I am so very TIRED of seeing stupid posts like the one below. To me it shows one area where public education has completely failed our children by not teaching them important things like basic economics. This leads to our kids having this grossly fairy tale-like, over simplified view of economics. Our kids end up with this ridiculous “Scrooge McDuck” idea that rich people simply stick their money in a giant vault somewhere and spend their free time swimming around in the money like it was a swimming pool.
“Rich people” don’t stuff their money in a giant vault and let it rot. Even if you want to assume they do you have to accept the premise that someone had to build that giant swimming pool vault for them and that that person (most likely multiple persons) got paid to do so. Rich people still have to pay for things just like everyone else. People who provide services such as chauffeurs, cleaning staff, personal assistants, plane pilots, boat captains, etc. aren’t willing to work for free any more than you or I are. And, of course, tangible items like food, gas, jet fuel, electricity and intangible things like insurance are not free to them just like they’re not free to us. This is why so many celebrities (like Brittany Spears and Nicholas Cage) and other people (lottery winners) who got rich despite their complete lack of economic understanding end up broke very quickly. So, the rich have to pay for these things just like you or I would. Hence the “trickle down” part of Trickle Down Economics. (I know you’re just dying to say something to the effect that “they don’t pay taxes” but I’m just not even going to go down that time wasting journey into madness with you right now)
And before you attempt to make the equally insane argument that the rich people don’t pay ENOUGH for those services I’m going to stop you and ask if you’ve ever tried to save money by purchasing things on sale. If you have ever driven two blocks further to get gas because that station had it for one penny less than the station closer to your house then I don’t want you to ever attempt to make that argument again. If you have ever comparison shopped, clipped a coupon, searched for a hotel with the best price, leached off of someone else’s Netflix account, used software without paying for it, pirated music files, shopped the discount isle, or ever been a customer at Wal-Mart then just don’t even go there.
What about the money they don’t spend? Well if you still have the completely unrealistic notion that the rich people just shove that money in a mattress somewhere or bury it on the beach of some remote island in the Pacific then you need to put down the comic books or turn off the TV and join us in the REAL “real world.” That money is being put to work. More often then not it gets invested in the stock market where it’s being used to help businesses expand or, in times like this, just stay afloat. Even if it’s just sitting in a savings account somewhere it’s not really doing nothing. It’s being sent back out into the economy in the form of car loans, mortgages, small business loans, student loans, etc. And let us not forget that they are not all heartless jerks, a good number of them do make charitable contributions willingly and of their own free accord.
And again, before you go opening your mouth and sounding like a moron saying that only rich people can own stock, just go open a 401k at your local bank (many can be opened for as little as $50) and start putting money into it for your retirement instead of relying on Social Security that is paid for by the ever shrinking next generation – who, by the way, seem to have no interest in working to help pay for your golden years. The money you put into a 401k is (SHOCKER) invested into the stock market to give you nice high returns when the economy does good. Like it did under Trump. When I got a nice 26% return on my investments.
Still don’t believe in Trickle Down Economics? Then how about one of many articles about how businesses that make and sell luxury items, like boats in this case, took a serious hit during the Great Recession of 2008 resulting in the loss of THOUSANDS of jobs for people just like you and me? The Slimming Down of the Boat Business – Trade Only Today
That’s right, rich people take a hit during bad economic times just like everyone else and, like us, they pull back on their spending. (I know, shocking, right? It’s almost like they’re human!) Except when they feel the pinch and quit buying things and investing in things it has the effect of there being LESS money to TRICKLE DOWN (there’s that phrase again) and HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of people lose their jobs. So remember that the next time you foolishly start demanding we tax the rich more! They’ll end up taking their toys and going someplace (Switzerland, Rio, Bahamas, ?) else leaving us sitting in the sandbox all alone.
