Multi-National Corporations

[Lindagerr]

"The meltdown started with housing and was created by lenders selling mortgages to a new market of unqualified buyers created by Fannie and Freddie trying to social engineer poor economic performers in the lower middle class into homes the would ultimately decide to stop paying for.

Others like me just sucked it up and kept paying on a house that lost over 1/3 of the loan value.

I am not a trust fund kid. "

Ryan maybe you are not a trust fund kid, but some of the things you say make it look like you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You seem to have always had a job, always made good money, always paid your bills and always looked down on others who weren't as good economic performers as you.

Do you have children? Have you or one of your loved ones ever been critically ill? Are you over 50? Have you ever had to support a parent or grandparent? Some people just don't have the skills to be economically well off, they may just do OK, does that mean they should never get a chance to have a better life?

I do not think the lower middle class or middle middle class people who just wanted a chance to buy a home they could afford ( usually in the $50-250K range) are the ones that made the housing bubble burst. I think it was the Upper middle and upper class people who thought they should have a bigger better house and asked for and got $300K+ mortgages are the ones that burst the bubble. They are the ones who are defaulting on the bigger loans and they are the ones with the houses that are worth 1/2 or less of the original inflated price.

The poorer economic performers are the ones who bought homes that have only lost 10 - 20 % of their value we have not lost our homes or walked away because we lived within our means. Many hard working middle class people have lost jobs because of the economic downturn, these are not "bad economic performers" they are just decent hard working people who have turned 50+ so they were the ones let go and they are the ones who can't get hired because they are to old or because no one wants to give a job to someone who doesn't have one.

You also have to consider that in Florida a six figure income sounds wonderful, but in the northeast a six figure income is just making it. e.g., in NJ property taxes of $8-20K a year are common on an average home.

[alleycat]

Thank you Waldorfteacher for bringing the thread back to it's original origin. Corporations are not people and they not entitiled to the same rights as living, breathing, human beings.

[MomOfMany]

I don't think corporations are people or should have "rights" either.

That aside, I don't care if Ryder is a trust fund baby or not. Other than mild envy, it wouldn't change my opinion. I wish I was a trust fund baby. I wish my kids could be trust fund babies.
However, it does remind me I wanted to have a book discussion.
Maybe others here would enjoy it too?

[alleycat]

I don't think corporations are people or should have "rights" either.

That aside, I don't care if Ryder is a trust fund baby or not. Other than mild envy, it wouldn't change my opinion. I wish I was a trust fund baby. I wish my kids could be trust fund babies.
However, it does remind me I wanted to have a book discussion.
Maybe others here would enjoy it too?

I believe that people who are blessed and are endowed actually have a reponsiblity to other's that are less fortunate. Whether this person is blessed with money or the intelligence to help someone less fortunate. In my family I was very fortunate that my family actually had a very comfortable existence. My parents were always very hard working people but they always had the ability to make money. My mother was from Belgium and she had always been of a different mindset than my other friends mothers. She bought alot of land equallying 100's and 100's of acres. Than when the time was right she sold of parcels of her land and made very large profits. But my mother always helped other people. She would help other families that actually had a hard time making it. She also instilled in her daughter (me) to help rescue and save animals that happen to be placed in situations that are less fortunate than our own. By adopting them or supporting organizations that services these creatures. In turn I have instilled this upon my children.

The last thing that someone needs when they are down is someone else passing judgement on them because of their situation. We are blessed when we help other people/creatures progress.

[MomOfMany]

Having a trust fund doesn't mean they don't help people?

My only point was that even if Ryder were a trust fund kid, he is still permitted an opinion and to do what he wants with his money.

Personally, I wouldn't spend money on rescue animals, much as I love them, because that is simply not on the top of my worry pile. But your money is yours and you don't have to justify to others how you spend it. Neither do I. And neither does Ryder. Maybe he spends his money in ways he feels are good for society too, even if it isn't what you or I would do with it.

[alleycat]

Having a trust fund doesn't mean they don't help people?

My only point was that even if Ryder were a trust fund kid, he is still permitted an opinion and to do what he wants with his money.

Personally, I wouldn't spend money on rescue animals, much as I love them, because that is simply not on the top of my worry pile. But your money is yours and you don't have to justify to others how you spend it. Neither do I. And neither does Ryder. Maybe he spends his money in ways he feels are good for society too, even if it isn't what you or I would do with it.

Martha,

Nothing I said had anything to do with Rydor at all. Point was if you have intelligence (which is an asset) or the finanical means (asset) it is socially responsible to help the less fortunate. Thats all. We all have different back grounds and different upbrings which sort of guide us on our own journey. People make the world happen not corporations.

The trust fund reference was made because alot of people that actually have them are insulated and detached from reality of what is really going on in the world. i.e. homeowners created the mortage problems not the large banking corporations that made the loans, bundled them up and sold them on Wall Street as low risk, high return investments.