I was busy with a freelance project last week, and then I was involved with Easter.
I will have a live blog at city commission this Tuesday.
Some interesting things are happening electronically. I should continue to be a lot more mobile and will be able to do more live blogs.
I have become involved in some freelance work, so I dont have as much time to hang out on here and write stuff. I hope to still get something up every day.
The political battles still rage. That debate is so pointless. Right versus left. To me, the reality is, neither left nor right, is "right."
Both are interpretations of reality, but not reality itself.
Both sides want control.
Neither side is all that interested in progress.
So I think we should take a look at both sides and reject them both.
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Look up the "Fair Tax Plan"!
ReplyDeleteIf you change the programs we currently use in America - you will change the effect politicians have on the Country!
Obamas healthcare is just another "Power Grab" by the Political elite!
The Fair Tax plan would in effect levy a National Sales tax that would abolish the IRS!
It could possibly give us a huge adavantage over the rest of the World and attract business to the U.S.!
It could potentially change the Power Base
in Washington!
Too bad there aren't any real visionaries!
If you don't think there is a point then stop writing about it & whining.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't think there is a point
ReplyDeleteYeah, there is a point!
We are now a consumer driven economy!
Our programs are antique!
Our politicians have too much POWER!
ITS TIME TO TAKE BACK AMERICA!
What I am curious about, is ... what would a taken back america look like?
ReplyDeletei know it means disposing of the current powers like the dems, but .. what is the alternative, other than just letting the pubs be in charge again.
Taking back America means sealing our borders.
ReplyDeleteSend the immigrents home. Women should be home taking care of the kids. Only english would be spoken, and blacks would know their place...
gonna give the indians back their land eh?
ReplyDelete@3:08 Ahhh...the joys of being anony-mouse. (squeak, squeak)
ReplyDelete_____________________________________________
On to more serious stuff. At least we can vent, fuss, & voice our opinions without fear for our lives. (not yet anyway) And what better place to park it than jj's blog. Thx, jj.
"what would a taken back america look like?"
IDK, but in the formation of these United States, a few very wealthy people left it all to risk life & limb. They were being taxed a whole lot LESS than we're being taxed now. You can only tax people so much. You know, like child support. When they take your whole check and leave you nothing to live on. That's where we are now. What would it look like? For starters, less taxes... Government of the people, by the people and for the people. (not just a handful who never have so much as gotten their fingernails dirty) I think that may be why this is such a firestorm discussion. People feel so helpless.
D.Q.
Anon @ 3:08
ReplyDeleteTypical liberal jibberish. You've been watching Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann & Rachel Maddow again. That is not what taking back America means so please quit trying to label people who truly care about their country and freedoms.
I guess it's working, because they've got you convinced we are all racist and haters. Surely you can think for yourself... MSLSD is not worth watching or repeating.
Most Americans also were raised with the belief that you work hard and take care of yourself and family. That's why the redistributing of wealth is hard for some of us to understand. Do some people need help sometimes? Sure they do. Do alot of people abuse it, of course. Now we have several generations of families that don't know how to take care of themselves because they've never had to. That's sad.
ReplyDeleteIf America was taken back...
ReplyDelete1. Immigration would be like Ellis Island in the 1920s. The immigrants would be checked for criminal past, disease and given the required vacines. Why are we seeing an increase in diseases like mumps and chicken pox? Illegals without proper vacinations. Why are we seeing violent Mexican drug gangs? Criminals crossing the border at will.
2. The Federal Gov't would take care of business involving forgien affairs and defense. All other items would be up to each state to decide.
3. Personal responsibility. You take a power drill into a shower and get shocked..you are a dumbass. No laweyers, no need for warning labels on the drill, and no multi-million dollar settlement.
4. Limit welfare. I have to work 50 hours a week, my money should not go to support a lazy person with 5 kids. Can't feed'em Don't breed'em.
5. CAPITALISM. If a person or company works harder than the rest, they DESERVE to make the most money. No more whining for Gov't regulations, get off your butt and compete.
6. NO MORE PC. Political correctness is a cancer on society. Right now our biggest security threat is Muslim terrorists, so we SHOULD single out middle eastern people in airport security lines. If the majority of an area is made up of a minority, and it just so happens that this minority is the most often arrested, it is NOT racial profiling, it is the law of averages.
7. People will have children because they want them, not because they need another child to earn more welfare money. If a person has a baby just to earn more welfare credit, what life will that child have? The child wasn't born for love but for money. Why do we have so many violent teens? Because they have no home life and no parents who give a damn.
America taken back will look a lot like the early 1950s, and I wish it would happen.
I love when all hell breaks loose on here.
ReplyDeletemethinks it has only just begun!!!!!!! d.
ReplyDeleteWell some good posts!
ReplyDeleteBut for starters?
Would you let a business local or otherwise take your money in advance and then refund what you didn't spend there at the end of each Year?
I can't believe how many people see their tax return as money from the Government - rather than your money the Gvoernment took in advance then returned?
Then about all those who simply get around the current tax system or settle for alot less after negoiating a lesser amount with the IRS?
(I really like the signs on TV that say we owed $3,000,000 but only paid $1,000,000!)
Or those loopholes that create favoritism?
The fact is we have simply not kept up with the times!
Our Government and alot of its programs are obsolete! Many of the programs based on a different set of metrics for a different time!
(Btw: that in itself does not make the Constitution invalid!)
One other thing - with a Fair Tax even those undocumented illegals would be paying taxes!
What do you think would happen to business and industry if Government wasn't always looking to them to pay the expenses?
Your going to have to look into the provisions of a "Fair Tax" to get the details!
i know it means disposing of the current powers like the dems, but .. what is the alternative, other than just letting the pubs be in charge again.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it means disposing of the two or even a muti-party system!
It does mean reducing or limiting their ability to manipulate programs or sytems within the Government!
It means making indivduals responsible for their own decisions!
It means making the incentives and efforts match the rewards!
It means helping those who can't help themselves stand on their own two feet!
Find them a place in Society with dignity!
A Government which promotes or provides the wrong incentives - is no better than a Pusher
or a John!
They rob people of their God given talents, their futures and HOPE!
I am the anonymous poster @ 3:08pm.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I am too far off. One only need read posts like that of 4:02pm to see what most people yearn for. An America "like it was in the 1950's." Which by the way saw an effective tax rate of 92% for income above $200,000. (The Tax Foundation posts historical tax rates on their website. From 1950 to 1963, individuals paid 91% or 92% of their income above $200,000 to the federal government.)
An America taken back would care more for it's people, and less for corporate big wigs. We give FAR more to corporate welfare than we do for social welfare. It's not even close.
ReplyDeleteWe give FAR more to corporate welfare than we do for social welfare. It's not even close.
ReplyDeleteWell you know the Dow is rising and the Stock Market is recovering to some extent and it has gone up something like 67% in the last year!
But, what you have to understand is that as much as 50% of the money in the market is being made in Emerging Markets! (Asia and China etc.)
Guess where the jobs are going?
On the one hand we have an aging Society that has part of their retirements invested in the Markets! Their depending on those returns to have a better than Social Security based retirement!
Unless your willing to figure out some way to make us competitive with those countries?
Those companies will continue to move their operations!
YOU CAN"T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
Because you can't pay enough to keep it here!
Btw: If you really want to keep them here - just nationalize them like Chavez!
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most controversial welfare programs were and continue to be those related to mothers, children, and the poor. This third tier of welfare programs,
ReplyDeleteIn 1933, as part of the New Deal, President Roosevelt created Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Essentially, individuals had to qualify for benefits by demonstrating need and by maintaining minimal assets of their own. (Stephen Ferry, Gamma Liaison Network) which received the least amount of initial funding compared to the other two, primarily targeted single mothers with children. In 1933 as part of the New Deal, Roosevelt created Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was a means-tested program. In its inception, this program was designed to be a short-term, transitional solution to the problems faced by single poor women with children, many of whom were minorities as well. Small cash benefits were offered to recipients, although the recipients were monitored by caseworkers who maintained a high degree of latitude in determining who would receive benefits and how much they would get. Although recipients were not expected to work, some Americans soon worried that these individuals were taking advantage of the system and that the benefits awarded to them were undeserved. The AFDC program quickly became the most stigmatizing welfare program to evolve from the New Deal.
Read more: Welfare Programs - Aid To Families With Dependent Children http://social.jrank.org/pages/683/Welfare-Programs-Aid-Families-with-Dependent-Children.html#ixzz0kHvJfzcY
April 5, 2010 3:08 PM,
How about going back to the thirties?
No, I'm not suggesting that either - but what AFDC started out to accomplish and what it has become today are two different animals!
Then you didn't provide the statisics for people making over $200,000 in the fifties and adjust it for inflation in todays dollars!
You want to do that for us so we can get a fair comparison?
@10:52pm. Not really sure why we would need to adjust for inflation. A percentage of income is a percentage of income.
ReplyDeleteThe average salary in 1950 was $3,800. $1.00 then had the buying power of $9.10 today. The average salary in 2009 was 45,969. Averaged out, a worker in 1950 had the buying power of $34,580 today.
ReplyDeleteExactly why going back to 50's style would never work unless the value of our dollar could keep up with todays wages. Here's what I understand from some people...I'm a working mother and if one of my children was to get in trouble I suppose some would say I was neglecting my child seeing how I don't have any close relatives to help keep an eye on them. But on the other hand, if I stayed home with them and needed some assistance for food or medical, then I would be labled lazy. Isn't this getting to be a damned if you do, damned if you don't society?
ReplyDeleteC.C.,
ReplyDeleteI understand your dilemma. I know that some folks 'need' the help. I get frustrated with those that abuse the system.
There are some who could work, but won't....
There are some who can't work, but would....
There are some who deserve help, others who demand help. There are a few who wouldn't ask for the help they need, because of the few who take all they can get.
Now, my question:
Those that are in position to determine the status of the ones who receive.... are they sitting in the office and making phone calls and sending letters, or are they actually going out to see the living conditions of those who receive help?
I just wonder sometimes. Dem or Repub, both need to answer the question!
If we measured wealth by stacks of $100 bills, and placed those stacks on a football field, the income distribution would fall something like this.
ReplyDeleteA family earning $25,000 would have a stack about 1 inch high, and would place their stack on the 28 yard line.
Median US family income (the family at the 50 yard line) is ~$40,000 (a stack of $100 bills 1.6 inches high.)
--The family on the 95 yard line earns about $100,000 per year, a stack of $100 bills about 4 inches high.
--At the 99 yard line the income is about $300,000, a stack of $100 bills about a foot high.
--The curve reaches $1 million (a 40 inch high stack of $100 bills) one foot from the goal line.
--From there it keeps going up...it goes up 50 km (~30 miles) on this scale!
(Bill Gates stack would be about 33 MILES high.)
Billionaires, which account for .0001 percent of the US population own 95% of the nations wealth.
Perhaps it is only fair to expect them to pay 95% of the tax burden.
Yeah, that stack of bills by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and even Carlos Slim of Mexico is in Stock, Companies, and jobs for their employess!
ReplyDeleteAny way you want to stack it!
^^^^
ReplyDeleteBtw: I should have added inventory/products and services for their vendors, customers and Consumers!
Your just so intent on redistributing wealth that you don't even know what wealth really consists of and that its not all about money!
The average salary in 2009 was 45,969. Averaged out, a worker in 1950 had the buying power of $34,580 today.
ReplyDeleteYou know those people of the 50's probably had
more wealth even at lower incomes - because they weren't allowed to leverage those incomes through vehicles like Credit Card Debt!
They had higher savings rates and invested in their homes!
If you take todays income levels then leverage it with debt (like credit cards) - the people of the fifties were probably more wealthy!
Indeed, people of the 50's probably had more wealth, even though most families only had one income, and the most wealthy were paying 92% of their income to taxes.
ReplyDelete@5:31 - Dismiss it however you want. It is still staggering. The pile jumps from 4 inches to 33 miles in the final 5 yards.
ReplyDelete1/10,000 of the US population owns 95/100 of the countries wealth and resources. Who do you think is calling the shots, and who do you think our laws and regulations are written to benefit?
In 1950, the richest 20 percent of Americans controlled 42.8 percent of wealth.
ReplyDeleteRead more: United States of America Poverty and wealth, Information about Poverty and wealth in United States of America http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=wealth+distribution+in+1950&d=4882140946761284&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=f9add43b,875565bc#ixzz0kSWgnJXS
Well Berkshire/Hathaway is more than Warren Buffet and Microsoft is more than Bill Gates and on and on ........!
ReplyDeleteThis country is full of rags to riches stories!
More than any other country in the world!
That is until you want to make it like all the others - Socailism or Communism!
The fact is that most all of the people today are living beyond their income! Some of that is positive debt which builds equity! Like a house or rental property or other type investment!
But, the percentage they give away in interest on Credit Cards, Car Loans ( which depriciate in value) rent ot own mechandise?
You want the wealthy to make your payments?
Btw: Do you realize how much Warren Buffet lost when the market tanked? Its working capital and its value is changing constantly! Some times for the positive and sometimes for a loss!
ReplyDelete@6:27 - "You want the wealthy to make your payments?" No, I do not expect the wealthy to make my payments. Neither do I want the wealthy to get wealthier off of predatory lending, usury, exploitation of workers...
ReplyDeleteYes we need people like Jobs, Gates, Buffet etc. to create jobs and wealth, and to grow the economy. Hard work and risk should pay off. But it has to be within reason...
I'm still not convinced anyone needs a 33 mile high stack of hundred dollar bills.
So lets put it this way!
ReplyDeleteThere is this PIE and it only has so much space! Limited to the size of its pan!
Then
Out of that PIE everyone wants their slice! Or as much as they can possibly get!
Now some people want to divide that PIE up evenly so that everyone gets the same amount!
But
There are some others who want to make the PIE bigger and Bigger and BIGGER! Keep using bigger pans so that more people can have bigger slices!
Which group of PIE makers and slicers would you SUPPORT!
Because in the end even the Poor benefit from the the wealthy who are responsible!
To whom much is given, much is required!
What if they gave it all away and the people who recieved it had no way to regenerate the same income they just received and spent?
Here's the thing that I can't seem to quite understand in this discuusion. People keep hammering on the rich in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteYet, we are spending tremendous amounts of money on foriegn oil because we can't drill on our own reserves! We are losing jobs to foriegn countries because we have become to expensive and too restrictive on our own businesses and industry!
That wealth is leaving the U.S.!
Btw: Government Motors just lost another 3+ Billion Dollars!
I'm not saying everyone should have the same size slice. I am saying everyone should have equal opportunity to be a pie maker, and everyone should have at least enough pie to survive.
ReplyDeleteFrom Pickens Plan .com
ReplyDeleteBarrels of Oil Imported by the U.S.
324 million
in March 2010% Imported from Foreign Countries
60%
in March 2010Money Sent Overseas
$27.7 Billion
in March 2010
I know I'm hogging JJ's blog! I'll stop!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously when you get all hung up on some of these things! Try to look a little deeper!
From Pickens Plan .com
You Aren’t Going to Believe How Much We Spent on Foreign Oil in 2009 …We imported 4.35 billion barrels of oil in 2009 at a cost of over half a million dollars per minute.
Yes, you read that correctly.
4.35 BILLION barrels imported in 2009.
Over $500,000 dollars spent per MINUTE on foreign oil.
That’s another $265 BILLION siphoned out of America’s struggling economy, and we still haven’t adopted a real energy plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Which end of the field are you stacking those dollars?
This entire blog distilled into one facebook thread. Awesome. http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1803025
ReplyDeleteI have been misspeaking, and wanted to apologize.
ReplyDeleteThe top .0001 % of the population does not control 95 percent of our nation's wealth. They do however have more wealth than the bottom 95% combined.
@10:01 That's so incredibly some of these threads! LOL
ReplyDeleteIf they "have" it do they not "control" it?
ReplyDeleteI just read an article not too long ago that Carlos Slim the NOW world's richest man!
ReplyDeletePositioned himself to make money on every cell phone call or text message sent in Mexico!
Who else do think would do that in Mexico?
The drug cartels?
Its what they do with their money that makes the difference!
So, you think the answer is to abolish the wealthy and with that policy the very opportunity for anyone else to get wealthy!
Except, of course the people who make those policies and their close friends!
You just wait till oil hits $200.00/barrel and it will probably sooner than later!
I don't think we should abolish the wealthy.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in earlier posts, it is the wealthy who grow jobs and the economy. But, to underpay and excessively tax the very people who are responsible for creating your wealth is wrong.
I think that we need to level the playing field, and give everyone an equal opportunity to succede. Anyone who thinks this is the case now is not really paying attention. The decks are stacked so that upper middle class children can get a "good" education, go to college, and get a job which will then bring them a "reasonable" amount of success. Even so, most of them will only aquire a pile of money 1.6 inches high. If they are really lucky, maybe 3 or 4 inches high. Very few will see piles 30 miles high. Conversely, for a great deal of people already living in poverty, whose piles are a half inch or less, it is difficult to break out of that cycle of institutional poverty. I don't care what you say, their opportunities for success are not the same. At the very least, we should ensure that anyone who works 8 hours a day, can make a living wage.
Currently, the Federal Poverty Level for a family of 2 is $14,570. Throw a child into the mix, and it jumps to $18,310.
An employee working at minimum wage, ($7.25/hr.)will earn $15,080 per year.
It is a national embarressment.
@April 7, 2010 8:43PM - "Because in the end even the Poor benefit from the the wealthy who are responsible!"
ReplyDeleteIt is a two way street. In fact, I would venture to say that the wealthy benefit far more from the poor. Our economy would grind to a halt were it not for poor people doing menial labor for minimum wage making things that they themselves will probably never be able to afford to buy.
Doesn't it make sense that our wealth distribotion should be more like a bell curve, or at the very least a slope? Instead, it is an L curve, remaining relatively flat for 95% of the population before spiking off the chart for the remaining 5%.
http://www.lcurve.org/images/LCurveFlier2003.pdf
Well I think its been said before that we as a Nation are probably headed for a two tier level of Society!
ReplyDeleteThe middle class will be split right down the middle!
So, how about reducing the number of Poor?
We done about everything possible to Destroy the family Unit Structure in our country!
That is the backbone of the Middle Class!
By itself the Destruction of the Family - creates POOR!
Its not been that long ago that I talked with a young man who was making a wage by himself that was comparative to the two combined wages of his husband and wife neighbors!
ReplyDeleteHe had several toys compared to them!
They wanted to know how he could afford those things on only one wage?
His response was?
You make the same money combined as I make - but I don't smoke and you both do, I don't go to the Casinos, and I don't drink alcohol!
So, while I agree it would be better if we had higher paying jobs with better benefits - its still up to YOU!
Btw: He had another neighbor who were Indians
(he has since moved) and they wanted to know what Govt. program he was on that let him get or acquire his toys!
Im sure there are con artists no matter what is going on. but you are still BLAMING the poor for being poor.
ReplyDeletei guess that makes it easier not to think about them, and to not help them either.
Of course, it couldnt be that people are poor because they are being exploited
Or because they don't try hard?
ReplyDeleteyou are still BLAMING the poor for being poor.
ReplyDeleteI never got offered a job or hired by a POOR
person!
I blame the poor... I used to be poor.. I had one job in the service industry and $8 an hour was good enough for me. Then I got a little older started wanting nice things. So i WORKED my ass off for a few people made a few connections and am now bringing in close to $40,000 a year... All you have to do is try. Oh and not be a complete idiot... Thats the most important thing, it still surprises me how many stupid people live in ark city
ReplyDeleteIt seems the goal of the Obama administration is to create and maintain a dependent class. We now have second and third generations of people who have relied solely on the government to pay their way through life. The democrats support this with their policy because it creates a dependent class who will always vote democrat for fear of actually having to work for a living. You think the Obama administration or democrats in general really care more about the poor people? Please. They see them as a means to stay in power and use them as such.
ReplyDelete@April 8, 2010 6:25 PM - Good for you. Although I hardly consider $40,000 per year wealthy, or even comfortable if you are married and have a few kids. That is about what I make. I don't live extravagently, rarely take a vacation, shop at Goodwill, and eat a lot of pasta, yet I still have difficulty making ends meet.
ReplyDeleteYou did say that you got ahead because of your "connections," have you stopped to ask yourself where you would be if you didn't have those connections, or if you were a young Black, or Hispanic kid, (heck, even a white kid,)in extreme poverty, growing up in the trailer park on F street?
Not everyone has the same opportunity, or "connections."
This country is full of opportunities - it's what you make of it. It's not hard to tell who works hard.
ReplyDelete@April 9, 2010 10:53 AM - "This country is full of opportunities - it's what you make of it. It's not hard to tell who works hard."
ReplyDeleteTrue enough. It is also full of disadvantages for many. You may be able to tell who works hard, but you can also tell who got ahead by luck, by pirviledge, and by "connections."
It's just time we stop blaming some of the poor for their fate, and congratulating some of the wealthy for being born in the right place and time to the right parents...
Ever hear of Pell Grants? They are grants for disadvantaged people to go to college. They are available to everyone who has the drive or determination to go to college. There are also low interest student loans. Just because someone comes from a poor household does not mean they have no future. It's there for the taking if you have the gumption to go out and do it.
ReplyDeleteA few seasons ago, ABC 20/20 did a segment on hidden racism, and prejudice in America. They took two couples with identical backgrounds. Same colleges, same degree, same work history. The only difference? One was black, the other white.
ReplyDeleteThey went shopping for cars, and the white couple got a lower price, while the black couple got a higher interest rate. The went looking for apartments, the black couple was told there were no apartments available, while the white couple was presented with several to look at.
They applied for jobs, often the white applicant was called for an interview and hired, while the black never got a 2nd look. Don't tell me it all comes down to "hard work," "drive," "determination," or "gumption." Often, that simply is not enough...
And 20/20 wanted to present that show just like they did. I don't believe that is the norm. We have a black president now and the ones mostly stiring up racism now are the liberals.
ReplyDeleteAnd @ 12:58.... You're absolutely right on that.
ReplyDeleteI think everybody needs a helping hand at some point in their lives.
Connections.... you said it yourself, it's not what I knew, but who I knew.
I'm praying for this nation, for this community. for a little compassion to flow from our hearts.
And, no, I did not say that we have to support the lazy.... Although we work hard for our money, I know many others do also. But can we who happen to have 2 dimes in our pocket, not attack those that have 2 pennies, and make them feel like nothing.
@April 9, 2010 1:59 PM - "And 20/20 wanted to present that show just like they did. I don't believe that is the norm. We have a black president now and the ones mostly stiring up racism now are the liberals."
ReplyDeleteAgain, all true. Doesn't negate the fact that it happened. And still happens. Things are much better now than just 20 or 30 years ago, but there is still a deep, insidious racism that exists in America today. Yes we elected a "black" President, but he wasn't really black, was he? And he was well spoken for a black person, wasn't he? And, electing him certainly asuaged our collective guilt about racism didn't it? I'm not saying we are a nation of racist bigots, but we do need to admit where we fall short, see our prejudice and racism, and strive to correct our errors.
I'm praying for this nation, for this community. for a little compassion to flow from our hearts.
ReplyDeleteDid it ever occur to you that what's more important than connections or "equality by force"!
Is shared "Values"?
I have met plenty of people of all races and backgrounds - but the only ones I can really connect with are the ones with whom I share the same basic "Values". (That doesn't mean the exact same religious beliefs or faith but basic values of family, country, work etc.).
So, should I compromise my beliefs, morals and inner compass?
Should I support people of any color, race or creed who simply want to destroy the things I hold in deep regard or cherish?
There is a "Common Good and a Common Justice"
Its really not that hard to see who really wants help and who wants or demands a HANDOUT!
@10:18
ReplyDeleteI was extremely poor growing up. My mother raised me on less than $15,000 a year until i was in high school. Those connections i have are because i made them for myself. Taking advantage of every opportunity that came my way. And $40,000 is plenty if you know how to live. I have nice things that i saved up for to buy. I dont have a new vehicle because i refuse to be trapped into payments and rediculous insurance premiums. But i enjoy my life and others could to if they started busting their ass instead of blaming other people.
I think this will be my last post on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI commend and congratulate you on your success.
Yes, sometimes hard work pays off, and if anyone is going to succeed, it will take hard work.
You struggled, and made it out of poverty. Certainly, some people do. But, for the vast majority, there is no way out... No matter how hard they work. That is a fact.