Bill Gates is Still the Richest Man in America with $66 Billion

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On the one hand, congratulations to them. On the other hand, there's something wrong when so much wealth is controlled by so few individuals, especially while the median income of ordinary Americans has continued to decline in real terms over the last 20 years.

To me, these lists always pose the question, how much is enough? At what point do people say, "hey, monetary systems were a great way to get us away from bartering, but it shouldn't be a system that segregates wealth from the majority of the human beings on the planet" . . .
 
[citation][nom]drwho1[/nom]With all that money and he couldn't afford a START button on Windows 8.[/citation]

If you hate not having it so much, then either don't upgrade or do upgrade and put one in yourself with Classic Shell, ViStart, Start8, or any other such program. It's free.
 
how much was amd worth again....
Interestingly, Gates and Buffett have managed to retain their titles as the first and second wealthiest people in America while also earning themselves the title of the most generous guys in the world. According to Forbes, the two have given away a combined $45 billion.
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amd should ask these guys for a bailout.
 
[citation][nom]jason_1975[/nom]On the one hand, congratulations to them. On the other hand, there's something wrong when so much wealth is controlled by so few individuals, especially while the median income of ordinary Americans has continued to decline in real terms over the last 20 years.To me, these lists always pose the question, how much is enough? At what point do people say, "hey, monetary systems were a great way to get us away from bartering, but it shouldn't be a system that segregates wealth from the majority of the human beings on the planet" . . .[/citation]

I'm sure you can find a plane ticket to head to over to socialist Europe or the People's Republic of China and meet plenty of people who agree with you.

 
[citation][nom]jason_1975[/nom]On the one hand, congratulations to them. On the other hand, there's something wrong when so much wealth is controlled by so few individuals, especially while the median income of ordinary Americans has continued to decline in real terms over the last 20 years.To me, these lists always pose the question, how much is enough? At what point do people say, "hey, monetary systems were a great way to get us away from bartering, but it shouldn't be a system that segregates wealth from the majority of the human beings on the planet" . . .[/citation]

Jason, I disagree with you on this. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett both earned their money, nobody can deny that. They're both geniuses and contributed fundamentally in their separate fields. I'd be more concerned about the society that decided to take the money that they rightfully earned. Just because "there's more of us than there are of them" doesn't entitle our government to take away what they have earned. When humans are no longer compensated for hard work and originality, we get lazy and unproductive, breaking the system for everyone.

Also, consider how incredibly generous these two men are. If they earned their money on the backs of slave labor and through oppression, we'd be having a different discussion. But I'd rather have them have the money than drug lords or arms dealers or slavers, etc. Gates and Buffett are making a substantial positive difference in the world through the blessings they have. So please don't equate "they have and I don't" with "I deserve and they don't".

I'm a long, long, long, long way from having that kind of money. But as long as we live in a society that rewards hard work and originality, I can dream of prosperity. And if our society remains capitalist, that dream can be realized someday. And I am so grateful for that.
 
I applaud you, Bill for all your charity works. Hope you can retain that America richest man title years to come. I wouldn't want to see egomaniacal like Ellison get that title.
 
[citation][nom]iinlane[/nom]So Mexico is not in America any more? Carlos Slim Helu is the richest man in the world.[/citation]

No Mexico is not part of America, its on the same continent, north America, but this was the "richest people in America" the country, not the continent.

Additionally Slim has made at least part of his fortune in a questionable way. He own's virtually all mobile and land line phone companies in Mexico, and charges the highest rates of any country for phone usage in the world.
 
I'm with jason, but for me it falls more on the fact that it's nice to be lucky. See, we won't have this chance lol, where HOW could you earn that type of cash with the dollar disappearing? Bill Gates in noting more than an above average baby boomer an they can all rot imho.

I don't want to achieve what he did, I want my fellow man to be able to live and no longer struggle. There for I am not biased to be controlled by this fiat "cash" imaginary land. Keep reaching for that brass ring..pfft.
 
[citation][nom]Raid3r[/nom]I'm with jason, but for me it falls more on the fact that it's nice to be lucky. See, we won't have this chance lol, where HOW could you earn that type of cash with the dollar disappearing? Bill Gates in noting more than an above average baby boomer an they can all rot imho.I don't want to achieve what he did, I want my fellow man to be able to live and no longer struggle. There for I am not biased to be controlled by this fiat "cash" imaginary land. Keep reaching for that brass ring..pfft.[/citation]

Bill gates was an expert programmer in a time where there were far fewer expert programmers. He could be said to have gotten lucky in that he bought the origins of DOS for a thousand bucks from some guy and sold it to IBM for millions or something like that (kinda a dick move), but he still did a lot. He wasn't just some average guy.

Warren Buffett makes his money by buying dying companies and bringing them back to life. They got their money by being smart and they shouldn't have it taken away unless they broke laws that say otherwise. Whether or not other people deserve to have issues that these people don't have isn't what's being questioned. Besides, that Warren and Bill have put in over $45B in charity would imply that they're trying to help the common person.
 
[citation][nom]dalethepcman[/nom]No Mexico is not part of America, its on the same continent, north America, but this was the "richest people in America" the country, not the continent.Additionally Slim has made at least part of his fortune in a questionable way. He own's virtually all mobile and land line phone companies in Mexico, and charges the highest rates of any country for phone usage in the world.[/citation]
Technically, America refers to the Americas (North, Central, and South). The proper name for the US is the United States of America. Any other country in the Americas could technically refer to themselves the same way. Brazil of America. Peru of America. Canada of America. Mexico of America.
 
I should also note that for the record, most people, when they hear or read "America" usually automatically assume the country being discussed is the USA, but I digress... it all starts being semantics.
 
[citation][nom]vertigo_2000[/nom]Technically, America refers to the Americas (North, Central, and South). The proper name for the US is the United States of America. Any other country in the Americas could technically refer to themselves the same way. Brazil of America. Peru of America. Canada of America. Mexico of America.[/citation]

True, but when we say American, it's almost always referring to the USA as far as I'm aware.
 
[citation][nom]blazorthon[/nom]True, but when we say American, it's almost always referring to the USA as far as I'm aware.[/citation]
The whole thing is part of the "hate all things American" fad I've been noticing, if it's American people will find a reason to argue against it or hate it. The name America is one of the biggest even though those exact people who argue against it know when the comments are about the USA or about other places in the continent. It's the same as them arguing against the name football for the sport played in America, they know why it is called that they call it American Football yet they still argue against it cause it's cool.
 
[citation][nom]kawininjazx[/nom]I'm sure you can find a plane ticket to head to over to socialist Europe or the People's Republic of China and meet plenty of people who agree with you.[/citation]

So you think China is socialist?
 
[citation][nom]jason_1975[/nom]On the one hand, congratulations to them. On the other hand, there's something wrong when so much wealth is controlled by so few individuals, especially while the median income of ordinary Americans has continued to decline in real terms over the last 20 years.To me, these lists always pose the question, how much is enough? At what point do people say, "hey, monetary systems were a great way to get us away from bartering, but it shouldn't be a system that segregates wealth from the majority of the human beings on the planet" . . .[/citation]I agree and I don't. I think people should be able to work their way up and become rich. Unfortunately too many rich people scam, cheat, and step on the backs of others to get there. I don't think Gates and Buffet did that, but it's definitely a common practice among the most greedy people. They gouge customers, stomp out the competition so they can monopolize the market, lie in their advertising, cut corners on product quality, pollute the land instead of investing in clean tech.... and they find tax loopholes to avoid paying billions to the government, which hurts all sorts of social programs.

THOSE are the people who control the majority of wealth, and those people don't deserve it imo.
 
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