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A conservative I know asked why is it that liberals hated the rich. I can’t speak for others, but I don’t hate the rich...I hate the INFLUENCE the rich have over the masses that we don’t have over them. Example...I can go my whole life and never affect a Koch brother...but a Koch brother can use their money and influence to affect MY life. They should go count their money, see the world, buy all the homes and planes they want...but the minute they try to affect ME, screw them.

Rideauxb 7 May 19
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22 comments

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10

It's the rich and their callous indifference to the suffering of the poor that's to hate.

Women sold their teeth and hair for a meal and children prostituted themselves because they were starving to death like animals in pre revolutionary France. The rich simply didn't care about 'Les Miserables' and were in fact exacerbating their suffering - hence the French revolution.

And the rich only get rich off of the labour of the working class. Eg. Some Amazon employees need to claim food stamps, but their boss Jeff Bezos is a multi billionaire. He is only rich because of their labour.

7

Every time I hear a conservative define what a liberal is, it sounds nothing like any liberal I've ever known. They have their straw man version of a liberal that they love to attack, because he is so easy to put down.

7

Rich, poor has nothing to do with whom I respect or not. I love Bill & Melinda Gates and Elon Musk and many others who are both rich and generous and earned it honestly by doing good for humanity and continue to give back. Mighty short-sighted to say that Liberals hate the rich. I think we hate what the rich become through their normal insatiable GREED and disrespect of others. That's what I dislike about Conservatives... greed, disrespect and let's throw in self-serving ignorance, as well.

7

As a liberal I don't hate the rich. I do hate their influence, and I hate that we live in a system in which people starve, or are homeless, or die because some people have a disproportionate amount of the resources. I hate that they bitch about taxes when they (like everyone else) benefit from them. I hate the ones who feel that being rich makes them better than others. I think it's wrong that they can buy elections and politicians.

6

Since others have expressed that it isn't the "rich" who are hated, but their influence, I won't repeat what I agree with.
I will, however, point out that this is just another fallacy that conservatives like to perpetuate, rather than face the actual truth of the matter.
They lionize the rich, seeing them as more successful than themselves, and buying
into their unrealistic and irrational disregard for those they deem "less than" themselves.
It's a class thing. Although, it doesn't explain how they (the conservatives) admire and support these particular people above their own self-interests.
Far too many 45 supporters (mostly poor and uneducated) voted against their own best interests, and those of their families and communities. Many of them didn't even realize that the ACA, which many of them rely upon for their healthcare, was just another name for "Obamacare", which they detested. They applauded 45 for crowing about how he would dismantle it. Not realizing that they would suffer for it. 45's racism and pathological loathing of Obama extended to, and appealed to, their own racism, and irrational fears of anyone they didn't understand. The most recent republican tax cuts are only providing temporary cuts for average Americans, but permanent cuts for corporations and the very wealthy. They're trying to sell "trickle-down" economics again, despite the fact that it has NEVER worked. Yet, their base still believes them.
A genius once remarked that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.
Sure, many of them will try to argue that no one should be helping the poor, or disabled, or elderly, or children. If you can't afford your own healthcare (even if you're working) you should be shit outta luck. That position usually doesn't extend to their own families though.
Conservatives are generally some of the worst hypocrites around. They put forth these arguments that they feel are well-reasoned. but are rooted in racism and antipathy.
They like throwing around words like "fascist" and "socialist", "personal responsibility", and quite a few others, but rarely do they understand the meaning of those words. Instead of being able to intelligently argue their positions, they automatically attack whomever has the temerity to challenge them.
In many ways, they're every bit as bad as the "true believers".
Now, watch the responses I get. I will be branded a liberal and/or a democrat, and a lefty, and a communist.
The personal attacks will be vitriolic and full of misplaced rage. I'll be called un-American and a traitor. It's all happened before. Even on this site.
This has been my experience whenever I try to engage with the majority of them.

@NotConvinced That has not been my experience. I'll have to take your word for it.

@NotConvinced There are more than just two sides. Not everyone falls under the conservative or liberal label.
Not being either, perhaps it's easier for me see to that.

@Beach_slim You only see what you want to see.
You've made that abundantly clear in our previous interactions.

@NotConvinced I did not accuse you of anything. I made a general statement. How you perceived it has nothing to do with my intent.

6

i pretty much hate the rich

5

I echo many of the sentiments on this page.
For me this is a choice of both philosophy, ethics and worldview.

I do not live a compartmentalized life, by ethical choice and of necessity as well.
The wealthy do, it is a by product of wealth.
One cannot enjoy their yacht, or Lamborghini AND FEEL the plight of the poor, or the guilt would force you to not have the Lambo. So they compartmentalize, willfully turn the blind eye with the rationalization "I deserve this"
Ethically that implies they also believe little kids deserve to go hungry to, but they do not, and take offense at the very notion, because they compartmentalize all such nasty considerations and simply never allow themselves to think them. This becomes easier and easier to do, until they do not even notice what they have become.
To the point of Trump calling people animals, partly due to race but MORE due to poverty, and thinking to himself "Why are people upset about this?"
Compartmentalized, so used to dehumanizing humans that they no longer take any note of it, UNLESS that person is of their WEALTH class. Human is not a matter of blood and bone for them, but of bank accounts and holdings.

I consciously chose NOT to chase wealth as a young man.
I chose another path.
The ethics of the wealthy often make me wretch.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

@Beach_slim Statisticaly speaking, FUCK NO
But most of those people ARE on that road with little ability due to circumstance.
While I have the luxury to be in a first world country and therefore can CHOOSE to pursue experiences rather than Wealth.
In the 3rd world wealth equates to survial.

@Beach_slim You think the chicken costs less?

4

I don't hate the rich. I wouldn't mind rich myself, but when they buy all the Senate, House, and presidency, and use them to make more money, no matter how they damage the environment or animals, that is what I hate. When they feel entitled and superior, and are so amoral that they think it is their right, that is what I hate. A lot of my conservative friends call me a hater, because I fight tooth and nail against Trump, but I wonder if they are self loathing, because he can do any low down, terrible thing to them, and they worship the ground he walks on. They consistently vote against their own self interest. Being rich is great, I imagine. Be an asshole isn't, whether you are rich or poor.

4

Agreed. And yet the god they love so much, the J man, Matthew 19:24 : And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

3

I kinda hate the people who were born on third base thinking they hit a triple and telling others to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

When money can buy more money through favors and influence, and class mobility is so restricted that the idea of meritocracy is more worthy of an eye roll than of consideration.... that’s when there is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed

3

I hate the undue influence that they have, and the fact that many of them really want to lord it over over andxd take advantage of us at their whim. But Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are two fine, moral rich men -- unlike the Koch's, Trumps, and too damned many others.

2

I’m more of an anarchist than liberal, and I dislike the rich hoarding all on the money.

2

You hate the influence of rich guys who are dicks. Not all rich guys are dicks, but the ones who are dicks can disproportionately cause damage. The good rich guys are out-gunned, I'll give you that, but they are out there. For the record, I'm a good guy, but I am not rich. I do what I can.

2

The social contract is broken and that is the rich are hated, they are addicted to the game of making without remembering we are in business in the first place. When that inequality and disconnect occurs then there is a breakdown in society, that's what we are seeing now.

2

Well said.

1

I hate the rich people who use their wealth for corrupt purposes and make life difficult for the rest of us. Is that so difficult to understand?

1

good point

1
1

I sit here tonight thinking about hating a person or group of people because of their wealth. In fact, I can't think of any person or group of people I hate. I consider myself liberal in the way I vote, but I'm not ready to condemn anyone for who they are or what they own. I have enough to be concerned with minding my own business.

0

rich don't influence me

0

Reckon you are not cut out to live in a kingdom.

0

They do prove evolution somewhat, 'survival of the fittest', being the secrete mantra of theirs.

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