Some bloke in here has just started ranting about ' the rich', and how he feels that the current round of tax rises in NL doesn't go far enough; ' the rich' should pay even more than they're going to pay as he sees it. This is aside from the fact that the biggest tax rises are for anyone earning more than 56K euros, which I can't really term 'rich'. He goes on about how ' the rich' are greedy barstewards ripping off the workers.
Now, I don't know who this guy means when he talks about 'the rich' but I do deal regularly with quite a few people that could be termed very rich; directors of Dutch multinational tech firms, or people who've built very succesful businesses. They are not a generic group of 'bastards' or 'greedy people'. Some are to my mind very greedy and quite ruthless toward other people. Many are not, and understand quite well that they've had more chances than most people in life and they have a responsibility to others. So why talk of 'the rich' as some generic group; they are no more a generic group with all the same characteristics than 'the poor' are a generic group, just as black folks are not a generic group or disabled people are not a generic group. I find as wide a range of political ideals, spiritual ideas, ethical beliefs and cultural values among those wealthy people as you'd find among any other randomly named group.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
Now, I don't know who this guy means when he talks about 'the rich' but I do deal regularly with quite a few people that could be termed very rich; directors of Dutch multinational tech firms, or people who've built very succesful businesses. They are not a generic group of 'bastards' or 'greedy people'. Some are to my mind very greedy and quite ruthless toward other people. Many are not, and understand quite well that they've had more chances than most people in life and they have a responsibility to others. So why talk of 'the rich' as some generic group; they are no more a generic group with all the same characteristics than 'the poor' are a generic group, just as black folks are not a generic group or disabled people are not a generic group. I find as wide a range of political ideals, spiritual ideas, ethical beliefs and cultural values among those wealthy people as you'd find among any other randomly named group.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
Comment