Chris Rock on Rich People: Agree or Disagree?

'Twas ever thus.

It's just becoming more and more pronounced with the middle class disappearing.

And it will end as it always has - tea being thrown into Boston harbour, the Bastille being stormed, etc., etc..

The kind of perks Chris is talking about is fairly moot. The rich do get perks up the ying, though. I've lived in the upper end of small town America and there is favoritism, law bending, cronyism etc in the upper levels the keep the well off a privileged class in a lot of ways that aren't wallet connected.

The main problem with the middle class disappearing is that it is taking the bridge to social mobility with it. It's one long jump between the surf class to the ruling class. Jumping middle class levels into the rich class is far easier.

Chris Rock was WRONG about SO much! First of all, VERY few fly first class for next to nothing, and most of THEM paid for COACH!!!!!! First class on most airlines on most flights now is a JOKE! I KNOW, I have been there, INCLUDING getting it for a "song"!

First class varies from being basically a slightly more comfortable coach with a mere PRETENSE of luxury(Like real glass glasses instead of plastic cups), to something far better than we had in the1960s(Selection of decent hot meals, individual movie selection. swivel bucket seats that recline, etc.... But this is relatively uncommon, ESPECIALLY on domestic, and short distance, flights.).

ALSO, most people generally won't let you into a lounge unless you PAY in some way, and the cost can be very high. It is like a country club, and may cost several hundred dollars a year. HEY, Warren Buffet HATES the way the airlines are. He doesn't even fly them. He even bought the company HE dealt with. Here is who HE flies with:

https://www.netjets.com/AboutNetJets/

And YEAH, you probably wouldn't fly their airline unless you had a big enough group or need, a rich benefactor, or were filthy rich.

And they probably won't pay you to wear something unless you are a leader of prospects, or a popular celebrity. WHY? ADVERTISING! SO, Warren Buffet might never get that kind of deal.

Still, it is amazing. Rock is filthy rich! As a comedian, he probably gets invited to gala events to even fill a seat! He may get invited to a lounge by a big benefactor or to help cheer people up. He might get suits or whatever. But he IS rich.

MEANWHILE, the middle class have taxes and various costs passed along and it even hurts the economy, etc... And the government steals money from the middle class on the pretense to move it to the lower class, and end up hurting BOTH! But nobody complains about THEM!

Are the rich rich? YEP! NOBODY knows how rich bill gates is. If he could get 100% of what he has been CLAIMED to have, he could easily fund over 27,000 peoples retirements at a good income level. I'm talking about an average of $125,000/year EACH for 16years assuming an average income of 0%! That is pretty rich. 16years is the average life expectancy after 65yo. STILL, much of that money is not that liquid and/or predictable.

Steve

It's funny that most celebrities actually get so much stuff for free & everybody is dying to get their picture. Lifestyles of the rich & famous I guess. There is only one Chris Rock though & he is awesome

Rich people have spare money..everyone else don't have 2 pennies. Why cAN'T POOR PEOPLE BECOME RICH? Most prefer to waste their time or don't want to. Their choice!!!

I think that most of these perks mentioned in the article are not a "rich" person thing, but more of a "famous" person thing. The free stuff - like wearing the jewelry - disappears if you're just a rich CEO.

There are no FREE perks for being rich. Every single once of those perks has been paid for somewhere along the line. Even the tax breaks and advantages arent really intended to advantage the rich. They're intended to encourage investment and savings. It just happens that the rich do a lot more of that than the rest of us.

First class perks are not free.... not until they start handing out first class tickets for free. Trust me, rich people PAID for those perks. Ever see the price of a first class ticket? It's not x2. It's x10.

The rest of the stuff is more about celebrity than money. Nobody pays invisible rich people just for showing up. It's the flamboyantly visible rich people. And that's mostly in the frail ego driven world of clubs, fashion, celebrity and promotions.

The real difference is that rich people can AFFORD to pay for all this stuff, directly and indirectly. Casually. Without caring. While the rest of us have to cut grocery coupons to eat.

But they aren't getting it for free. Any more than that "free" room and "free" drinks at the vegas casino are really free.

Bill Cosby was EVEN given an honorary military title! It has been rescinded! He was ALSO forced to step down from a university board. UMASS asked him to step down also!

I wonder how long it will be before the whole basis of everything he has ever done is removed. They clearly are trying. The next step would be rewriting any related history.

Steve

Some people are way richer than average. Some people are very poor. What is there to disagree with? I'm sure poor kids have seen rap videos flaunting wealth not to mention just about any TV show or movie that present daily life as more well-to-do than it would be for most Americans, I'd humbly reckon. That said, Chris Rock's comedy does work with me, sometimes not what he is saying but his delivery of it.