The latest (and renewed) Afterburner from Bill Whittle.
12 thoughts on “Rich Man, Poor Man”
Racist. Look closely, you can see the wires being pulled by Koch of th TP, an his brother Koch of the JBS.
Can we go back to that part where I get $100,000?
As great as I think the content of this video is.. I just can’t get over how good that chroma key is. If you told me that was a real studio I wouldn’t even be surprised.
Ouch, that one’s got a sting to it! Kudos to Bill for being brave enough to say it.
I think he needed to slow down a little bit at the end there but otherwise great stuff as always.
+1 to everyone so far.
When I worked in retail, this effect seemed to manifest itself pretty much any time a new product was announced/released.
“You had no problem paying what you paid for that computer four weeks ago, and you’ve been very happy with it so far. Why does it matter if something newer and faster just came out this week? You’re outside of the return period, I’m sorry. But that’s the way technology goes.”
For that matter, I’m still on a 4 year-old laptop, and my desktop PC is pushing 7 years without a major hardware upgrade (adding a RAID controller and bigger hard drives doesn’t count in my book).
As I watched this video, I was reminded of the amazing transformative powers of capitalism and free markets. How are lower-income people able to have the things wealthy people have? Because of the economics of mass production and the profit motive: manufacturers have discovered they can make more profit selling a million widgets cheaply than one expensive widget. So costs of both production and purchase are always declining. Economic freedom raises all boats, to steal a phrase. Centrally-planned economies and wealth redistribution sink them just as effectively.
How are lower-income people able to have the things wealthy people have?
Poor people have a lot of that stuff because it was given to them. Go read this New York Post article from earlier this week then go look at your cell phone bill. If you see a “Universal Service Fund” entry on your bill, it’s there to give free cell phones to poor people. The article also mention how Comcast was forced to pay a lot of money into a fund that will go to give free netbooks, laptops and Internet access to the poor. Guess who gets to pay for that, too.
When I was in high school, I volunteered at Christmas Charities. We put a lot of work into gathering toys for poor children. On Christmas Eve, we spent hours driving all over town distributing the toys. Not only were many of the families receiving the toys living better than I was (one in particular had a brand new pool table in their living room), few of them bother to thank us for our efforts. It was expected that we give to them because it was their due. This happened at home after home regardless of the race of the recipients. It was an enlightening experience.
$50k if you’re a farmer that doesn’t farm. Whittle didn’t even begin to cover the issue. 2012 can’t come soon enough.
Larry J, I have to take issue with your comment. I urge you not to paint all poor or lower middle class people with the brush of those who scam the system. Not only is it somewhat slanderous, but you’re accepting the implicit logic of those who wish to redistribute income: you can’t become better off without taking from those others who are already better off. Personally, I believe there is indeed epidemic fraud in the “entitlements,” so on that we likely agree.
But consider all the consumer goods that have either remained the same for years in the face of inflation; ones with prices that have remained the same but with vastly improved quality; or ones that have simply dropped in price. That’s what I meant, and it’s a demonstrable fact. The computer on which I’m typing this is a perfect example. And I submit that it is the outcome of a highly efficient system of production and distribution that maximization profit.
I’m not questioning your point about how capitalism has generally made things much more affordable to everyone. That is a proven fact. All I’m saying is that there is a lot of scamming going on, perhaps more than you realize. Try spending some time in places like Sumter County, Alabama and see how things work. There are families there who’ve been on welfare for over 5 generations. They know how to milk the system and how to work off the books to make more money. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, just as I’ve personally seen food stamp abuse (back when they were actual coupons). My ex-daugher-in-law grew up on the welfare roles and knows every trick to take advantage of the system.
Try working in a medical practice like my sister does and see the amount of Medicare abuse that goes on from outfits like “The Scooter Store.” There is a tremendous amount of abuse and not all of it is by poor people. There are a lot of doctors and lawyers who are scamming the system, too. My wife is a nurse who does worksman’s compensation case management for a major insurance company. She sees rampant fraud on a daily basis. The worst that ever happens is that the claimant will be caught and eventually the payments will stop. They’re almost never prosecuted or made to repay the money they took so there are no consequences to cheating the system.
You are both right. Add to that (from another thread)…
[Corporatism] manipulates the marketplace to deliver goods to political constituencies.
Imagine if enough people in this country actually believed in liberty for all?
Racist. Look closely, you can see the wires being pulled by Koch of th TP, an his brother Koch of the JBS.
Can we go back to that part where I get $100,000?
As great as I think the content of this video is.. I just can’t get over how good that chroma key is. If you told me that was a real studio I wouldn’t even be surprised.
Ouch, that one’s got a sting to it! Kudos to Bill for being brave enough to say it.
I think he needed to slow down a little bit at the end there but otherwise great stuff as always.
+1 to everyone so far.
When I worked in retail, this effect seemed to manifest itself pretty much any time a new product was announced/released.
“You had no problem paying what you paid for that computer four weeks ago, and you’ve been very happy with it so far. Why does it matter if something newer and faster just came out this week? You’re outside of the return period, I’m sorry. But that’s the way technology goes.”
For that matter, I’m still on a 4 year-old laptop, and my desktop PC is pushing 7 years without a major hardware upgrade (adding a RAID controller and bigger hard drives doesn’t count in my book).
As I watched this video, I was reminded of the amazing transformative powers of capitalism and free markets. How are lower-income people able to have the things wealthy people have? Because of the economics of mass production and the profit motive: manufacturers have discovered they can make more profit selling a million widgets cheaply than one expensive widget. So costs of both production and purchase are always declining. Economic freedom raises all boats, to steal a phrase. Centrally-planned economies and wealth redistribution sink them just as effectively.
How are lower-income people able to have the things wealthy people have?
Poor people have a lot of that stuff because it was given to them. Go read this New York Post article from earlier this week then go look at your cell phone bill. If you see a “Universal Service Fund” entry on your bill, it’s there to give free cell phones to poor people. The article also mention how Comcast was forced to pay a lot of money into a fund that will go to give free netbooks, laptops and Internet access to the poor. Guess who gets to pay for that, too.
When I was in high school, I volunteered at Christmas Charities. We put a lot of work into gathering toys for poor children. On Christmas Eve, we spent hours driving all over town distributing the toys. Not only were many of the families receiving the toys living better than I was (one in particular had a brand new pool table in their living room), few of them bother to thank us for our efforts. It was expected that we give to them because it was their due. This happened at home after home regardless of the race of the recipients. It was an enlightening experience.
$50k if you’re a farmer that doesn’t farm. Whittle didn’t even begin to cover the issue. 2012 can’t come soon enough.
Larry J, I have to take issue with your comment. I urge you not to paint all poor or lower middle class people with the brush of those who scam the system. Not only is it somewhat slanderous, but you’re accepting the implicit logic of those who wish to redistribute income: you can’t become better off without taking from those others who are already better off. Personally, I believe there is indeed epidemic fraud in the “entitlements,” so on that we likely agree.
But consider all the consumer goods that have either remained the same for years in the face of inflation; ones with prices that have remained the same but with vastly improved quality; or ones that have simply dropped in price. That’s what I meant, and it’s a demonstrable fact. The computer on which I’m typing this is a perfect example. And I submit that it is the outcome of a highly efficient system of production and distribution that maximization profit.
I’m not questioning your point about how capitalism has generally made things much more affordable to everyone. That is a proven fact. All I’m saying is that there is a lot of scamming going on, perhaps more than you realize. Try spending some time in places like Sumter County, Alabama and see how things work. There are families there who’ve been on welfare for over 5 generations. They know how to milk the system and how to work off the books to make more money. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, just as I’ve personally seen food stamp abuse (back when they were actual coupons). My ex-daugher-in-law grew up on the welfare roles and knows every trick to take advantage of the system.
Try working in a medical practice like my sister does and see the amount of Medicare abuse that goes on from outfits like “The Scooter Store.” There is a tremendous amount of abuse and not all of it is by poor people. There are a lot of doctors and lawyers who are scamming the system, too. My wife is a nurse who does worksman’s compensation case management for a major insurance company. She sees rampant fraud on a daily basis. The worst that ever happens is that the claimant will be caught and eventually the payments will stop. They’re almost never prosecuted or made to repay the money they took so there are no consequences to cheating the system.
You are both right. Add to that (from another thread)…
[Corporatism] manipulates the marketplace to deliver goods to political constituencies.
Imagine if enough people in this country actually believed in liberty for all?