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Originally Posted by jamesqf
Err... No, not this former have-not, anyway...
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I do not condone stupidity or irresponsiblity. I just think that the haves are not made up of PhD's. The haves are made up of land developers, business owners, and financiers. An upper middle class American pares in comparison to the fortunes of the wealthy. People live comfortably today, but the income gap grows every year. The natural order of society seems to be stratification...
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Originally Posted by Arminius
That is a misconception. Oil companies do not own themselves...
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I don't have an issue with someone saving up for retirement through investments, but it irks me when owners fill their Hummers from oil company dividends. It is one thing to save for retirement, it is another to save for a lavish lifestyle caravaning around the nation in a $500,000 RV.
As far as government owned oil, I think you are right to an extent. My understanding is that Royal Dutch Shell essentially owns the infrastructure of the Nigerian oil industry and is sucking the nation dry. If I was a Nigerian and saw a leech, I'd want to get rid of the thing too.
Globalization means foreign companies own the land. I wouldn't be surprised to learn of Chinese-owned farms coming the U.S. in the near future. They already own half the country via debt...
Swedish citizens average some of the highest per capita income rates in the world, yet their society is much more egalitarian than ours. We've mistakenly taken Social Darwinism as truth and show pride in our choice as we rationalize our existence through it.
"I deserve more because I am better!"
No, you deserve to
give back more because you are better! The United States is one of the most fundamentalist and devout religious nations on Earth yet it can't seem to realize that Jesus was not a wealthy king. I'm not religious, but even I can see the message...
Sorry for getting off topic, but I imagine this is the kind of dialogue that the movie is trying to create anyways...
- LostCause