Why they ARE the one percent: part 3

Charles and David Koch

Brothers and co-owners of Koch Industries, these two created one of the top chemical engineering industries in the world. The are tied for the number four spot on Forbes list. 

David attended MIT and graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1970, he joined Koch industries. He also had an active political career, serving as the Libertarian candidate for Vice President in the 1980 Presidential Election. He has contributed largely to cancer research, educational institutions and the arts. 

Charles also received his Bachelors and Masters from MIT. He led a very similar life to his brother David, without the active role in politics. He focuses his philanthropic efforts on educating students on the Bill of Rights and free market enterprises. 

Maybe less impressive than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but they still didn't sit around to get what they wanted. 

Honestly, I'm getting bored with this. Clearly, these gentlemen worked hard to get where they are. Again, not protesting in a park. I think I have made my point with these five gentlemen.

Thanks for keeping up! In order to expand my topics, I started a new blog called Dancing Elephants and Other Political Shenanagians! I will still rant about Occupy Wall Street, but I also want to address other things! Please find that page and become a follower!!

Much love!

Abbs

Why they ARE the one percent: part 2

In continuation of this series, we will continue with the next two people on the Forbes list, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellisons

In Warren Buffett's childhood, he used his free time to sell small object door to door. He bought his first shares of stock with money he earned when he was 11 years old. He graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Business  Administration when he was 19 years old. Pretty impressive. Immediately following, he enrolled in Columbia and received a masters degree in Economics. He worked for multiple stock companies after he graduated. He bought a five bedroom house in Omaha, the house he still lives in today. 

In 1962, he became a millionaire. He hit billionaire status May 29, 1990. But material possessions were never his goal in life. On multiple occasions he stated that if having material possessions made the world better, he would go all out, but he knew that him owning things wouldn't do that. He also insists that more money goes to charity than his children. His quote to the New York Times read, "I don't believe in dynastic wealth." He didn't think that just because someone is born to rich parents means that they should have money dropped in their lap, they should work for it. He also said, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".  Buffett is a huge contributor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 83% of his wealth is left to their foundation in his will. 

Clearly, Buffett didn't sit to get where he is. He used his skills and started earning money as a young boy, proving that at any age, someone can start building their career.

Larry Ellison is the co-founder of the Oracle Software company. He is worth about $33 billion. His mom was an unwed mother and gave her aunt and uncle to care for him. He attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Chicago, but dropped out of both. He worked closely with Steve Jobs at Apple until 2002. He then went back to Oracle and made it a very strong company with a great deal of influence. 

He has donated millions of dollars to medical research, though says he prefers to keep his donations private. 

Both of these men worked their way to the top. Again, they never stood in a park asking someone to give them something. They didn't see themselves as entitled to something that the government was going to give them. They knew that what they wanted was only achievable through hard work. Maybe our occupiers should take a hint...

Why They ARE the One Percent: Part 1

Every year, Forbes releases the list of the top 400 richest people in America, now known by the Occupiers as "The 1%", but did these Occupiers actually delve into the reasons as to why these people made the list? My guess is probably not. So I am taking it upon myself to outline this for them. I am certainly not going to go into detailed biographies of all 400 list members. In this exercise, I will briefly outline the lives and accomplishments of the first 10 on the list. We will start at the most logical place, number one

Bill Gates is widely known in America as the man who invented Microsoft. Yes, he invented it. The cause was his invention, the effect was his spot on the Forbes list. He started out as a normal, pretty nerdy kid. He started programming computers in his teens. He graduated from high school and got a 1590 out of 1600 on his SAT. Not too shabby. (He was even a page... a House page... but a page none the less). He then enrolled in Harvard College in 1973. He eventually dropped out to start a company with a friend, Paul Allen. He didn't just drop out without a plan. On August 20th, 1975, Microsoft was a registered trademark.

In that short bio, I don't recall any mention of him standing in a park protesting. Why? because that is not the way one gets to the top. Bill Gates earned it. He worked hard at great risk. This wasn't a proven job path. There was no job security for him at this point. He took a leap of faith and hoped that this idea he had would change the world, and I would say it did. That is what earned him a spot in the one percent. Crazy right?

Tomorrow, stay tuned for Warren Buffet...

Thanks for reading! Be sure to become a member of my page! Your comments are welcome!

Abby

Happy New Year!!

With this new year came reflection on my part. While this whole "Occupy" thing still doesn't cease to annoy me, I see that they are not the root of the problem. The source is an illness. An illness of the American spirit. People are becoming disillusioned with the politics of America, but not America itself. I read a book last year entitled The American Soul by Jacob Needleman. The first line of the book reads "America once was the hope of the world." Once? I would definitely have to disagree. I think it still is, and hopefully will remain that way.
The vision of America from its inception was a vision of hope. People came here in pursuit of hope, and they still do. Leaders such as John Winthrop and Ronald Reagan idolized America as a "shining city on a hill", a beacon of light for the lost. We have started losing sight of that vision of ourselves. We are to busy getting caught in the muck and mire of "politics as usual". America has to repair itself. I'm not saying one side is right and the other is wrong, or there is only one way to fix it. It has to be an effort on the part of every American. If we want to maintain the freedom and liberty we enjoy today, we must fight for it. Ronald Reagan said "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the blood-stream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, opr one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States of America when men were free." So while I still do not support the Occupy movement in any way, they are using their rights in the manner those rights were set out to be used. They are standing up for something they believe in.

So with this new year, I hope we can all reflect inwards and decide what really matters at the end of the day. We can try to preserve the America that the Founding Fathers set out for us, but it will take an effort on the part of everybody.

That was my positive rant for today. I will go back to my criticism of the Occupy movement another day!

Stay tuned for the series "Why they ARE the one percent: A overview of some of the members of the Forbe's top earners list and why they are there"

Thanks for reading!
Abby

Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street = OLD NEWS.  I am tired of hearing about it. Maybe if these people seemed like they had something legitimate to complain about, I would be more inclined to see reason in their arguments. What really gets me is the fact they have the TIME to sit in a park and protest the 1%. Funny idea, but getting a job might ACTUALLY get you closer to being in the 1% than just whining about them. Hate to pull the Africa card guys, but if they want to EAT, they work all day. Usually for less than $1 a day. I would love to know if any of the Occupiers have even missed a meal. According to Wikipedia (reliable, I know), the US houses 5.17% of the population, yet owns 21.7% of the world wealth (PPP) and 23.8% of the GDP (PPP)

Pretty fascinating, right? Just by essence of living in America, we are in the top 5% of the world. Not many other people can afford to hang out in a park and complain about life. Interesting thought.

The other thing that really gets me is the fact that these people are protesting against people who are actually WORKING. Another crazy thought. But getting a job might actually just help one out in life.

Soon to come:

Why they ARE the 1%

In depth bios about the top earners on the Forbe's list and WHY they are where they are

Trust me, they weren't just hanging out in a park.