Is this the opposite of Dudeism?

[BikerDude]

Very undude commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJSI48gkFc

Actually on Real Time Bill Maher rips it up. Calls it "40 seconds of everything that is wrong about America"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjqIgeFR6Ds

[Reverend Al]

I liked how Maher briefly described it as "prick patriotism".  Unfortunately, I think that guy in the commercial (the character, that is, not the actor) is how most of (if not all of) the rest of the world views Americans--brash Alpha assholes who have been brainwashed into believing all of that "He who dies with the most toys wins" bullshit.  Sadly, to a degree they're not wrong--there are people on this planet who don't have access to clean drinking water on a daily basis, yet we sit and laugh at You Tube videos of some asshole losing his/her shit just because there was too much foam in his/her caf? au lait.  America may or may not be the "greatest" country on Earth, but our priorities are definitely screwed up.

[Leopoldrose]

That actor played a pretty rad bad guy in Justified. A worthy adversary.

[BikerDude]

I liked how Maher briefly described it as "prick patriotism".  Unfortunately, I think that guy in the commercial (the character, that is, not the actor) is how most of (if not all of) the rest of the world views Americans--brash Alpha assholes who have been brainwashed into believing all of that "He who dies with the most toys wins" bullshit.  Sadly, to a degree they're not wrong--there are people on this planet who don't have access to clean drinking water on a daily basis, yet we sit and laugh at You Tube videos of some asshole losing his/her shit just because there was too much foam in his/her caf? au lait.  America may or may not be the "greatest" country on Earth, but our priorities are definitely screwed up.

I would be 100% on board with the entire thing expressed in the commercial but the reality is that you have a system that is increasingly rigged to make the "self made man" an impossibility. And not by accident. This new macho brand of capitalism worship is delusional. As a society we sell an idea to the average person and work very hard to institutionalize it's impossibility. The idea that if you work hard you get ahead is a scam. The whole idea behind it is what it suggests. That anyone who isn't rich just didn't work hard enough. The reality is that the most wealthy are not part of the working class. Period.
In the US the majority of personal wealth is inherited.
And right now we are in a system where the return on capital is higher than the percent of economic growth.
That means that the 400 individuals who's personal wealth is greater than over 50% of the entire US population will get a larger and larger percentage of the entire wealth of the US without doing anything at all. What today is greater than 51% becomes 52% then 53% and at an accelerating rate. And most importantly they have a vested interest in keeping growth low. This didn't used to be possible because for the wealthy to get wealthier they needed to employ more and more people. So growth of the economy followed lockstep the growth of fortunes. Today the ideal is getting very wealthy in a US economy where people barely scrape by and you employ virtual slave labor over seas.


If wealth was a function of hard work and ingenuity as the delusion suggests then I'd agree 100% with the commercial. But it's bullshit.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2014/03/inequality

Whenever the rate of return on capital is significantly and durably higher than the growth rate of the economy, it is all but inevitable that inheritance (of fortunes accumulated in the past) predominates over saving (wealth accumulated in the present).... Wealth originating in the past automatically grows more rapidly, even without labor, than wealth stemming from work, which can be saved.

We've allowed the bean counters to run the system and they've rigged it in their own favor.

It's a scam and it's all about keeping the interests of the majority from being powerful by making everyone an individual rather than part of a cooperative group.
Pitting people against each other by selling the idea that the best thing a person can be is a "rugged individual". It's Hollywood bullshit. A very specific strategy.
Pathetically it works the best on the male of the species.
Of course nobody is less of an individual and more part of a cooperative group than the very wealthy in gated communities and country clubs and a handful of elite universities paying for influence and rigging the system for their group. They really really know the value of cooperation in the name of common interests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL6Jv2Jpnpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeNc5y7lpYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH4OlCYWOHU

[BikerDude]

I will say that this is universally true as gravity.

Life is like a shit sandwich.
The more bread you have, the less shit you have to eat.

[jgiffin]

According to http://www.wealthx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WealthX_NFP_FamilyWealthTransfersReport-2014.pdf , fully 68% of the "ultra-rich" are self-made. That's hardly a closed-door policy. Want more (admittedly anecdotal) evidence? Look at the five richest people in the world.

1.  Bill Gates. Born middle class. Excelled scholastically but dropped out of Harvard and founded a little mom-and-pop biz called Microsoft. First generational wealth.

2.  Carlos Slim. Looks like his parents were very successful. Nothing on the order of second richest dude on the planet but, still, second generational wealth.

3.  Warren Buffet. Father was a politician but, from what I can see, not that wealthy. Warren famously sold door-to-door, worked in his grandfather's store, and did other random small time jobs. I'm calling this first generational wealth.

4.  Amancio Gaona. Dude's father was a railway worker in Spain. First generational wealth.

5.  Larry Ellison. Passed around like a hot potato as a child and ultimately raised in a middle class Chicago neighborhood. First generational wealth.

Granted, very few have very much. Over the next 30 years those ultra-rich are going to bequeath something like $16T to the next generations. (See initial source report). But what is the answer - prevent people from doing as they wish with their own property? Something wicked that way lies.

[BikerDude]

According to http://www.wealthx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WealthX_NFP_FamilyWealthTransfersReport-2014.pdf , fully 68% of the "ultra-rich" are self-made. That's hardly a closed-door policy. Want more (admittedly anecdotal) evidence? Look at the five richest people in the world.

1.  Bill Gates. Born middle class. Excelled scholastically but dropped out of Harvard and founded a little mom-and-pop biz called Microsoft. First generational wealth.

2.  Carlos Slim. Looks like his parents were very successful. Nothing on the order of second richest dude on the planet but, still, second generational wealth.

3.  Warren Buffet. Father was a politician but, from what I can see, not that wealthy. Warren famously sold door-to-door, worked in his grandfather's store, and did other random small time jobs. I'm calling this first generational wealth.

4.  Amancio Gaona. Dude's father was a railway worker in Spain. First generational wealth.

5.  Larry Ellison. Passed around like a hot potato as a child and ultimately raised in a middle class Chicago neighborhood. First generational wealth.

Granted, very few have very much. Over the next 30 years those ultra-rich are going to bequeath something like $16T to the next generations. (See initial source report). But what is the answer - prevent people from doing as they wish with their own property? Something wicked that way lies.

Everyday people should act like rich people.
We should act as a unified voting block to forward our economic interests and to see that our values are represented.
Just like the very wealthy.
I'm pointing out that over a period of several decades the seats have been rearranged to fix the game completely.
There needs to be a push back.
It simply can not be the case that the wealthy and all the generations that come after them shall forever be wealthy irregardless of how talented or hard working they are or are not.
I applaud Bill Gates (to an extent) and all the rest that you list. And that is exactly the reason why the current situation is unacceptable.
Bill Gates himself has said that today there could not possibly be another Bill Gates.
We are headed toward a situation where the control of capital is so completely in the hands of so few that essentially those type of self made individuals are nearly impossible.


I'd also point out the differences in policies and specifically tax policies between now and the time when each of those people made their fortunes. Bill Gates became the riches person in the world at a time when the tax rates on his income were in the 70%'s.
In Warren Buffets time they were closer to 90%.
And taxes on capital gains were much much higher than now.
What's happening now is like the scene in Good Fellows where the wiseguys just suck all of the money out of a restaurant and then burn it down for the insurance money. The difference is it's happening to the USA at the hands of a small group who have contrived to be essentially citizens of their own kingdom having no loyalty to the society that made them possible.

And for every one of these self made men you could list 1000 Conrad Hilton's most of who none of us have ever head of.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/entertainment/conrad-hilton-flight-attendants-plea-deal/

Hilton threatened and intimidated flight attendants, scared parents and disengaged a bathroom smoke alarm.

The court documents alleged Hilton punched the bulkhead next to an attendant's head, missing his face by about 4 inches, and told the crew, "I could get you all fired in five minutes. I know your boss!"

"My father will pay this out, he has done it before. Dad paid $300,000 last time," Hilton allegedly told a flight attendant.

Hilton's father is Rick Hilton, the grandson of the Hilton Hotel empire's founder, Conrad Nicholson Hilton. Rick Hilton and his wife of more than 30 years, Kathy, are parents of four children: Paris, Nicky, Barron and Conrad.

Conrad Hilton left his seat five minutes after takeoff, even though the "fasten seat belt" sign was still on, authorities said. Another flight attendant said Hilton rose from his seat at least 20 times during the 10?-hour flight, court documents said.

Read the initial federal complaint (Warning: profane language)

When Hilton became enraged because a flight attendant was following him, he shouted several times that "I am going to f------ kill you!" and used other vulgarities, court papers said.

Passengers became frightened and disturbed, authorities said.

A French family was seated behind Hilton, and the father got out of his seat and leaned "over his kids in a protective gesture" during one of Hilton's rants, a flight attendant told authorities, according to court papers.

Hilton yelled several times, saying "I will f------ own anyone on this flight; they are f------ peasants."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNttT7hDKsk