Meet the 1%

They're in his book. They deal with issues you would probably scoff at -- like organizing a group of locals to successfully voicing opposition to increases in utility rates. But go ahead a make fun.

 

Which led to how many new jobs?

What kind of long term success came from it?

He gave it up and went to law school because he realized he wasn't making an impact.

 

He graduated Harvard Law (where he was president of the law review) before he was a community organizer. He turned down opportunities with BigLaw to go to work in the community. You're usually not this off in your facts, YF.

 

The value of the business is already there. The employer is just making the 2 workers kill themselves for 60 hours a week and threatening them with unemployment if they complain.

 

An awful lot of people saved money because their utility rates didn't go up.

I'd count that as a success.

 

Nope.

Community organizer, then Harvard:

Then he did legal work for community organizations before practicing law. And, when he joined a firm, he choose a small firm, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, instead of joining a big corporate firm like Sidley Austin.

 

The idea that every worker who could bring marginal utility to a business is currently working is pure folly. Were all those computer engineers and junior lawyers who saw their specialties shipped off to India majoring in Romantic Lit?

 

So, let's look at a couple of different people.

One, gets hired at Home Depot or Staples, companies that were funded at start-up by Romney & Bain Capital.

One has their utility bills lowered thanks to the hard work of community organized Barack Obama.

Who was better off in the long run a a result?

 

I actually thought this would be a parody-worthy NYT story, but it was fairly even-handed.

I think there IS a difference within the super-rich -- the physician making $380k a year and the investment banker pocketing $50 million.

And this is probably just my bias showing through, but I draw a moral distinction between those who create something tangible with their wealth and those who just push money around and earn rewards by manipulating the system most successfully.

 

"Pushing money around" is at the heart of capitalism.

People bitch when banks aren't loaning, or when credit tightens. That's when people aren't "pushing money around."

And, venture capital firms private equity firms often make investments in companies that would never get (enough) bank financing.

Would we be better off without them?

 

$380,000 is super rich? Really?

 

I don't think the majority of people in this country have moral values. They will make money any way possible because they can and it is the world we live in. Look at Madoff.