend. stevenleser Dec 2013 #20

Bill Gates was rich at birth, due to his $1 million dollar trust fund from grandpa. El_Johns Dec 2013 #21

That is not a defense of OPs point number two. It has thoroughly been debunked. nt stevenleser Dec 2013 #22

What has been thoroughly debunked? El_Johns Dec 2013 #27

Your number 4 is another way to phrase my number 2 jmowreader Dec 2013 #32

Statistically speaking... Orrex Dec 2013 #41

Perhaps I am overstating the case in terms of becoming RICH... Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #42

Have you seen the statistics for the number of small businesses that succeed? Orrex Dec 2013 #44

Answers (your questions in bold) Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #52

Most small businesses fail because of lack of capital & expertise. El_Johns Dec 2013 #59

"Business plan." Igel Dec 2013 #60

A business plan isn't expertise. Expertise includes, for example, $ to hire good lawyers. El_Johns Dec 2013 #61

Good post. nt Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #72

This message was self-deleted by its author Demo_Chris Dec 2013 #71

It's a sign of lack of capital. El_Johns Dec 2013 #73

You see - that is not the REAL issue/problem, this is: The Straight Story Dec 2013 #8

Jesus Cosmocat Dec 2013 #78

You can have both ways like Al Gore! n/t indie9197 Dec 2013 #9

Or George W Bush and his dad! n/t indie9197 Dec 2013 #10

It would seem like entertainers and athletes may not fall into either category. hughee99 Dec 2013 #34

Is rich the only objective? People in Spain started the Mondragon Cooperative by borrowing jtuck004 Dec 2013 #35

There's always cheating & stealing. baldguy Dec 2013 #36

Like the famous "middle-class tinkerer" Mark Zuckerberg. First he stole some people's ideas, then El_Johns Dec 2013 #37

Do you mean that pulling myself up by my bootstraps won't work? ... Little Star Dec 2013 #38

Untrue FBaggins Dec 2013 #39

The incomparable Kurt Vonnegut addressed this quite handily: Orrex Dec 2013 #40

"'Go where the rich and the powerful are,' I'd tell him, 'and learn their ways." = so true. El_Johns Dec 2013 #70

If you are good enough pipoman Dec 2013 #43

2a) Cozy government contracts JHB Dec 2013 #46

Way Number 3: Steal it. Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #48

bull - sounds like sour grapes DrDan Dec 2013 #50

"In a moment of inspiration, Blakely cut the feet off panty house, and Spanx was born". Nye Bevan Dec 2013 #51

This just isn't true. DanTex Dec 2013 #53

BS Boom Sound 416 Dec 2013 #56

When I saw the thread title... BlueCheese Dec 2013 #62

Complete and utter horseshit. nt woolldog Dec 2013 #63

There is only one way.... Luck n/t Taitertots Dec 2013 #67

Option 3: bank robber? L0oniX Dec 2013 #68

You are dead wrong. Some of the largest companies in the world were started up simply, bluestate10 Dec 2013 #74

Can you name some of these companies started in garages, funded solely out of earnings from El_Johns Dec 2013 #77

So the take away is marybourg Dec 2013 #79

Depends on what you mean by rich Major Nikon Dec 2013 #80

Why the American obsession with "getting rich"? moondust Dec 2013 #81

How about getting a good education then a good job taught_me_patience Dec 2013 #85

For 1%ers, you are probably mostly right. Incitatus Dec 2013 #87

"founders of Google, Facebook and Ebay" El_Johns Dec 2013 #105

Most rich people are born rich or at least upper-middle class... YoungDemCA Dec 2013 #91

Not true, a friend of mine started with a bucket of doc03 Dec 2013 #102

You couldnt be more wrong. nt darkangel218 Dec 2013 #103

I don't want you on my team. Throd Dec 2013 #104

Have a good idea, whose time has come. 1000words Dec 2013 #125

What about the stock market, or flipping houses? leeroysphitz Dec 2013 #137

That's how you get rich then poor then rich then poor then rich then poor... jmowreader Jan 2014 #142

That's cute Fla_Democrat Jan 2014 #140