General Discussion

wickerwoman

(5,662 posts)

97. Strongly suggest you watch "The Queen of Versailles"

Thu Feb 6, 2014, 03:49 PM

Feb 2014

And you also need to account for rock stars, sports stars, actors and supermodels. Not all of them are idiots, but you certainly don't need a genius level IQ to lounge around in a bikini and cash fat checks.

Ozzy Osbourne is worth $140 million for starters. Bo Derek can barely form a coherent sentence but is worth $50 million. Then you have the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, Ivanka Trump etc.

Lots of people get rich through blind luck or hard work + luck. Lots of people are talented and work hard and aren't so lucky.

There isn't one quality (or even six) that defines the 1% and explains their success.

But I think what makes the orginial quote so ridiculous is that many 1%ers don't have jobs at all. Maybe one or two people in the family work hard but then everyone else just leeches off them.

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Highlight:

Billionaire Sam Zell: "The 1% work harder." [View all] Are_grits_groceries Feb 2014 OP

Delusional, dishonest, or both??? Scuba Feb 2014 #1

It is comparing apples to oranges yeoman6987 Feb 2014 #56

He's probably a lot like my 'businessman' ex laundry_queen Feb 2014 #90

You know absolutely nothing about that world. Egalitarian Thug Feb 2014 #115

+1 a shit load! Enthusiast Feb 2014 #147

A*holes stick together durablend Feb 2014 #2

Yep. It needs a good dusting and oiling. hobbit709 Feb 2014 #4

He's partially right on this point. hobbit709 Feb 2014 #3

Please proceed asshole. tridim Feb 2014 #5

Wait? Are you talking to me? nt Are_grits_groceries Feb 2014 #69

LOL no. tridim Feb 2014 #80

I once had a post hidden for what you did. Lol Hassin Bin Sober Feb 2014 #146

There's a lot more to it than that. badtoworse Feb 2014 #6

7. They inherited wealth UncleMuscles Feb 2014 #9

Well said. JaneyVee Feb 2014 #14

None of those things apply to the rich people I know. - nt badtoworse Feb 2014 #15

I have worked in many exclusive places .... AnneD Feb 2014 #36

Yes, socialization is very different for working class people and wealthy people deutsey Feb 2014 #28

my experience as well... dhill926 Feb 2014 #57

Yep. I was public school all the way until grad school in my 40s... Hekate Feb 2014 #84

Statistically, those are small numbers joeglow3 Feb 2014 #38

Your experience is exactly what I was I was talking about... badtoworse Feb 2014 #45

An honest question wryter2000 Feb 2014 #106

I have found that situation is not as common as you may think. joeglow3 Feb 2014 #110

Thank you for your honest answer wryter2000 Feb 2014 #112

At a minimum, I am disgusted with people I have worked with joeglow3 Feb 2014 #122

I can't disagree with you there wryter2000 Feb 2014 #125

Like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama?? Bandit Feb 2014 #58

they didn't come from wealthy families. GW Bush did. nt alp227 Feb 2014 #72

I know, I was making a point about his use of such a wide brush. Bandit Feb 2014 #75

The top 5 percenters I'm related to didn't inherit squat. They work really hard, all the time. Shrike47 Feb 2014 #83

... SammyWinstonJack Feb 2014 #99

BINGO! The number one predictor of "financial success" is being born to money, period. Egalitarian Thug Feb 2014 #116

Care to back that up? joeglow3 Feb 2014 #138

Seriously? Are_grits_groceries Feb 2014 #10

Well said! smokey nj Feb 2014 #11

You lose nothing by doing the things I mentioned... badtoworse Feb 2014 #12

Seriously II? Are_grits_groceries Feb 2014 #13

It seems to be a theme in other threads with that one. Rex Feb 2014 #17

Statistically, that is a small number joeglow3 Feb 2014 #86

Yeah I know some of them to, a few are still rich. Rex Feb 2014 #88

I'm speaking from my own personal experience badtoworse Feb 2014 #18

Which seems to be very limited. nt Are_grits_groceries Feb 2014 #20

unbelievably limited UncleMuscles Feb 2014 #51

"I don't know any rich people that aren't smart" UncleMuscles Feb 2014 #50

I'm talking about people that I personally know well badtoworse Feb 2014 #52

what do you mean by "rich?" UncleMuscles Feb 2014 #53

Net worth at least $2 million badtoworse Feb 2014 #54

and what does he/she mean by 'smart' hfojvt Feb 2014 #67

My husband and I earned Ph.D.s from Ivy League institutions and NONE of the candidates came anneboleyn Feb 2014 #134

Most people I know who have done well have done so with some sort of social subsidy. haele Feb 2014 #77

Really? How about GW Bush? choie Feb 2014 #66

Strongly suggest you watch "The Queen of Versailles" wickerwoman Feb 2014 #97

Let's be realistic. Becoming part of the 1% is unlikely to happen to any of us badtoworse Feb 2014 #103

I'm not going to argue wickerwoman Feb 2014 #126

You seem to know a lot of millionaires who fit a certain profile. anneboleyn Feb 2014 #135

And the final point for success is in the nature of hierarchy, which is how humans socialize. haele Feb 2014 #70

Ugh, thank YOU! That first list was especially condescending. nt laundry_queen Feb 2014 #92

We know very different rich people. Starry Messenger Feb 2014 #21

Sorry, your list is NOT typical of the 1%, quite the opposite actually. JaneyVee Feb 2014 #22

"The rich people I know actively avoid hard work like the plague." KansDem Feb 2014 #46

Did George Bush work hard? Ikonoklast Feb 2014 #29

I don't know. Do you have an informed opinion? badtoworse Feb 2014 #31

Well, here he is "working hard" after learning of the second WTC attack KansDem Feb 2014 #40

The one percent and their trust blunderer off-spring are ruining the nation. kairos12 Feb 2014 #114

well he said it himself hfojvt Feb 2014 #55

"Prezidentin is hard work!" Ikonoklast Feb 2014 #136

The top 5% minus the 1% is about $160K to $250K JHB Feb 2014 #35

still, do they really work any harder? hfojvt Feb 2014 #64

Is that really where the fight is, politically? Especially nationally? JHB Feb 2014 #78

I think it IS where the fight is politically hfojvt Feb 2014 #93

K & R for this post nt riderinthestorm Feb 2014 #142

"hard" is a poor choice of words joeglow3 Feb 2014 #91

and I blew it by NOT majoring in accounting hfojvt Feb 2014 #95

You are overlooking something laundry_queen Feb 2014 #102

I know a lot of people who went to college and got degrees joeglow3 Feb 2014 #107

I never said lower the wages. Not once. laundry_queen Feb 2014 #113

I agree with making the tests harder joeglow3 Feb 2014 #117

exactly, the 160k to 250 k are not the problem questionseverything Feb 2014 #79

Why just one? JHB Feb 2014 #98

gotta start somewhr questionseverything Feb 2014 #111

Yeah, they're something of a "if you can't find what you're looking for... JHB Feb 2014 #130

Um, okay. hunter Feb 2014 #63

Yeah Mitt Romney, Charles and David Koch worked hard for their inheritance. tenderfoot Feb 2014 #68

Items one through six sound like a rather accurate description of Ken Lay... LanternWaste Feb 2014 #85

you mentioned what they have; here's what they don't have: a conscience. nt TheFrenchRazor Feb 2014 #118

What qualifies you to make that statement? badtoworse Feb 2014 #120

the proof is in the pudding, isn't it? nt TheFrenchRazor Feb 2014 #145

You said the magic word, LUCK notadmblnd Feb 2014 #128

Good points, but being in the top 5% is very different from being in the ownership class. Incitatus Feb 2014 #148

Depends on your definition of work seabeckind Feb 2014 #7

"The billionaire chairman of Equity Group Investments ..." KansDem Feb 2014 #41

Well, in all fairness, nobody said they had to be intelligent or compassionate. Rex Feb 2014 #8

What a steaming pile of bullshit. City Lights Feb 2014 #16

sure they do ... harder at being sociopathic assholes. Tuesday Afternoon Feb 2014 #19

They sure do! n2doc Feb 2014 #23

They can't wait to get home and take a hot shower... kentuck Feb 2014 #24

Yes, like a big ol' turd being expelled from a fat man's asshole rock Feb 2014 #25

Thousands, 100s of thousands, million times harder BeyondGeography Feb 2014 #26

********** Urgent Action ********** eossipov Feb 2014 #27

Done The Blue Flower Feb 2014 #37

There are 2 threads about the act: muriel_volestrangler Feb 2014 #39

They really believe this. ananda Feb 2014 #30

They do laundry_queen Feb 2014 #104

Maybe they should take some time off treestar Feb 2014 #32

His wikipedia page Ichingcarpenter Feb 2014 #33

A CNBC favorite . .. just like fellow shitpigs Ken Langone and Bernie Marcus. HughBeaumont Feb 2014 #34

Our wealthy class is the most pampered, hypersensitive collection of crybabies on the planet. Marr Feb 2014 #42

The 1% are mstinamotorcity2 Feb 2014 #43

if you two factories too close together, just buy them and close one! don't be lazy! unblock Feb 2014 #44

The Children of The 1% Don't Work At All otohara Feb 2014 #47

I'd love to see him spend just one week working two minimum wage jobs while taking mass transit riderinthestorm Feb 2014 #48

No Mr Asshole. If we taxed you enough you'd have to produce more volume and hire more workers... L0oniX Feb 2014 #49

The 1% wouldnt last till lunchtime in my line of work. nt Earth_First Feb 2014 #59

Man those dudes really think there shit doesn't stink. upaloopa Feb 2014 #60

His father was a successful grain broker in Poland, became a successful wholesale jewelry dealer El_Johns Feb 2014 #61

He probably paid one of his flunkies to outline his "talking points". Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2014 #62

...at justifying their parasitic existences." n/t Orsino Feb 2014 #65

They measure work's value by the dollars earned. Trillo Feb 2014 #71

Yeah, they work hard at shafting the rest of us. alarimer Feb 2014 #73

The super rich don't "work" at all.. SomethingFishy Feb 2014 #74

My first thought MadashellLynn Feb 2014 #131

There you have it: Poverty is a moral failing, a character flaw. All better now? Hekate Feb 2014 #76

Knitting needles ready! (n/t) SMC22307 Feb 2014 #81

On the occasions I had to work as an assistant/secretary to the CEO of Cleita Feb 2014 #82

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday SomethingFishy Feb 2014 #87

I can't imagine anyone's eight hour day being worth hundred of thousands of Cleita Feb 2014 #89

Zell is an interesting character... Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 #94

Or he works on insider information. Cleita Feb 2014 #96

It is Accurate to blame those whose actions resulted in distruction. eossipov Feb 2014 #100

Indeed! HangOnKids Feb 2014 #119

They really believe they EARNED IT! liberal N proud Feb 2014 #101

pitchforks and torches.... mike_c Feb 2014 #105

Yeah, well, then why are my closets still in disarray if he's workin so hard? Kurovski Feb 2014 #108

Holy Shit I Feel You Brother HangOnKids Feb 2014 #132

Hey, sister! Kurovski Feb 2014 #149

I know people who are rich because they worked their asses off building a business. Nye Bevan Feb 2014 #109

If each of us started with nothing and lived in a vacuum then, yes, nyquil_man Feb 2014 #121

if the whole world emulated the 1%, as this halfwit suggests... Javaman Feb 2014 #123

Sure the 1% work harder.... sendero Feb 2014 #124

I saw the jerk was on Bloomberg yesterday making an ass out of himself. He started to rant about lostincalifornia Feb 2014 #127

I know a number of very rich people and they are mainly lucky Gothmog Feb 2014 #129

Andrea Tantaros on Fox (regarding the 99%): "they sit around eating fried chicken" anneboleyn Feb 2014 #133

watch out ...Karma's a bitch! DemForLife Feb 2014 #137

Yeah. Bankrupting the Chicago Tribune is hard work. GoCubsGo Feb 2014 #139

BULL CRAP ! Liberalynn Feb 2014 #140

Fuck you Zell! Texasgal Feb 2014 #141

Did you know some of our soldiers are so lazy that they qualify for food stamps? TheKentuckian Feb 2014 #143

sooooo what he's saying is that people should be paid precisely according to how hard they work? MisterP Feb 2014 #144