in America the majority rules, so why aren't the majority of Americans rich?

Question

it seems the minority of Americans are rich, so does that mean the majority makes bad decisions?

Answer 1

YES. That is exactly what it means!

Give yourself a gold star for thinking for yourself!!!

Now go out with this new skill and teach all your friends to think for themselves and make the world a better, richer place.

(I am serious!!!)

Answer 2

Firstly, America is one of the only countries in which the majority DOES NOT rule. While the majority may be able to vote for their officials, the constitution prevents them from ever having the type of totalitarian power that could be called "ruling."

Secondly, rich is a relative term. Compared to the people of, say, Afghanistan, the majority of Americans are obscenely wealthy. But here in American, the majority will never be seen as rich. Whatever the standard of living is for the majority - even if it one day becomes Bill Gate's current one - will be called average. Only those with more than average will be considered rich.

Remember this: the majority of Americans today enjoy a standard of living far better than that of the richest Americans in the 1950's.

P.S.: Anyone who claims that the majority can't be rich because the wealthy minority oppresses them, doesn't understand the first thing about economics. The rich do not oppress the lower or middle classes. In fact, it is the organization and ideas of rich men - such as Bill Gates - that have made it possible for the majoirty of Americans to enjoy their high standard of living.

Answer 3

The rich minority have all the money so control the media (tv, newspapers, internet...).

The majority have no choice but to get their news etc from said media. They form their opinion based on the skewed media, so they in turn vote the way the rich want them to, thereby perpetuating the problem via tax cuts for the rich, reduced regulation of the media, etc.

Italy is a very good example of this- Berlusconi (only recently lost by a very small margin) controlled most of the media, so no wonder he was in power! He made people think he was great and they believed him.

Answer 4

Actually, there are more Millionaires in America than anywhere in the world.

Actually, more Americans earn or have total incomes exceeding the poverty level, that is so high above the subsistance earnings of most citizens of all other countries, that we are considered "Rich".

When the 'average' income in most third world nations is $1,500, they are in awe to learn that an American with two color TVs, at least one car, possibly a truck or motorcycle, and a bicycle, radio, and a computer, who lives in Airconditioned or heated comfort, has a sanitary and roomy home or apartment, and, who receives $29,950 (in a family of four) or less is considered POOR, and in Poverty!

The MAJORITY of Americans ARE actually RICH enough to afford to play the Lotto, buy entertainment like IPods, for their kids, and own their own homes!

Rish isn't all aobut the amount of cash on hand, it ALSO includes the huge amount of credit available to all!

And, Rich or poor, American people toss out computers that are 'leading edge' in the 3rd world, where they fight to get a pentium 300, and run Linux (8X faster, and virus FREE) on it!

Folks give me 2 to 10 computers each week, in Central Florida, and I check them out, fix them,, if needed, install the FREE OSes, and have trouble giving them away! The kids are ALL SPOILED, just like their Parents!!!

Answer 5

The fact is that all Americans are rich. Look at the third world nations; look how they live. Read the statistics on how much money they earn a year, on what their life expectancies are, and on what their diet consists.Look and see how many miles of paved roads they have; how many cars per hundred citizens they have, what kind of medical technology the third world has, how many computers per hundred any third world nation has. Check and see if all the third world has clean, safe drinking water! Check this and more, and you will see quickly that American's poorer citizens have more than most nations in the world!

Answer 6

majority may "rule" but the majority are seldom presented with the opportunity to vote for people and things that they want.

It costs a fortune to finance a political campaign, so only the wealthy can get in the ring and they cannot conceive of a life different than theirs. And they will make sure they keep the wealth. Short of massive discontent, or war (in the US) nothing but a revolution will change things.

That was tried during the Viet Nam war but it didn't work and nearly everyone involved went on the run or to jail.

Answer 7

Compared to many other countries...the majority of Americans are rich! I don't believe they all make bad decisions,in most cases we make bad choices.
For Example, I decide to buy a new car.....but I choose one that is no where close to my budget,then the insurance goes up and gasoline prices go up.....

Answer 8

How do you define rich? In america, the vast majority of people below the "poverty line" own their own home and live a lifestyle better than the wealthy of most other countries. Being "poor" in the US doesn't mean what you think it does.

Answer 9

Because the majority doesn't rule, the rich do. They just have very good PR to convince the majority that they have choice.

Answer 10

There is a difference between having the ability to rule vs having the ability to earn money. You can't legislate earnings. You can agree to tax it but you tax the poor as much as the rich...

Answer 11

the majority of the population "rules" the government.
the "rich" rule the economy.
you ask: why doesnt the government rule the economy?
because we're not socialist.

[answer includes everything i'm implying]