its good to be the king.

>>364333650
Also my computer is slow as fuck.
part 2

go to the website if you want the whole thing in one image instead of torturing yourself to it

>>364334065
What he said.
Either way, continuing with millions part 1 of 2

>>364334225
millions part 2 of 2.
Brace for billions.

so instead of just listing prices and saving time. you need squares to represent cash? fucking occupy can barely comprehend numbers with more than one comma. they are so fucking retarted they need a picture chart to figure out a company employee makes a fuckton less than a CEO.

Annual cost of fish ownership $35.00?
Maybe if it's a plastic fish in a bowl of yesterdays bathwater.
>mfw I spend almost a thousand on all my tanks
>mfw my face is a dick in the snow

>>364334358
It's not from OWS, it's from xkcd.com which is a web comic. He just broke it down into one picture and chose little squares so you could see how they stack up to each other.
Billions part 1 of probably 4.
Around the millions one, you should start to get a little upset.
This one should really add some fire to that flame.

>>364334625
Billions part 2. it might end up being out of 6.
Trillions soon to follow. stay tuned.

>>364334792
yeah it's definitely gonna be out of 6 at least for billions.

>>364334358

AWW BURN DUDE. CHEW ON THAT OWS PROTESTERS

10/10

http://wley.info/71Y1WG

ITT: we defrag our old ass computers

>>364334358
It's to put the money in perspective. a lot of times when numbers are listed, you loose count of how big they are because you cannot fathom what 1,000,000,000 of anything looks like.

>>364334358
Remember when capitalism actually worked? When CEO's got 20% more pay than employees?

>>364335240
brace for the US GDP. Coming up after this.
Education

>>364335434
I give you. The US GDP!
Stay tuned for money spent on wars.

>>364335678
Oh bonus spin. You also get the bailout money. Stay tuned for trillions!
Remember kids, you can go to:
xkcd.com/980/huge
for the whole image. Don't miss any of the other 979 fantastic comics.

The section on financial derivatives (in the trillions box) is what really boggles my mind. Just take a look the size of that block compared with the total US GDP.

No wonder everything went to shit as soon as the derivatives market burped.

>>364335908
So moral of the story.
When you see those anarchistcandy-asss, socialistcandy-asss, communistcandy-asss, teapartycandy-asss, and most especially normalcandy-asss on the television, remember that underneath all of the bullshit they say, this chart is why they're out there. And if you're ok with what you see, wait until Europe melts down.
See you on the streets.
Don't kick my tent.
OWScandy-ass out.

P.s. Occupy gets a bad rep about being all young anarchists, and it's not. The ones you see on tv are the ones most tv friendly- remember, you're not seeing reality, you're seeing a carefully selected frame of reality ;)

>>364336391
Brb. Spread the love out there with this.

One more for emphasis.
All of these can be found as one, 7mb behemoth of a picture at xkcd.com , along with all of the sources he pulled from to come up with these numbers.

>>364336693
It's funny, the trolls in this thread all either left or got on the team.

Bump for more Whoa.

Bump
>>364333650
This guy just dropped a knowledge bomb.

>>364333650
That's weird. I thought there'd be more RonPaulcandy-asss in here.

>>364337109
:)
Hey man, we all knew this shit was true, the dude who makes xkcd rules for putting it all together visually...give him props. I'm just passing along the info.

self-bump because I know there'd be more discussion in here if there wasn't so much to read in those images.
I feel like I'm advertising for him, but I promise you that I'm not. Any nerd will agree, that xkcd ( xkcd.com ) is the best webcomic of all time--or at least one of the best.

this rules.

God damnit. /b/ you move too fast.

captcha: alitiesH $425,000

Damn dude. There are like 4 threads that start out with pictures of girls feet on dicks, and then there's this one. And this is probably the one people should be looking at.

so besides posing a chart and proping up a tent. whats the goal of this occupy? i mean we know the wealth is divided unevenly. does your occupy camp have plans to meet with any CEOs/Senators and discuss the problem? or is it easier to put up tents and destroy the place where you live. (i saw the occupy oakland camp) fucking disgusting you could smell the urine and fecies a block away. garbage and "political graffiti" spray painted on local businesses, cigarette butts EVERYWHERE. fuck that they want to change shit, they just have no fucking clue how. i hate occupy.
thousands of kids make the nikes on your feet for 13 cents a day in china and your tweeting about the occupy movement on the smart phone with the shitty earbuds about how the 99% has it bad? GO-FUCK-YOUR-SELF

>>364337967

"whats the goal of this occupy"

This is where people get it wrong in the first place.
Unlike the tea party protests, or any normal protest, the occupy movement is not a protest. It's a movement. It's an occupation.
Every single person at any different of the Occupy movements (there are now +50) has a different reason for being there, a different thing they want to achieve. The point, is to bring everyone together and make something happen about it.
Now, what is it that I want?
I'm not a socialcommunoanarchoteademrepFag,
I'm a fairly normal upper-middleclass white dude. I'm in my 2nd semester for my MBA, and my three issues:
1. Campaign financing.
2. Environment.
3. Public education.
If you'd like I can explain each of the 3, but I'm trying to be concise.

>>364337967
No OP, but I think the goal of Occupy is ultimately to force change, in whatever form it takes. Organization on one side triggers anger in the other, and ultimately the two sides fight it out...changing it one way or another.

For example, the civil rights battle evoked the same situation. Those who were for it defended their side more vigorously than ever, while those who were against it lashed out harder than ever. There had to be an ultimate confrontation on the issue. The moral, intellectual, and patriotic side won then...just as it will win in the present.

So be angry. We are too. We'll see who wins.

>>364338567
Ok explain what you mean about public education.

>>364337967
"thousands of kids make the nikes on your feet for 13 cents a day in china"

You know, it's funny you bring that up. Fareed Zakaria just had a panel to
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fareed-zakaria-gps-video/id285714206

(GPS Podcast 10-30-2011)
to discuss it.
What I will say, is that you might hate Occupy Oakland, but if you wouldve seen OWS in New York, it was a completely different story.
A few bad people shouldn't form your opinion of the whole. Either way, whenever I hear people say that they hate the occupy movement, I tell them to do what I did. Go join them and change it.
Seriously. I joined the movement because somecandy-ass gave me a communist newspaper as the march went by (in chicago). So I walk behind him with recycle bin, and when people throw them in, I give them a little pamphlet that says
"the extreme doesn't represent the whole. I'm here. I'm sane. Join me."

>>364338717
Gladly.
Every problem in the U.S. comes back to the decaying state of public education. When you enter into any discussion about the change in the United States economy, what stands out the most is the correlation between the number of people graduating from high school, the number of people graduating from college, and the amount of static unemployment, and in some cases, crime. What's more important, however, is how the level of education of a workforce affects the GDP...and that is something that I can't explain within a single post...nor do I want to.
What's important here is that our public education system cannot be changed simply with money or tax cuts, and if you look at the last 10-15 years of investment into the system you'll see that. One thing so far that I've noticed is that graduation rates are closely tied to the number of students per class. Throwing money at school systems has not fixed the problem.
I think I'm rambling...but you get the picture. So yeah. That's one of my issues.

Hey OP, you're the only level headed OWS person I have ever seen.

I do agree that America needs economic reform badly. I don't like the massive thieving banks or mega corporations that screw over everyone else.

That said, most of these OWS campers are fucking idiots! They have no real direction or plan, they are just vandalizing, polluting, and stinking up public areas while scaring regular people away and hurting small businesses and employees because people don't want to go near their shops with the smelly camps and screaming idiots nearby. OWS has too many crazies pushing for Communism and whatever other stuff they are screaming about. It scares the normal people away and it makes us hate the nasties.

>>364339754
I try :)
There is no way to argue, at this point, that America needs economic reform. What I'm trying to inspire in this post is SOCIAL reform. I don't care if you want to camp with me/us. I mean, it should be stated that if you're afraid of the anarchists at OWS, then you really just need to sit down and talk to them- which is a huge reason why I (maybe even we) am (are) occupying rather than protesting. When people walk past you shouting a bunch of stuff, you never get the chance to actually talk to them about why they're shouting...occupying gives people a chance to talk to me and ask me why I'm occupying. Most people agree with me on some level.

Honestly, your complaint:
"OWS has too many crazies pushing for Communism and whatever other stuff they are screaming about. It scares the normal people away and it makes us hate the nasties."

>>Is the same complaint I have with the movement.

but rather than just complaining about it, I got up, went out, and changed it. From what I've read, Occupy Oakland needed a shower...and they got a riot instead. It's funny, there's a daily show skit about this, the largest complaint anyone in NYC has with the Occupy movement: they had nowhere to go to the bathroom, and the local businesses had to deal with them. I think that's one thing none of us anticipated...if we were able to hold down an area to occupy...where would we shit?

So TLDR:
I challenge you to go find an occupier. Talk to them. Ask them why they're there. Mind you, there will definitely be some crazy people- Oakland had a whole section where the homeless camped...but I guarantee you. If you go there, and look for someone that looks fairly mature, and ask them why they're there...their answer probably won't be "to end capitalism". At least that's not the case in Occupy Chicago, or Occupy Wall Street. Chicago though has yet to find a place to camp. I was one of the first 175 people to get arrested there.

>>364340378
Come in here b. This was epic and hard to make happen.

>>364339754

At least these "idiots" aren't afraid to get out there and start something. If it were up to all the smart people, they would hide inside hoping it'll be over as they know how it all works. These hipsters & hippies are the ones who get the engine going, hopefully the rest shall soon follow.

If you're just tuning in, no this thread isn't necessarily about OWS.
It's actually about a chart that the dude from XKCD made that shows a representation of what the US money money bills are used for.

Here's an xkcd comic.

>>364340682
Actually, I'm just going to start posting random xkcd comics until people get in here and start reading this shit.
LOOK AT THE PICTURES ABOUT MONEY UP AT THE TOP.
but read this too because it's funny:

OP, could you post the entire picture? The link doesn't seem to work for me

>that feeling when I become suspicious that this entire movement was anticipated by the elites so people want to create a socialistic society which benefits the elites somehow....

I remember almost 2 years ago on Infowars.com, there was an article about towns across the nation ordered armored vehicles... in places where there is no such thing as riots or mass protesting. There was even extensive training to prepare the riot police how to handle this situation as best as possible. They knew this was coming all along, and I think they're gonna use it against us to get what they want.


TL;DR Occupy movement is basically what the elites want. (I have no proof of this)

>>364340910

Wow you're either a retard or bad at trolling.
Can you explain to me...how can the 'elites' create a 'socialistic' society? and explain why they would want to do that. Also
'socialistic' is not a word.

>>364334522
35 per fish, perhaps? How many have you got in your tanks?

>>364340905
I can't post the whole picture...the file is 7mb...go to xkcd.com/980
and then click the picture, there's a downloadable version at the bottom of the page that it directs you to.

>>364340910
Dude. socialistic can not be what you mean

bumpin with more xkcd.

>>364341140

Then we'll make it a word. I honestly don't know, I was thinking about the whole NWO thing, and the possible Amero currency, and to get to that point they would have to drastically change many things. Which got me thinking about this whole movement, thinking maybe it's a possibility that it'll end up marching us directly towards that North American Union. I will admit, I barely know how the economy works, understanding the financial system is so fucking complex it boggles my mind, so I shalt not argue good sir.

I'll just leave this here.

This is how GS has taken over Europe.

News flash, CEOs make more cash than the employees.
>protest causing revelations

>mfw when I don't give a shit how much a CEO makes
>just as long as I get payed.

>>364341390
NWO as in New World Order?
What do you mean?
Take solace in this:
The entire world currently determines the value of it's currency in relationship to the Euro (in crisis) the Dollar and the Yen.
The Amero thing, doesn't really make sense...especially if you look at the problems the Euro is having. The United States is...already....a...union.....of....states....brainhurts.jpg

TLDR:
The answer to your post is:
no.

This part is depressing.

>>364341662

How about when you invest in a company and then the CEO decides he needs a salary of $55 million and an annual bonus of $8 million?

Or any variation.

>>364341390
>>364341494
>>364341663

NAU / Amero probably isn't even part of the game plan anymore if it ever was.

GS already owns America, now it has Europe (as soon as a central bank is setup) - oh also check out Libya etc... one of the top priorities there was setting up a central bank once Gadaffi was deposed.

good game all. Well played Banking Elite.

Ooh, the anti-OWS paid posters are out in full force!

Are you guys all in one room, like a call center, or do you work from home?

Are you mostly American, or are you like call center employees, from India and wherever?

Are you paid just to post anti-OWS or do you do Chloe threads, too, and dog food or shampoo on other boards?

>>364341862
Remember to open the image-- won't see worker pay in the thubnail.

>>364335326
That was never.

>>364341570
That's fine dude, look at where your money goes:
>>364335240

The problem with your point is that...unlike most other arguable things....the financial system is a zero sum game. You get money which means someone else doesn't. If you have a secure job-meaning one that doesn't rely on imports/exports, or manufacturing...so basically if you're a doctor, lawyer, or politician...then you have no need to worry.
Except the people that ARE losing out...and losing out hard...may try to rob or kill you for your SMALL piece of the pie.

>The US would need literally every single dollar made by the entire world, for almost 3 straight months, in order to pay off our current debt

>>364341662
urine idiot

did OWS really expect that people would just drop the lives they have been struggling to hang on to based on the msg " we are pissed at wall street"? BTW, it starts getting cold in the Fall.

>>364342273
That's kind of obvious.
Think about it.
The US.
Would need.
Every dollar.
of the currency...
the currency that it makes...
in order to pay off its' debt.

No kidding?

Seriously, are you kidding? because if not, you may be a retard.

>>364342273
The debt (slightly more than 15 trillion) is just a tad more than what the US makes in a whole year. (GDP, 14.6 trillion)

So you know what to do: stop consuming anything for a year: problem solved!

>>364342359
lol @ stooges & shills
OWS probably wont change anything, but atleast a few stood agains the tyranny, you on the other hand are a paid lacky of your overlords, and the best part is, you'll get fucked by them jsut the same as the rest of us.

>>364342359
Lol.
Word.

Dude, I have an apartment. I have 2 cats. I don't have a wife or anything, but I am banging a hippy broad that comes over to my place to shower ;).
Point being...I didn't drop my life to occupy. I took part of it with me, and went home when I needed something. You don't have to be there 24/7. A lot of us have jobs...and just...camp there. Most of us have a home/apartment.

>>364341891

>implying all CEOs give themselves 63 million dollar salaries

The JP Morgan Chase CEO has an income of 19 million

The "1%" starts at 2 million dollars of income anyway.

Regardless, if someone created such a successful business and gave themselves a little raise to go with some increased profits, I honestly don't give a fuck.

>>364342408
I'm pretty sure I'm not retarded, but I can't say the same about you.

By dollar, I meant all profit, in all currencies, of the entire world, exchanged into USD. For 3 months. As in 3 months of the entire planet's GDP, their entire economic earnings.

It would take the entire planet 3 months to pay off the US debt.

Get it now, idiot?

>>364342504
short scale, btw. Billion for the rest of the world.

>>364342504
I'm afraid that's not how it works, sir. If we were to stop spending, we would be in even worse shape. Spending is what fuels our economy/world.
Now.
If we only spend money locally, that would make what you said true.

>>364342711
Actually, no.
You couldn't even consume locally. You'd have to sell every final product to get those 15 trillion in.

So, no eating for a year. Should solve the obesity problem, at least.

Why the fuck would I need a graphical representation of dollars when listing it is so much faster and more efficient?

>>364342598
JP Morgan Chase did a lot right which was why they didn't need bailed out- unlike BoA.

My mother actually owns nursing homes, and basically controls her own wage. She actually has cut her own wage to give people raises (back in 2006 when gas hit 3.50). I don't have a problem with how corporations distribute their income- to an obvious extent- their workers do/should. And I support their workers. Any CEO that disregards their workforce should be pushed off a building. Especially wal-mart.
fuck wal-mart.
See above giant fucking graph for more on that topic. To put it in perspective- remember that most of their workforce makes minimum wage, and have shit working conditions.

>>364342764
>People pretend that OCW isn't about income gap
>Try to make it be class warfare or anti-corporation
Best way to kill a message is to change it. Fortunately for us, the same few who use their vast wealth to influence policy in order to collect an even greater share of the collective wealth aren't also the owners of our press...

...oh

So what do you think? When does the US collapse?

I am betting on around 2015, when we have doubled our current debt.

>>364342607
Um...you said dollar. so I was right, you were an idiot.
Now. Seeing as you've cleaned up your statement a little bit, you're not as much of an idiot as I thought. That being said, 3 trillion dollars is not the amount of global GDP. It may be the global GDP for a month- I have no figures to confirm or deny that, and you should show me some- but if you start measuring things in that way, then you should start representing your earnings that way.
Example:
My yearly salary would take .00000000000000000001 second of the entire planets GDP.
Representing statistics in the way you've stated is misleading at best and manipulative at work. If you want to talk numbers, talk numbers, but don't misrepresent them without context or evidence.

>>364343032
because It's more fun?

>>364342598
According to the sources of that very comic*, the typical CEO gets paid 40 million.

I understand that doesn't include payout on stocks and such

*you can find there somewhere on the xkcd site.

>>364343579
if you go to the xkcd.com/980/huge you should be able to see a link to the sources.

This is pretty much what I expected. I see no problem with this. It represents what you can achieve in business as much as it represents how ripped off the USA is for mobile phones! Average wage is more than $16 an hour. That's a decent living right there! Why all the fuss?

Notice also that the bailouts (hugely controversial that they are) given to the banks is actually less than the money allocated to stimulus spending to get the economy moving. Translation: more is being spent on the citizens of the nation than the leaders of the nations banks.

Look at the total economy net values too: since 2008 its up and up again. Without those bailouts thousands of people would have been out of work when banks closed and the bank owners would have likely made a a profit off of that too. Don't get me wrong, the financial crisis was engineered and sucks donkey balls, but on the grand scale things are still pretty awesome.

Capitalism: bringing more people above the poverty line than any other national economic system. Suck it, hippies, the figures from XKCD show the USA is an economic powerhouse regardless of the 1% having most of the money. It's always been like that, that society, greed is in everyone's human nature.

owned.

>>364343082

I guess I'm supposed to say good for your mom.

I honestly don't care if one CEO gives his workers a little more cash while another doesn't give them so much.

If the business is successful and everyone is getting payed a decent amount, who the fuck cares?

In response to the OPs "hurr durr space body size relation graphesque box clusterfuck"

20 bucks an hour is upwards of 40k per year.

Not too shabby...
Especially compared to all of the jobless protesters.

>>364343456
Where do you get that 3 trillion figure from?
According to google, world GDP is 63 trillion. US debt is 15 trillion, ie, 3 months of world gdp.

>>364333650

>>364342220

Imagine there are two people in an economy Person A and Person B. There is a total of $2 in the economy, $1 owned by Person A and $1 owned by Person B. Person A grows a crop of vegetables and Person B purchases that crop of vegetables for $1. Person B cooks those vegetables and sells some of the prepared vegetables to Person A for $1. Person A purchases some wooden planks from Person B for $1 and takes a loan from him for $1. Using the money from the loan he rents some tools from Person B for $1. Using the planks and tools, Person A builds a bookshelf he sells to Person B for $2. He then pays $1.02 to Person B for the loan he took out.

At the end of this example that had $2 in circulation, Person A has $0.98, an income of $3, and cooked vegetables. Person B has $1.02, an income of $2.02, cooked vegetables, and a bookshelf.

Both people engaged in commerce and have more then they started with because they were productive. By lending Person A $1, Person B enabled Person A to engage in economic activity that would not otherwise exist. The allocation of resources does not necessarily need to be zero-sum if it enables production.

>>364343667
Not to argue because I like where you're going with this but:
1.Average wage is not the same as median wage.
2. Without the bailout, we would have had an economic collapse.
3. without the stimulus we'd have been in a depression.
Someone gave a link for the gps podcast (fareed zakaria)- that's my source.

>>364338567
So basically you have nothing to complain about? Thought so.

>mic check
MIC CHECK

>mic check
MIC CHECK

>random yelling
LOTS OF RANDOM YELLING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE8lwMLKDrU

>>364341862
IDGAF how much CEO's make, but I'm wondering why he's comparing typical (median) CEO pay to average (mean) worker pay.

>>364343579
>>364343579


>sources of that comic

The fuck are you talking about?

>>364343719
Easy now dude.
I don't think anyone cares as long as the ceo is paying its employees a decent amount...that's incentive...that's capitalism.
20 bucks an hour is 40k a year. Pretty good- I agree, but did you see that whole half of the graph that made up the people who make less than 25k?

>>364343749
Lol. Jupiter is a star waiting to happen.

>>364342629
Well, now we see why the poor and middle class have it so bad off...they're woman.

>>364341862
Why? Its fucking awesome! There are many, many stages in between those pay levels. If you are good enough at what you do - even if what you do is business style asshattery - then the potential reward is huge. Even if you suck at what you do, if you can hold your job down you can still make a decent living. How is this bad? If you suck as a job, why should you get to keep it?

You think what you do is worth the same as what everyone else does? If that's the case, then why do brain surgeons bother going to work?

>>364343981
"The State of Working America, 2008/2009 By Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein, Heidi Shierholz",CEO pay ratios

>>364334358

You are a Nigger.

This is just to give a people an idea about how shitty things really are.

Not Op

And again, Nigger.

>>364344085

If by graph you mean the pics from the OP...

At first I was like O.K.

But then I tl'dr because of the fucking blocks

>>364344170
>If that's the case, then why do brain surgeons bother going to work?

Because they like BRAINSSS?

Seriously, you think CEOs are 10 times as valuable as some random other worker? 50 times? Or 270 times, like their paycheck suggest?

What has changed between the sixties and today?

>>364343768
Hey man, if you wanna take it like that, then you can go back to the 1500s when it was a crime to charge interest.
Either way, I understand your point, but I didn't talk about the allocation of resources, I talked about the financial system. Those two are NOT the same thing. The financial system, in order to function at economic efficiency, has to be a zero sum game. At least from what I understand of it. I wasn't an economics major.

>>364343911
??
Explain? Those are my three main issues, someone later asked me to explain what I meant about the education system and I did.

>>364344085
Here is a simple explanation that nullifies the shock that statistic may instill:

Definition: average - half of us are above it, half of us are below it. One guy is right on the middle line - we ignore him / her as a statistical irrelevancy.

Would you keep a below average employee when you can get an above average one for the same money? No.

Would you be forced into a low paying job, as a below average performer, because there are people who do your work better? Yes.

Half the people earn less than $25K per year? That's because they are below average performers working in jobs that accommodate their lack of skill. Think grocery store baggers and the people cooking your McDonald's burgers. Good on them for staying in work and not going on welfare! I bet there are some stand-up guys in that statistic, decent people who just happen to not be able to use spreadsheets or lay bricks in a straight line.

Why I should give them some of my money, as a person who can use spreadsheets and has built a wall that one time which was pretty damn straight, is beyond me.

op is entertaining
the issue at stake is not money disparities, it is that money itself is a scam nowadays
"money" is in fact credit created by loans : banks manufacture money out of thin air and have been doing it since a century.
the whole financial system is a gigantic ponzi scheme.

if you want to test the genuineness of the OWS movement, see how they follow through on their first claim of intending to abolish the FED.

>>364343981
this comic is from xkcd.com .
you can go to xkcd.com/980 and click the image, look on the lower left of the new page, and it should say download the whole thing and view sources.

>>364344624
>Definition: average - half of us are above it, half of us are below it.
Nope. that's median, not average (=mean).

Why even respond to anti OWS trolls? They'll never change cause they get paid to come here and post.

>>364344459
>> the 1500s when it was a crime to charge interest.
... but only if you were a Christian. Jews were, of course, exempt from Christian laws.
The Christian rulers and traders needed moneylenders to finance wars and trade. So they pressed the Jews into the service that they themselves were forbidden. And then despised them for it.

i'm always appalled at how so many retards are stuck in 19th century thinking
the financial system has long changed since then
there is no more real value associated to money, it's air, vacuum, it's witchcraft
interestingly enough, "losers" (people of modest means) are often more aware of that reality than successful hard-work-ethics people are.

>>364344170
Don't you think that's a bit misleading? I understand what you're saying, but you're arguing that the outcome you've stated is universally true (by not specifying otherwise), and also took that to an extreme with your brain surgeon example. If you want to argue for capitalism, I'm right there with you, but don't present that as your sole arguement

>>364344907
kike bullshit
always exempting the kikes from blame

The real question is how do we turn LOIC into an app that's designed to give the OWS movement the latest news on their movement & make them drones for our future LuLz.

>>364344428
If you read the whole thing, you'll have a better understanding of why this is relevant. I can't argue with a person that refuses information.

>>364344624
>as a person who [...] has built a wall that one time which was pretty damn straight

Pics or it didn't happen.

>>364344455
income gap. BAM.
I think banksy did a piece of the Gap logo, and it said mind the income gap.
I fucking love that dude.

>>364344911
You'll often find that those with the least contact with sex, drugs, rockandroll, money are the ones who obsess most about it.

>>364344939
>your brain surgeon

What is it with brain surgeons?
Why do people assume they should earn so much? They only skill is having a steady hand.

really... who gives a fuck.

>>364337967

You know yet you do nothing but insult the people who try to do something?

wut lol

>Boo hoo smells a little bad and there's cigarette butts everywhere.

Deal with it, candy-assgot. And stop your bitching, At least they are doing something while your typing this stupid, whiney shit lol.

That stuffs just temporary and small compared to what the other fucks in power are trying to do.

Man up and stop taking it in the ass, Bitch.

>>364344459

We can add value to resources and with our own efforts we generate new resources. Depending on your philosophical bent a capitalist can generate new resources by employing workers that otherwise wouldn't be productive.

Depending on where and how you allocate resources, something the financial system enables, you may end up with different productive outputs.

>>364344455
Who are you to determine their worth? You are the same person as I am here: no one. Only the corporations signing those cheques can determine their worth, and there are plenty of high paid CEO's that fuck up so badly that they lose their lifestyle and income too. It's on a scale unimaginable to the average person, but without this top layer a _huge_ portion of the middle layer would not even exist.

I am seriously jealous of the money they make, but I respect them for managing to find themselves in or create a position for themselves where they do make that kind of money. Despite the fact that they are unethical fucknuts we are talking money, not feelings. The two are mutually distinct and are like oil and water (outside the presence of a detergent).

Everything is worth what the buyer will pay, and if a corporation that makes billions needs to pay its executives millions to keep them from being in other corporations that also make billions then that's market forces, just like everywhere else in the economy. Do you not find it incredible that the work of people can build an organization that could singly employ thousands of people and pay its executives this much?

I hate getting fucked for taxes, I hate paying too much for fuel and I hate how the supermarkets all import their food from shitty countries but this is all still providing me with paved streets, education for my children, reliable transport and cheap meals. All of these things I am very thankful for.

This whole occupy bullshit is based on jealousy and lust for the money of others. Its hypocrisy at the highest level.

>>364344624
I never said give them any money at any point. I asked you to look at the 25k, which you did, and that is the conclusion that you drew from it.
To address your conclusion, you shouldn't have to. I'm not arguing against the middle class, I'm calling for the reduction in the income gap between 1% and 99%.
You are probably part of the 99.75%, the .25% are the ones with enough money to buy the city you live in.

>>364345329

Also a shitload of things we have in our stores are made in China, what do you expect.

Which are Outsourced jobs we could have here in the U.S, but don't have thanks to greedy corps.

>>364344455
Oh also: nice trips and dubs dude! You deserve it for asking a legitimate question

anyone else actually feel a whole lot better about the state of the world after looking at all these?

>>364344668
Not all of us are Libertarians, and not all of us believe that 'ending' the FED would be how you would go about solving the financial system. I, personally, am not well versed in the topic, but I know the proposition you're making was probably vomited up from one of the Zeitgeist movies. Saying "END THE FED" is not a way of accurately representing your point-if you know what your point is- because more important than ending the fed is HOW you end the fed.
Just a thought.

niggas in this thread don't know about fiat currency, so they "BLAME CAPITALISM, MAAAAAAAN"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx16a72j__8

>>364344911

Value is relative regardless if you are using fiat or gold-backed currency, full-reserve or fractional-reserve banking. The only way you can have intrinsic value is if the prices of all goods and services and the size of the money supply is fixed.

>>364344907
Sorry you're wrong.
There's a book that's like ~80 pages that's called "capitalism a very short introduction". Read that- there's a good section that's devoted to how capitalism came to be.

>>364344911
You realize that you're talking about the 1970s not the 19th century...right?
Because...you just called people retards, and you showed yourself to be at least mildly retarded.

>>364345264
you probably should considering that you live and work in the...world.
Or DO YOU?!
ALIENS.

  ▲
▲ ▲

>>364345516
Well, it is not only the corporation's responsibility. We as citizens should also regulate how money is distributed in our society.
Why? Because we are going to pay the consequences otherwise:
The banks wouldn't have needed bailing-out if they were better regulated, and that episode is going to be tiny in comparison to what comes if we don't act.

>>364345570
Thanks.

>>364345775


The problem with with Fiat money though is that it expects government to act responsibly in tough situations. They can print their way out of debt just so they don't face the tough political decision of lowering spending. A institution which relies on there being the best man for the job is not a good institution at all.

>>364346632
>tough situations.
>lowering spending.

Not a good idea. Revisit your Econ 101.

>>364340629
That's just it though, most of the OWS participants just want to protest. They don't know what they're talking about. They have a vague grasp that "something is wrong" but they don't know what it is or how it can be fixed, so they stand around in their Guy Fawkes masks purchased at Hot Topic and spout barely-relevant memes hoping to get some attention. It makes them feel like a part of something, even if they don't fully understand it.

I respect the people who present intelligent arguments, but they seem to be a minority, which is unfortunate. If the movement had better representation, it would probably have more participation.

>>364345337
Again, yes you can add value to your resources, but again, I'm not talking about resources, I'm talking about money. Money is not a resource, it's the grease that makes the trade wheel possible.
Seriously. I'm not trying to prove anything to you, I'm just clarifying. Financial system does not equal economic system. The financial system is a system within an economic system that simplifies trade. That's all it does. Discussing labor- as in the act thereof- does not change the financial system. The financial system is a set system and labor exists outside of it, but they both exist within the economy...one is just a representative.
Again, I'm not arguing what you're saying, I'm arguing your use of terms. Yes you can add value to your resources, but that value is not represented in the financial system until you are able to sell the newly-valued resource; and then when it reenters the system at that new value, money is not lost from that system, it's redistributed within it.. There is no remainder to the system as a whole, because, again, the system must equate zero.
It's a zero-sum game, by definition.

>>364346807
Actually dude. From an OWS protestor, I'm going to go ahead and say that we're not down here because we like it. We all have reasons for why we're down here, and some of us have our reasons clearly stated, and some of us don't, but you're basing your position on some generalized notion that, plain and simple, is not true.
Intelligent occupiers, at least in Chicago and New York, are not hard to come by. We aren't in the minority, at all. In order to understand what's going on you have to go and be a part of it. There are guys in Guy Fawkes masks. There are people who cover their faces when a camera is on them- I do that- but I know plenty of intelligent people down here.
You're well aware that in any situation, there are some people with a better grasp on things than others. OWS is no exception from what I've seen.
Either way, I'm tired and I've gotta go to bed.


Keep the discussion alive and thanks for taking the time to think about it!

It's cold outside in Chicago, if you come out any time soon, wear a jacket.

>>364346946

If you mean the amount of financial paper is zero-sum then yes that is true but it is irrelevant. As long as the money circulates and continues to act as an exchange medium then all the ownership of the financial paper means is who is deferring consumption.

In a Free-Market, when interest rates are low, it means people are saving. When they are high, it means people are spending, or saving a lot less. This sends signals out into the market which tells investors what to invest in, whether it be housing, up-and-coming businesses, long-term investments during saving periods, short-term investments during spending periods, etc.

The problem arises when a single institution controls interest rates, ex: the federal reserve. Interest rates were extremely low during the late 90's and 2000's, which sent false signals about saved capital into the market. Even though there wasn't enough savings in the market, it appeared that there was due to the low interest rates. This caused a mass malinvestment into many things, most notably the housing market. When it turned out that nobody actually had money to buy all of these houses, the real-estate market crashed. Government Sponsored Enterprises like Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac only accelerated the housing bubble due too their reckless behavior with mortgages. To give you perspective of how inflated they were, housing prices are still going down.

So in reality, the problem really comes down to the manipulation of interest rates, which is allowed by fiat currency. I hope somebody learned something.

Behold, our next currency after the coming collapse.

>>364348963

forgot the pic