NationStates Jolt Archive

Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, earns $175,000/yr.
Tom Ridge, earner of $175,000, is planning on quitting his job as SoHS so he can earn more money.
Tom Ridge, the guy planning to quit being SoHS for more money, wants to earn more money to put his two kids through college.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.

What's the problem here? The problem is, I didn't even work very hard for scholarship money and I am getting almost $17,000 in scholarships. I have enough scholarship money to pay four years tuition at the college I'm going to, but I have to keep a job to pay for things like living expenses and books. If Tom Ridge's kids are part of such a privilidged family, they obviously have some of the same genes as their father and some intelligence. If they can't earn the scholarship money to go to Ivy League schools, don't send them to those Ivy League schools and let someone who is actually qualified and can get scholarship money go into that school. I was thinking about going to MIT, and I probably could have been accepted, but with costs that would amount to about $40,000/yr for me to attend, I knew there was no way for me to afford an education there. So what did I do? I chose to go to a school that I could afford for my bachelor's and when it comes time to do Masters work, I may reconsider going up to MIT (because then it will really be worth it), but until then, I'm going to stick to an education I can afford and not really on my rich parents to buy my spot in college then pay for my education.

Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, earns $175,000/yr.
Tom Ridge, earner of $175,000, is planning on quitting his job as SoHS so he can earn more money.
Tom Ridge, the guy planning to quit being SoHS for more money, wants to earn more money to put his two kids through college.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.

What's the problem here? The problem is, I didn't even work very hard for scholarship money and I am getting almost $17,000 in scholarships. I have enough scholarship money to pay four years tuition at the college I'm going to, but I have to keep a job to pay for things like living expenses and books. If Tom Ridge's kids are part of such a privilidged family, they obviously have some of the same genes as their father and some intelligence. If they can't earn the scholarship money to go to Ivy League schools, don't send them to those Ivy League schools and let someone who is actually qualified and can get scholarship money go into that school. I was thinking about going to MIT, and I probably could have been accepted, but with costs that would amount to about $40,000/yr for me to attend, I knew there was no way for me to afford an education there. So what did I do? I chose to go to a school that I could afford for my bachelor's and when it comes time to do Masters work, I may reconsider going up to MIT (because then it will really be worth it), but until then, I'm going to stick to an education I can afford and not really on my rich parents to buy my spot in college then pay for my education.

You hate rich people for being successful enough to do with their money what they want?..

You hate rich people for being successful enough to do with their money what they want?..
No. I hate them because $175,000 isn't enough for them to buy their kids way into Ivy League and pay for their education. If Tom Ridge's kids were qualifed Ivy League students, $175,000/yr probably would be enough because he wouldn't have to pay for everything. The same thing that happened with George W. Bush will happen with Ridge's kids (except they might not go for prez)

No. I hate them because $175,000 isn't enough for them to buy their kids way into Ivy League and pay for their education. If Tom Ridge's kids were qualifed Ivy League students, $175,000/yr probably would be enough because he wouldn't have to pay for everything. The same thing that happened with George W. Bush will happen with Ridge's kids (except they might not go for prez)

The objective of any person is to be more then what they were, Tom Ridge wants to be more then what he is...including taking care of your children.

I hate people who quote the first post of the thread in the second post of the thread.

You have the chance to go to college. 75% of the entire world's population don't get that kind of prospect, not even to enroll in kindergarten. not even to get three meals a day. not even get parents. not even know whether they're going to starve to death tomorrow. man, CONSIDER YOURSELF BLESSED!

The objective of any person is to be more then what they were, Tom Ridge wants to be more then what he is...including taking care of your children.
Tom Ridge is taking care of my kids that I don't have?

You have the chance to go to college. 75% of the entire world's population don't get that kind of prospect, not even to enroll in kindergarten. not even to get three meals a day. not even get parents. not even know whether they're going to starve to death tomorrow. man, CONSIDER YOURSELF BLESSED!
...which is kind of why I don't like people like Tom Ridge making a joke of the whole upper education system...

Oh for gosh sakes. First off, your college must suck ass if 4 years tuition equals only $17,000. Second, if you only got $17,000 dollars in scholarship to that crappy school, you won't make it into MIT. You are just bitter about your own failure and so you feel better by bashing people who happen to have what you want most. You imagine yourself as being more deserving than Ridge's kids, without ever having met them. Now, I will have to pay my own way through college, but I'm not going on the internet and bashing rich people because they have money and can afford whatever school they want.

Jeez, you are very bitter, Opal.

Oh for gosh sakes. First off, your college must suck ass if 4 years tuition equals only $17,000. Second, if you only got $17,000 dollars in scholarship to that crappy school, you won't make it into MIT. You are just bitter about your own failure and so you feel better by bashing people who happen to have what you want most. You imagine yourself as being more deserving than Ridge's kids, without ever having met them. Now, I will have to pay my own way through college, but I'm not going on the internet and bashing rich people because they have money and can afford whatever school they want.
Heh...what college are you going to and how much is tuition? I didn't say I was going to an Ivy League, but I'll tell you what...I'm going to major in Electrical Engineering and the college I'm going to is nationally recognized for the Engineering program at the bachelors level. It's top 25 or something.

Jeez, you are very bitter, Opal.
Well...what's the point in buying your child's way through college if they can't earn it themselves? It's almost like condoning theivery.

Well...what's the point in buying your child's way through college if they can't earn it themselves? It's almost like condoning theivery.
amen to that

Hmmmmmm okay, you hate rich people because they can afford better things than you, that's a rather shallow reason to hate rich people...

Let's say his kids are going to an Ivy-League school, well obviously they ARE qualified since they were accepted into there, or are you going to come up with some conspiracy thing that says because he was the SoHS his kids automatically go to a good college? NO.

There are alot of people out there whose parents aren't paying them through college, but they don't bitch and whine about rich people. My parents make the same amount combined as yours (roughly), but in CAN $, yet I'm planning to go to University in America, and my parents are going to help me pay for it, but hardly all of it, alot of it will still have to come from me finding a decent part time job and a student loan if necessary.

I know student loans take forever to pay off, however if you're not willing to do that, don't complain about not having enough money to attend the college you want.

Edit: Oh yeah, and why pay for your kids way through College? because it is human instinct to take care of your children. If you were a parent, and your son/daughter was accepted into say, Harvard, but didn't have the money to pay for it themselves, but you did, are you saying you'd just ship 'em off to some community college rather than helping them?

Hmmmmmm okay, you hate rich people because they can afford better things than you, that's a rather shallow reason to hate rich people...

Let's say his kids are going to an Ivy-League school, well obviously they ARE qualified since they were accepted into there, or are you going to come up with some conspiracy thing that says because he was the SoHS his kids automatically go to a good college? NO.

There are alot of people out there whose parents aren't paying them through college, but they don't bitch and whine about rich people. My parents make the same amount combined as yours (roughly), but in CAN $, yet I'm planning to go to University in America, and my parents are going to help me pay for it, but hardly all of it, alot of it will still have to come from me finding a decent part time job and a student loan if necessary.

I know student loans take forever to pay off, however if you're not willing to do that, don't complain about not having enough money to attend the college you want.
I'm not necessarily complaining about me personally not having money to attend the college I want. I do have enough money. The point is, Tom Ridge makes by himself almost twice as much as my parents' combined income, yet he wants to get a different job because that isn't enough money to put his kids through college. Why can't they pay for their own college? That way they'd take it more seriously and probably get more out of it. Otherwise, it's just a gift from dad that they can put on their resumes.

...which is kind of why I don't like people like Tom Ridge making a joke of the whole upper education system...

it doesn't matter. if they can get into good schools and can't study...it's worse than you going to a not-so-good school and CAN study.

being rich isn't being happy. i pity rich people.

You're forgetting something though, those Ivy League schools aren't just a good name and expensive, they aren't exactly cake-walks to get into. As I said before, his kid's are obviously qualified or at least pretty damn close if they were accepted into those schools, REGARDLESS of whether or not they are able to pay the tuition.

I know rich people's kids are generally more priveleged than the average middle-class family's kids, but it's still possible for someone from a family that doesn't make THAT much money a year to still attend a good university. It's not a good reason to hate rich people....

You have the chance to go to college. 75% of the entire world's population don't get that kind of prospect, not even to enroll in kindergarten. not even to get three meals a day. not even get parents. not even know whether they're going to starve to death tomorrow. man, CONSIDER YOURSELF BLESSED!

this how people nowadays should think! my god there is famine, death and i dont know what else out there in Iraq and places and you are worried about rich people and their salary! how do you know that they arent good people that give to charity or something. Get yourself into the real world.

I hate rich people because I used to work at a private golf course. They’re nothing but a bunch of dumbasses who want to be pampered all the time. I quit because I the new boss was getting stricter and I was afraid that I might have to be giving members BJs if things kept going the way they were. However there were some pretty nice ones though.

this how people nowadays should think! my god there is famine, death and i dont know what else out there in Iraq and places and you are worried about rich people and their salary! how do you know that they arent good people that give to charity or something. Get yourself into the real world.
Why don't you deal with the response I made to his post first before you attempt bolstering his post even more?

You're forgetting something though, those Ivy League schools aren't just a good name and expensive, they aren't exactly cake-walks to get into. As I said before, his kid's are obviously qualified or at least pretty damn close if they were accepted into those schools, REGARDLESS of whether or not they are able to pay the tuition.

I know rich people's kids are generally more priveleged than the average middle-class family's kids, but it's still possible for someone from a family that doesn't make THAT much money a year to still attend a good university. It's not a good reason to hate rich people....
Well...if George W. Bush had to worry about getting his college paid for at the same time as actually doing college and work his way through just like me and a lot of other NSers are going to have to do, he probably wouldn't have that C average now would he?

I am pretty rich myself. My dad is a CEO and founder of a rather large company. But I do not like the way that rich, idiotic numbnuts (like my little brother) have a much, much better chance to succeed, even withour working, than poor/average$ geniuses. I work very hard, I waste little time, but it's all cut out for me, whereas people like you have to slave over a hot pencil to even get a chance. That's why I'm going to try and be a politician: so I can change that. This may be the land of opportunity, but never "equal" opportunity.

Edit: Oh, and please don't hate us... Just try and teach us what's right.

Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, earns $175,000/yr.
Tom Ridge, earner of $175,000, is planning on quitting his job as SoHS so he can earn more money.
Tom Ridge, the guy planning to quit being SoHS for more money, wants to earn more money to put his two kids through college.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.

What's the problem here? The problem is, I didn't even work very hard for scholarship money and I am getting almost $17,000 in scholarships. I have enough scholarship money to pay four years tuition at the college I'm going to, but I have to keep a job to pay for things like living expenses and books. If Tom Ridge's kids are part of such a privilidged family, they obviously have some of the same genes as their father and some intelligence. If they can't earn the scholarship money to go to Ivy League schools, don't send them to those Ivy League schools and let someone who is actually qualified and can get scholarship money go into that school. I was thinking about going to MIT, and I probably could have been accepted, but with costs that would amount to about $40,000/yr for me to attend, I knew there was no way for me to afford an education there. So what did I do? I chose to go to a school that I could afford for my bachelor's and when it comes time to do Masters work, I may reconsider going up to MIT (because then it will really be worth it), but until then, I'm going to stick to an education I can afford and not really on my rich parents to buy my spot in college then pay for my education.
Whats Ivy league?

Let's say his kids are going to an Ivy-League school, well obviously they ARE qualified since they were accepted into there, or are you going to come up with some conspiracy thing that says because he was the SoHS his kids automatically go to a good college? NO.
mary kate and ashely olsen get to go to any colelge they choose for free because they are celebrities. ridge is an important governemnt person, his kids get into whatever school they want, he only has to pay to keep them there

I am pretty rich myself. My dad is a CEO and founder of a rather large company. But I do not like the way that rich, idiotic numbnuts (like my little brother) have a much, much better chance to succeed, even withour working, than poor/average$ geniuses. I work very hard, I waste little time, but it's all cut out for me, whereas people like you have to slave over a hot pencil to even get a chance. That's why I'm going to try and be a politician: so I can change that. This may be the land of opportunity, but never "equal" opportunity.

Edit: Oh, and please don't hate us... Just try and teach us what's right.
Sovieutopia: I have to apologize to you, because I was being stereotypical when I made the title for this. I have much respect for you. If you start out rich and you have the chance to go even farther than most people, then you should work your hardest to go as far as you can. I would hope that you are going to try working your own way through college and stop accepting your dad's assistance as soon as you can stand on your own two because it'll end up being better for you. Your brother will probably end up getting out in the real world and losing a lot of money because since he hasn't worked as hard to earn it and just relied on your dad, he doesn't have as much respect for it.

Whats Ivy league?
Top private schools.

Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford, etc.

Whats Ivy league?


A very prestigious league of colleges. Harvard is a member, along with other very expensive schools.

EDIT: GAH beaten to it....

Ah. Thanks.

After a while you realize that there is always someone who has more than you do. There will always be someone who inherited money or is born smarter. You just have to get over it.

Consider the conditions that the kids are living in. Father has a nationally known name and face. Dad has to consider that taking the homeland security position puts his family at risk of kidnapping etc. He decides that he needs to pay for his childrens college so they don't have to work at mcdonalds with a bodyguard watching over.

Geez, grow up. How many people are out there with with below average IQ's that can't qualify to get into Electrical Engineering programs? I bet it is better than 50%.

Lets also take a look at your situation, you have the money already set up to get a bachelors (with a part time job) and a plan to complete a masters.

Goodness, I feel a little tear coming to my eye.

Sovieutopia: I have to apologize to you, because I was being stereotypical when I made the title for this. I have much respect for you. If you start out rich and you have the chance to go even farther than most people, then you should work your hardest to go as far as you can. I would hope that you are going to try working your own way through college and stop accepting your dad's assistance as soon as you can stand on your own two because it'll end up being better for you. Your brother will probably end up getting out in the real world and losing a lot of money because since he hasn't worked as hard to earn it and just relied on your dad, he doesn't have as much respect for it.

"I threw my cup a way when I saw a child drink from the trough with his hands." -Socrates

No apology necessary, I know what you mean.

Geez, grow up. How many people are out there with with below average IQ's that can't qualify to get into Electrical Engineering programs? I bet it is better than 50%.

Lets also take a look at your situation, you have the money already set up to get a bachelors (with a part time job) and a plan to complete a masters.
I'm glad you know so much...because at almost any college you try getting into, they don't really consider your major very much when deciding whether or not to accept your application...especially since it changes a lot. I actually turned my application in as a Computer Science prospect, but on the whole, it makes no difference. Additionally, you probably assume that "Electrical Engineers" are people who come work on the wiring in your house and such, which is pretty inaccurate...

The funniest thing about this thread...Sovieutopia, a rich kid, has agreed with me...but people still argue against me...

My parents aren't rich, but they insist on paying for four years of college for me. Why? Because the entire point of going to school is to learn something that will help me succeed after I go out on my own, and in order to learn enough to graduate, I'm going to have to study. A lot. That's why I'm there.

And don't tell me that I don't take my education seriously because I haven't balanced a job and a full course load. You don't know me, Opal Isle. I work VERY hard, and most of the time, it pays off. If I were to attempt to pay for this whole venture myself, I'd run out of money in less than a year. I simply do not have the funds to see myself through until graduation, and there aren't many high-paying jobs I can get until I have a degree.

I didn't go to college to party. I went in expecting to work hard and learn, and that's just what I did. Why should you hate me and people like me just because we're not in your tax bracket? I got approximately $1,000 per semester from the state government last year, and that covered about half my tuition. There was still quite a gap, but my parents gladly paid for it, refusing to accept a dime from my personal savings account. They do it because they can. And they didn't "buy my spot" in college -- I got in myself. My ACT scores and GPA got me in. I don't go to an Ivy League, but I'd bet their admission requirements are more strenuous than the ones for my state school.

Again, we're pretty solidly middle-class. Both of my parents work in a factory -- Mom's an inspector, Dad works in the armpit of the factory with a die press. So we're not rich, we're just comfortable enough to be disqualified for a lot of publicly funded scholarships. We probably have more money than your family, Opal, but so what? That doesn't make me any better or worse than you, and vice versa. I don't hate you for being poor, and you certainly shouldn't hate me (or anyone, for that matter) for committing the crime of being successful.

i thought that my (Relatively poor, shes a nurse) mum had to pay my tuition fees of a few thousand pounds was a raw deal when i found out that French universities only demand a few hundred pounds but man! $40,000! thats gota be what 25,000 pounds! dude your system in america is messed up. university and education should be free, seeing as how graduates provide the most tax and more importantly run the world as we know it. i have friends who studied a few years ago and we given (like every other student in Britan at the time) a grant to study, they we paid to go to Uni and thats how it should be. i feel sorry for the citizens of america, is everything so unbalanced there?

Ps all universties in england charge the same tuition fees, you chooes the uni best suited to you, not your wallet.

Yep, us middle class people have to do things ourselves.

I try to keep an open mind though. I hate some rich people, and I learn from the nice ones.

i thought that my (Relatively poor, shes a nurse) mum had to pay my tuition fees of a few thousand pounds was a raw deal when i found out that French universities only demand a few hundred pounds but man! $40,000! thats gota be what 25,000 pounds! dude your system in america is messed up. university and education should be free, seeing as how graduates provide the most tax and more importantly run the world as we know it. i have friends who studied a few years ago and we given (like every other student in Britan at the time) a grant to study, they we paid to go to Uni and thats how it should be. i feel sorry for the citizens of america, is everything so unbalanced there?

Ps all universties in england charge the same tuition fees, you chooes the uni best suited to you, not your wallet.
Haha, I like the stuff in the PS, however, I also like that college costs money. If it was free, a whole lot more people would go and the degrees offered would have less value. It isn't that hard to "earn" a degree, but actually learning something in college can be a challenge for some.

BTW, what makes these schools better then others? Besides their names.

i thought that my (Relatively poor, shes a nurse) mum had to pay my tuition fees of a few thousand pounds was a raw deal when i found out that French universities only demand a few hundred pounds but man! $40,000! thats gota be what 25,000 pounds! dude your system in america is messed up. university and education should be free, seeing as how graduates provide the most tax and more importantly run the world as we know it. i have friends who studied a few years ago and we given (like every other student in Britan at the time) a grant to study, they we paid to go to Uni and thats how it should be. i feel sorry for the citizens of america, is everything so unbalanced there?

Ps all universties in england charge the same tuition fees, you chooes the uni best suited to you, not your wallet.
saying everythin g is that unbalanced is an understatement, the $40k is just INSTATE fees probably, the out of state fees are more than likely double to triple that, thats how the schools work. my stingy crappy school is like 4 or 8k a year i forget, and for out of state students is 10-20k

Well .... since the amount of money one makes isn't the true measure of a person, then I say let Ridge get richer ...

Personally, I hate rich people because rich is all they are and ever will be. The attitude of "the only way for a person to be better is to have more money" is repugnant.

Oh ... and $100,000 per year? Yeesh ... my dad raised two sons by himself on $26,500 per year and we both went to college ...

My parents aren't rich, but they insist on paying for four years of college for me. Why? Because the entire point of going to school is to learn something that will help me succeed after I go out on my own, and in order to learn enough to graduate, I'm going to have to study. A lot. That's why I'm there.

And don't tell me that I don't take my education seriously because I haven't balanced a job and a full course load. You don't know me, Opal Isle. I work VERY hard, and most of the time, it pays off. If I were to attempt to pay for this whole venture myself, I'd run out of money in less than a year. I simply do not have the funds to see myself through until graduation, and there aren't many high-paying jobs I can get until I have a degree.

I didn't go to college to party. I went in expecting to work hard and learn, and that's just what I did. Why should you hate me and people like me just because we're not in your tax bracket? I got approximately $1,000 per semester from the state government last year, and that covered about half my tuition. There was still quite a gap, but my parents gladly paid for it, refusing to accept a dime from my personal savings account. They do it because they can. And they didn't "buy my spot" in college -- I got in myself. My ACT scores and GPA got me in. I don't go to an Ivy League, but I'd bet their admission requirements are more strenuous than the ones for my state school.

Again, we're pretty solidly middle-class. Both of my parents work in a factory -- Mom's an inspector, Dad works in the armpit of the factory with a die press. So we're not rich, we're just comfortable enough to be disqualified for a lot of publicly funded scholarships. We probably have more money than your family, Opal, but so what? That doesn't make me any better or worse than you, and vice versa. I don't hate you for being poor, and you certainly shouldn't hate me (or anyone, for that matter) for committing the crime of being successful.
Paying for approximately $1,000/yr of college is different then quitting a $175,000/yr job because you don't make enough money to pay for your kids to go through college...
Also, I didn't qualify for any scholarships that had any sort of income limit on it. I wouldn't consider $100,000/yr combined income poor either. I don't think I'm anywhere near the bottom, it's just there is a difference in earning what you have and recieving it as a gift from your parents.

Well .... since the amount of money one makes isn't the true measure of a person, then I say let Ridge get richer ...

Personally, I hate rich people because rich is all they are and ever will be. The attitude of "the only way for a person to be better is to have more money" is repugnant.

Oh ... and $100,000 per year? Yeesh ... my dad raised two sons by himself on $26,500 per year and we both went to college ...
Yea...I never said we were poor. I just really have a distaste for excessively rich people. I'm sure that there are people who hate me and my family because of the income we have, but that's life and I think I can understand that. I mean, my parents get me things, but it's not like they're being me things to put on my resume.

I'm glad you know so much...because at almost any college you try getting into, they don't really consider your major very much when deciding whether or not to accept your application...especially since it changes a lot. I actually turned my application in as a Computer Science prospect, but on the whole, it makes no difference. Additionally, you probably assume that "Electrical Engineers" are people who come work on the wiring in your house and such, which is pretty inaccurate...

Ok, I just so you know my situation, I was accepted to UT Austin in the electrical engineering program in 1984 I spent my entire savings and what my recently divorced parents could afford the first year. When came back home to work the summer but found I was competing with 30 year old men with families for minimum wage jobs (job market was crap) So when fall came I didn't have the tuition. So I joined the Navy. 7/10 males in my graduating class joined the military. Now I design and install rf communications systems for a living.

So yes I do know what EE's do for a living, and I was exactly where you are now at one point in my life (except for having all kinds of scholarship money) and no I don't feel sorry for you.

BTW, what makes these schools better then others? Besides their names.

Ivy Leagues, you mean?

They generally have a whole lot more money, which means they can hire the best professors and provide more educational opportunities for the kids that go there. They also tend to be ranked highest among the ratings for various types of schools you see in magazines like US News & World Report, which does a yearly (I think) ranking of law schools, medical schools, etc. And, often it's harder to be admitted there (you need better grades and test scores than if you were applying at a regular school, and the application itself is longer and more complicated). If you're the first one in your family to go there, admission at an Ivy League school generally means you're an outstanding student with promise.

I don't want or expect people to feel sorry for me...that isn't the point of this thread...

I don't want or expect people to feel sorry for me...that isn't the point of this thread...

I take it the the point of the thread is that poor college age people should hate rich people like you who have money already lined up to go to college?

Opal, you asked me what school I'm going to. Georgia Tech, actually, as a Computer Science major. And it costs a lot more than 17k total. The only reason I can get in is through academic and athletic scholarships. Being middle class doesn't mean you can't get into whatever school you want. You just have to work for it.

i take the point to be most rich people are stuck up egotists who think they actually deserve more than they already have

I take it the the point of the thread is that poor college age people should hate rich people like you who have money already lined up to go to college?
No...the point of this thread is to complain about a rich bastard who thinks $175,000/yr isn't enough of an income to get two children through college when there are plenty of examples of people who make significantly less than that making it through college. You know, I probably wouldn't even complain if he was just going to get them through college, but the fact that he is quitting his job as SoHS to get a job that pays more when he is already making $175,000, and uses his kids going to college as an excuse is kind of frustrating to me.

Opal, you asked me what school I'm going to. Georgia Tech, actually, as a Computer Science major. And it costs a lot more than 17k total. The only reason I can get in is through academic and athletic scholarships. Being middle class doesn't mean you can't get into whatever school you want. You just have to work for it.
Cost more than 17K for tuition? or for everything? I'm going to the University of Arkansas and to pay for everything, it would cost about 12k/yr, but I was only talking about tuition when I said 17k will cover it.

Ivy Leagues, you mean?

They generally have a whole lot more money, which means they can hire the best professors and provide more educational opportunities for the kids that go there. They also tend to be ranked highest among the ratings for various types of schools you see in magazines like US News & World Report, which does a yearly (I think) ranking of law schools, medical schools, etc. And, often it's harder to be admitted there (you need better grades and test scores than if you were applying at a regular school, and the application itself is longer and more complicated). If you're the first one in your family to go there, admission at an Ivy League school generally means you're an outstanding student with promise.
Aha. thanks.

Aha. thanks.
HAHAH, all this debate going on and Von Witzleben is trying to figure out what Ivy League is and such...

Yea...I never said we were poor. I just really have a distaste for excessively rich people. I'm sure that there are people who hate me and my family because of the income we have, but that's life and I think I can understand that. I mean, my parents get me things, but it's not like they're being me things to put on my resume.

Meh ... I don't hate you or your family for your income ... like I said, money is not the measure of a person's worth - although what they do with it is.

I think it's great you pushed for scholarships and such. The only way I was able to go to college was through stacks of paperwork, grants, and busting my ass to maintain a decent enough GPA to graduate - and I was a mathematics major!

I applaud anyone who strives to better themselves through education, but have even more respect for those who use that education to better the world around them.

Oh, before you ask, mathematics isn't often used to make the world a better place but I use it as a coder (programmer). Also, I minored in Music Composition (have an Associates in that) and Piano. Math and Art ...

Now I'm just rambling.

No...the point of this thread is to complain about a rich bastard who thinks $175,000/yr isn't enough of an income to get two children through college when there are plenty of examples of people who make significantly less than that making it through college. You know, I probably wouldn't even complain if he was just going to get them through college, but the fact that he is quitting his job as SoHS to get a job that pays more when he is already making $175,000, and uses his kids going to college as an excuse is kind of frustrating to me.

Ahh, I see, someone offered the rich bastard (who only make 1.75 times what your family makes) a better paying job and he actually is going to take it.

Yep very frustrating. He should suck it up and make his kids work and blow off that good paying job...Because there are other people out there who have done it for less money, so should he.

Paying for approximately $1,000/yr of college is different then quitting a $175,000/yr job because you don't make enough money to pay for your kids to go through college...

I think I spoke incorrectly. We got $1,000 per semester in financial aid, or $2,000 a year. It paid for about half my tuition, which was helpful (again, state school), but I still had to contend with things like books and room & board (which by itself cost more than double my yearly tuition). That's still approximately $12,000 a year that my family must pay for, and between the two of them they earn about $60,000 before taxes.

So we're not poor either, but apparently my folks make about $40,000/year less than your parents... yet I don't resent you. Strange.

OH. Well, OK then Opal. I didn't realize you were only referring to tuition. My bad. Sorry.

Alright... let me see... as Law student, at one of the colleges that was mentions (Harvard) let's set a couple things straight.

1. That little bit about not throwing them out? Harvard for example has a 95% graduation rate. And most of the drop-outs are because they don't have enough money. Now this doesn't mean that Harvard is a lax school, quite the oposite, it is one of the toughest schools in the U.S. But the reason that drop-outs are so low is because the colleges seek to teach the students. If you can't cut it, the college tries to make you into something that can suceed, this is the entire point of college in fact.

2. About mister Ridge, Good For Him, his is showing American spirit. A spirit that keeps us reaching for the top. A spirit that keeps America's economy running. To put it plainly, mister Ridge is not that rich... most laywers make more than he does, and if he is being offered a better paying job, then by all means, he should take it. Wouldn't you?

3. Putting kids through college is just an extrapolation of one of our most basic instincts. We want our children to be able to suceed, and we wan't to take care of them. Thus trying to pay their way through college is a normal reaction.

4. Tuition, listen pall, I know from expirience, MIT is a lot more than the figure you gave, I live in Massachusetts, and at one point I looked at MIT. Check your Figures...

And don't give up hope, get a degree, get a job, and then go to the school of your choice.

No no no.

I hate rich people because:


They smell funny, like old, possibly rotten vegetables
They have more money than me
They get expensive, powerful, fast cars, and drive slowly on the freeway in front of you
They have more money than me
They're stupid, money decreases IQ, its scientific absolute fact
They have more money than me
When they laugh their nostrils kinda flare and you want to punch them in the face, knee them in the crotch and use their shoulderblades as a trampoline
They have more money than me


There.

You know, I am not to sure if I catch the drift of this post exactly. So tell me: is this a bashing against all rich people, or just those few who are spoiled and rotten?

If it is just against those who are spoiled and rotten, then I must agree with the bashing. However, not everyone was born rich. Let me tell you a bit about myself and family...

My parents never went to college, and my father considers that to be one of his biggest mistakes in life. My mother is a Plant Maintanance person for the City of Portland, and my father is a very well respected executive sales man in the electronics and technology industry. As of today, he just moved from his $151,000 a year job to a different company, where they offered him the position of Global President of Sales and Marketing. In a few years, he hopes to retire with my mother and a healthy few million dollars.

Our lives did not always used to be this nice. Both my parents were drug addics and severe alcoholics for a long time, but they have been clean and sober for about 20 years now. The first place I remember living when my sister and I were very young, was in a two room apartment surrounded by drug dealers and the like. If it had not been for that hard effort on my parent's part, then I do not know where we would be today. I would probably not have my own apartment, or my own car for that matter. And considering that niether of my parents had much of an education, and started off on the lowest rungs of society and business, I would consider thier positions today to be nothing short of a miracle. I am VERY proud of my family for thier hard work.

To get to where we are today required a team effort. Sure, it wasn't always easy, but we made it. So please do not think that all rich people are spoiled and rotten, because I can assure you that my family is not. I cannot count the number of times when my mother donated things to the goodwill, or when my parents donated money to charities. I guess they do so because of the lessons that they have learned in life, which have taught them that it is better to give than to recieve.

Do not get me wrong here: having a nice fortune is wonderful, and I consider myself very blessed to have it. But we do not flaunt our riches in other people's faces, and my father has repeatedly told me on numerous occasions, when we were discussing life in general, not to brag about our finances to anyone. And of course, I don't. I am only telling you folks this little part about me because 1) you'll never meet me in person, so you therefore won't know me or my family's finances personally, and 2) to prove the point that not all rich people are spoiled brats and piggish politicians and busniessmen/women.

As for me today, well, nothing spectacular. I live in a one room apartment on the west side of town, in a quiet older suburban nieghborhood, where I pay $460 in rent per month, and I work minimum wage at a private security company in Portland. I am not currently in college, but I am going back in January to a local community college to practice Criminal Justice, as I work towards my career of becoming a Police Officer. So you see, not every kid with rich parents get's things handed to them. My parents, who had next to nothing growing up, make sure that I am earning my way in life, and they don't just hand me shit without knowing that it is going to be earned first or put to good use. I do admit that they help me out a bit financially when I ask for it, but like I said earlier: it is a team effort between me and the whole family. If they ever saw that I wasn't making an effort to get by in life, they would never support me financially, and they would leave me to fend for myself. I agree with this policy.

I do not agree with bashing or flaming all rich people, because you have to consider how hard they have worked to get to where they are. I mean, my God....there were times in my life where my father would be gone for months at a time overseas, working on some business proposal in Hong-Kong or something. So in that sence, I do not consider rich people to be spoiled with out a reason to be. You have to consider what they have done and how hard they have worked to get to where they are. But the difference between a good rich person and a rotten one depends on how they present themselves to others, not what and how they spend thier money. Please remember that.

Thanks for reading and listening.

Exactly, AMS. Maybe Secretary Ridge's kids also happen to be extremely hard workers. We don't know whether or not they're spoiled brats.

My parents may be funding my education, but if I started flunking classes I'd be on my own. They are helping me financially because they want to take care of me. They're financially able, and they see that I'm working as hard as I can to memorize enough to do well, so they help me. They never went to college either, I know they'll never be millionaires, and I don't yet have a car or my own home, but with their help I'm going to graduate. I'm going to make it if it kills me, and they know this -- that's why they agreed to pay for most of the things I need for school. They view it as an investment in my future.

And getting back to the original topic:
1. If Mr. Ridge's reason for taking a higher-paying job is to put his kids through a very good, fairly expensive school, you can hardly criticize the man for putting his family first.
2. I don't know how many children he has, but a kid from my HS graduating class just went to a fairly prestigious private school on the East Coast. His dad's a doctor, and an excellent doctor at that, but the son still needs considerable financial help. Why? The doctor has several kids, each of whom are within a year or two of each other and will all need higher education. Making $175,000 a year doesn't automatically mean you can pay for anything you want, especially if you have more than one child and they are attending an expensive school.

No no no.

I hate rich people because:


They have more money than me

They have more money than me

They have more money than me

They have more money than me


There.
I agree with your points 1000%. :D

Ahh, I see, someone offered the rich bastard (who only make 1.75 times what your family makes) a better paying job and he actually is going to take it.

Yep very frustrating. He should suck it up and make his kids work and blow off that good paying job...Because there are other people out there who have done it for less money, so should he.
It's not like he had that offer just now. He was probably making more money before he took the job as SoHS.

But why hate anyone simply for being born into a better situation than you were? Isn't that pretty much the same as hating someone for the color of their skin or the country of their birth? To the best of my knowledge, the person you hate has no control over the circumstances of their birth. Why waste one minute of your time worrying that someone else might have it easier than you? Why not focus your energies instead on being the best person you can be?

saying everythin g is that unbalanced is an understatement, the $40k is just INSTATE fees probably, the out of state fees are more than likely double to triple that, thats how the schools work. my stingy crappy school is like 4 or 8k a year i forget, and for out of state students is 10-20k
Many of you folks seem to be confused...
Private schools (the ones that charge 40 k a year) don't have separate prices for out of state students. State schools do. State schools are much cheaper- in fact, in many states, the public schools are free to a large percentage of the students that continue to college

stanford is not ivy league....just something that bugged me...
Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Penn, and Cornell are the ivy league schools.

And finally, after my scholarships (16k a year for 4 years) My parents have agreed to pay the rest for my undergrad education. My parents make more money than yours, but 100,000 a year puts you well into the middle class range. (I'm assuming you didn't qualify for financial need?)
The reason my parents are willing to pay for my undergraduate studies is that they want me to be able to live up to my dreams. I simply wouldn't be able to do what I am doing now in college if I had a job to pay the remaining 22 or some thousand dollars remaining after scholarships. I'm working too damn hard in school to have time after. (I'm also majoring in engineering, and decided I'd take up a second major in neuroscience...I'm not doing electrical, but because of the neuroscience, I'm heavily focus on it, so what school is it you're going to?)
My parents want me to be successful, for me, but also for themselves. Someone is gonna have to take care of them when they're old and decrepit...
But they aren't going to pay for me to go to grad school- because my mom's parents wouldn't pay for her to go to med school. I'm hoping I'll be accepted into Johns Hopkins' PhD program, because it's continually the best in the country (probably in the world) for my field. And I love the chesapeake bay. They take something like 30-50 people a year. If I had a job, I'd have no chance at that. As it is, it still might be wishful thinking, but I at least have a shot.
Speaking of grad school...don't go for a masters...ever...go for a PhD- if you want to stop after earning your masters, ok, but at least try for a PhD...

[/rant]

Many of you folks seem to be confused...
Private schools (the ones that charge 40 k a year) don't have separate prices for out of state students. State schools do. State schools are much cheaper- in fact, in many states, the public schools are free to a large percentage of the students that continue to college

stanford is not ivy league....just something that bugged me...
Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Penn, and Cornell are the ivy league schools.

And finally, after my scholarships (16k a year for 4 years) My parents have agreed to pay the rest for my undergrad education. My parents make more money than yours, but 100,000 a year puts you well into the middle class range. (I'm assuming you didn't qualify for financial need?)
The reason my parents are willing to pay for my undergraduate studies is that they want me to be able to live up to my dreams. I simply wouldn't be able to do what I am doing now in college if I had a job to pay the remaining 22 or some thousand dollars remaining after scholarships. I'm working too damn hard in school to have time after. (I'm also majoring in engineering, and decided I'd take up a second major in neuroscience...I'm not doing electrical, but because of the neuroscience, I'm heavily focus on it, so what school is it you're going to?)
My parents want me to be successful, for me, but also for themselves. Someone is gonna have to take care of them when they're old and decrepit...
But they aren't going to pay for me to go to grad school- because my mom's parents wouldn't pay for her to go to med school. I'm hoping I'll be accepted into Johns Hopkins' PhD program, because it's continually the best in the country (probably in the world) for my field. And I love the chesapeake bay. They take something like 30-50 people a year. If I had a job, I'd have no chance at that. As it is, it still might be wishful thinking, but I at least have a shot.
Speaking of grad school...don't go for a masters...ever...go for a PhD- if you want to stop after earning your masters, ok, but at least try for a PhD...

[/rant]
Public schools are free to in-state kids? I'm get fucked over big time...

I don't hate rich people...My boyfriend's family is excessively rich (though it must be stressed that HE is not rich...in case he reads this) and I love him. His family is also pretty cool, even though they're paying his school (after scholarships) and bought him a computer and a car. (which he lost and wrecked, respectively, and they didn't replace)

Public schools are free to in-state kids? I'm get fucked over big time...
try again, sweetie

I think I speak for most of the bashers when I say this:

If you truly earned your way to wealth with nothing more than hard work, then more power to you.

The bashing is for those who fall into one or more of the following categories...

A) The lucky - Just plain old resentment. Rightly or wrongly, most people think it's unfair that unemployed wife-beating trailer trash can pull a winning lottery ticket and get a better life than someone who spends 37 years working their fingers to the bone.

B) The Heir - They didn't earn it; their ancestors did. They are also resented by those who had the misfortune to not be born into money.

C) The Greedy - Those that make their money at the expense of others. If you can't get rich ethically, you shouldn't be rich!

D) Overpaid Executives - A sub-set of Greedy. Consider this; currently it is commonplace for an executive to earn 500-1000 times what many of his employees earn. I'd like to think that they'd be willing to forgo their million-dollar Bugatti Veyron and give all their employees a living wage. To do otherwise is just, well, greedy.

E) Athletes and Entertainers - $7 million a year for playing baseball? Skyrocketing ticket prices to pay these people? Getting millions for rapping about how great it is to have millions? Jeesh!

Edit: Oh, and please don't hate us... Just try and teach us what's right.

Groovy ...

Step 1] Give me some money.

That's all.


:D

E) Athletes and Entertainers - $7 million a year for playing baseball? Skyrocketing ticket prices to pay these people? Getting millions for rapping about how great it is to have millions? Jeesh!
7 million for baseball? they are getting screwed over

some one just got a 20million signing bonus in football, and his contract pays 54 million over 8 years i think

try again, sweetie
You said that in-state kids get college for free a lot of the time...didn't you?

I think I speak for most of the bashers when I say this:

If you truly earned your way to wealth with nothing more than hard work, then more power to you.

The bashing is for those who fall into one or more of the following categories...

A) The lucky - Just plain old resentment. Rightly or wrongly, most people think it's unfair that unemployed wife-beating trailer trash can pull a winning lottery ticket and get a better life than someone who spends 37 years working their fingers to the bone.

B) The Heir - They didn't earn it; their ancestors did. They are also resented by those who had the misfortune to not be born into money.

C) The Greedy - Those that make their money at the expense of others. If you can't get rich ethically, you shouldn't be rich!

D) Overpaid Executives - A sub-set of Greedy. Consider this; currently it is commonplace for an executive to earn 500-1000 times what many of his employees earn. I'd like to think that they'd be willing to forgo their million-dollar Bugatti Veyron and give all their employees a living wage. To do otherwise is just, well, greedy.

E) Athletes and Entertainers - $7 million a year for playing baseball? Skyrocketing ticket prices to pay these people? Getting millions for rapping about how great it is to have millions? Jeesh!

Actually...I just don't like it when rich kids go off doing everything at their parents expense. I already said this but I guess that some people failed to read it. My thread title was excessively stereotypical. Really, I just don't like the snobby kids that spend their parents money and have no respect for hard work.

But why hate anyone simply for being born into a better situation than you were? Isn't that pretty much the same as hating someone for the color of their skin or the country of their birth? To the best of my knowledge, the person you hate has no control over the circumstances of their birth. Why waste one minute of your time worrying that someone else might have it easier than you? Why not focus your energies instead on being the best person you can be?
Yea...again, I've already apologized and further targeted my anger...read some of my other posts...

And also, I feel I can complain and still be the best I can be at the same time. However, I'm not concerned with just myself like some rich people stereotypically are (the kind of rich people I don't like very much).

you obviously just live in the wrong state. I'm guessing Arkansas is a red state...

Many states now have large scholarship opportunities...Like in WV (where I went to High school) they have a "promise scholarship" which promises to pay full tuition (yes room, board, and books cost more) to anyone who makes like... a 3.0 in the core subjects in high school. SC (where my brother goes to high school) has a similar "hope scholarship" though there are some differences
edit: and california has (or did have) something like what I'm talking about (though I don't know the exact specs since I've never lived there)

For god's sake...how jealous can one be? "I hate rich people"? I really doubt you'd hate yourself if you won the lottery or something.

Take for example Ashlee Simpson. I don't think she's a very good singer. I think she is terrible. Also, there probably isn't a message in any of her songs that really has any depth to it. But she got a record contract and a TV show. Why? Her sister is famous. Why can't I have a TV show of my own where I have cameras follow me around and watch me live my life. It surely would be just as if not more interesting than Ashlee's life.

you obviously just live in the wrong state. I'm guessing Arkansas is a red state...

Many states now have large scholarship opportunities...Like in WV (where I went to High school) they have a "promise scholarship" which promises to pay full tuition (yes room, board, and books cost more) to anyone who makes like... a 3.0 in the core subjects in high school. SC (where my brother goes to high school) has a similar "hope scholarship" though there are some differences
...yeah, heh, Arkansas sucks I guess. Oh well, that just means it's harder to get into school here and there is less of a chance of me being around stupid people (which I also hate).

For god's sake...how jealous can one be? "I hate rich people"? I really doubt you'd hate yourself if you won the lottery or something.
You want to talk about God's sake? Read all my posts...

Take for example Ashlee Simpson. I don't think she's a very good singer. I think she is terrible. Also, there probably isn't a message in any of her songs that really has any depth to it. But she got a record contract and a TV show. Why? Her sister is famous. Why can't I have a TV show of my own where I have cameras follow me around and watch me live my life. It surely would be just as if not more interesting than Ashlee's life.
Yes, but...Take Jessica Simpson...cause you can say all that stuff about her too (except for her sister being famous)

just thought I'd mention...
5 of the threads on the first page are your threads (Opal Isle, that is)

Yes, but...Take Jessica Simpson...cause you can say all that stuff about her too (except for her sister being famous)
Well, I'm not exactly sure how it is that Jessica got the status she did, but the only reason Ashlee got any of what she has is because she's the younger sister of a really famous person.

just thought I'd mention...
5 of the threads on the first page are your threads (Opal Isle, that is)
wewt?
This one...
The Saddam one...
The Anarcho-Communism one which was started to lure in Letila...
The Kerry speech one...(which was started Thursday and I'm only half-way in that thread anymore...)
...what else?

Oh yes...the voting system one...which was started before the Kerry one...

The funny thing is, all of them have a lot of posts and discussion going on about them except the Anarcho-Communism one (because everyone already knows that's dumb), so I guess I'm bringing up the things people want to talk about...

I am the michelin man, sure I had to swap my body for a pile of tyres, but I earn more than $3 000 000 a year.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.



My parents only make 20,000 combined, you are lucky.

My parents only make 20,000 combined, you are lucky.
And I consider myself lucky.

I just don't get why people are so anxious to defend the rich... can't take care of themselves?

Do the rich work so much harder than you do? The poor are dumb and lazy, we're kind of smart and work hard, and the rich are heroic geniuses who work all the time to make the world a better place? This is NOT a meritocracy! You can't chart success in accordance with worthiness.

Wealth protects and perpetuates itself so that as time goes by, the rich use their protection and opportunities to hoard wealth, taking it away from the poor who have less and less protection and opportunity. Rich get richer, poor get poorer, it's happening every day and it's not an accident. Working your ass off to be able to give your child a decent used car for their graduation does NOT put them on the same footing as the kid who got an oil company for their birthday- it's just not equal opportunity:

"Wealth does not trickle down, it is siphoned up through the hard work of many into the pockets of a few."

BTW, what makes these schools better then others? Besides their names.The quality of the teachers

I can tell you that my mom is a surgeon and earns more than Mr. Ridge. I can also tell you that her job is incredibly stressful, and she earns every penny.
There's nothing wrong with people having high salaries, with skilled labor it's a question of limited supply and large demand.
Please don't hate people with larger incomes than your family. It doesn't mean they don't work. (Although I am no fan of most people in the government right now, and have my doubts about Mr. Ridge.)

Please don't hate people with larger incomes than your family.

Please read all of my posts.

I just don't get why people are so anxious to defend the rich... can't take care of themselves?

Do the rich work so much harder than you do? The poor are dumb and lazy, we're kind of smart and work hard, and the rich are heroic geniuses who work all the time to make the world a better place? This is NOT a meritocracy! You can't chart success in accordance with worthiness.

Wealth protects and perpetuates itself so that as time goes by, the rich use their protection and opportunities to hoard wealth, taking it away from the poor who have less and less protection and opportunity. Rich get richer, poor get poorer, it's happening every day and it's not an accident. Working your ass off to be able to give your child a decent used car for their graduation does NOT put them on the same footing as the kid who got an oil company for their birthday- it's just not equal opportunity:

"Wealth does not trickle down, it is siphoned up through the hard work of many into the pockets of a few."
I don't hate rich people...My boyfriend's family is excessively rich (though it must be stressed that HE is not rich...in case he reads this) and I love him. His family is also pretty cool, even though they're paying his school (after scholarships) and bought him a computer and a car. (which he lost and wrecked, respectively, and they didn't replace)
his parents work very hard...His mom was rich before and lost all her money twice (once in fleeing the vietnam war, and again leaving her terrible husband but destined to take her children)
Now they build houses and do some real estate stuff (like they buy houses, fix them up really nicely and then sell them when they're done with them)
That's why I'm so anxious to defend some of the rich. I don't see why people are so quick to insult "the rich" Opal Isle has already admitted that stereotyping like that is inherently flawed...but you don't?

(Although I am no fan of most people in the government right now, and have my doubts about Mr. Ridge.)
Seriously, he's doing something good for his family...just by getting out of the government...what an icky job...

"Tribal Ecology is ranked 156th in the region and 98,794th in the world for Greatest Rich-Poor Divides."

Equality and happiness for all.

There's nothing wrong with high salaries, except that they are used to defend low salaries- sure a surgeon makes thousands of times more than a home care worker, but their jobs are harder, more stressful, in demand etc. I am happy for everyone who has a good job. But it is NOT more stressful to have a good job, with job security, health insurance and paid vacations than to work several part time jobs and be scared to death that you'll have to go to the doctor and there goes ALL of your month's salary. I can tell you right now that working in a group home for survivors of abuse in institutions is VERY stressful, and you can end up pretty bruised too.

I don't hate individual rich people (unless they are pricks like Tom Ridge), but I don't see why we should put up with a system of such unequal opportunity. It will only get worse.

I am the michelin man, sure I had to swap my body for a pile of tyres, but I earn more than $3 000 000 a year.


3 mil a year? And tell me again: what the hell are you doing here, on a damn game site forum?

Rich get richer, poor get poorer, it's happening every day and it's not an accident. Working your ass off to be able to give your child a decent used car for their graduation does NOT put them on the same footing as the kid who got an oil company for their birthday- it's just not equal opportunity:

"Wealth does not trickle down, it is siphoned up through the hard work of many into the pockets of a few."

Bitch....Moan.....Whine....

When you work hard all your life, and become sucessful in the end, and someone else doesn't, who's fault is that?

Bitch....Moan.....Whine....

When you work hard all your life, and become sucessful in the end, and someone else doesn't, who's fault is that?

The thing is, not everyone who works their asses off as hard as they can ever become successful.

what so wrong about wanting more for your kids?

Let me make a slight correction on my previous above post:

I don't think that it is all about working hard, as oppose to someone not working hard. But rather, what kind of career they choose to undertake.

Just curious Opal.

Assuming you go through college, go on to do a masters and doctorate from MIT, have a successful career, get married, raise a family...

At what point are YOU going to stop evaluating options to continue to better your career, your life, and the life you can provide for you children?

At $100,000/yr are you going to start turning down offers for more prestigeous jobs because you've decided that you are earning enough and you don't mind somebody else taking the job? Or at $120,000? Or when?

When will you decide that you've done enough for your family and you'll be happy to keep your present job no matter what other offers come your way?


Maybe you will find that perfect job that absolutely fits you and you will find no need to consider options. If so, you will be one of the very few lucky ones that do. but odds are - if yu have any success at all - that no matter what you find yourself doing that you always also examine options to keep things fresh, interesting, and maybe even for more money..

At that point, I guess you will have to start hating yourself with your current attitude.

Just a thought for you - perhaps the tuition isn't the only reason Tom wants to move on. Maybe he has an incredibly stressful job that is taking up way more time than he ever anticipated, or any of a number of other options that pop to mind, but maybe he doesn't feel that he owes YOU to tell you exactly why he is moving on so is putting out a simplified reason for public consumption.

-Z-

uh
having read a couple pages if this....
i hate to be the one to burst your hate bubble
but
most of the time when someone like ridge in high federal office quits, its NOT for the reasons stated
they put a good face on it so as to not burn any bridges they may have to go back across later
he may well have quit because he is sick and tired of the way the government is being run. i can only guess at the reasons, really, so there is no sense in my speculating

he doesnt have to go get a $500,000/year job in order to send his kids to college. he just didnt want to tell the press the real reason

There's nothing wrong with high salaries, except that they are used to defend low salaries- sure a surgeon makes thousands of times more than a home care worker, but their jobs are harder, more stressful, in demand etc. I am happy for everyone who has a good job. But it is NOT more stressful to have a good job, with job security, health insurance and paid vacations than to work several part time jobs and be scared to death that you'll have to go to the doctor and there goes ALL of your month's salary. I can tell you right now that working in a group home for survivors of abuse in institutions is VERY stressful, and you can end up pretty bruised too.

I don't hate individual rich people (unless they are pricks like Tom Ridge), but I don't see why we should put up with a system of such unequal opportunity. It will only get worse.
I'm sure any job is stressful...I have to answer phones sometimes, and that's pretty stressful for me. However, if I make a mistake, I don't leave someone dead, disfigured, or otherwise disabled. A full-time surgeon should be paid more than a full-time clerical worker

Going to an ivey league doesn't gurantee you being rich. However it would better your chances getting a better job. The most likely way for you to get rich is for you to start your own business not a job.

No. I hate them because $175,000 isn't enough for them to buy their kids way into Ivy League and pay for their education. If Tom Ridge's kids were qualifed Ivy League students, $175,000/yr probably would be enough because he wouldn't have to pay for everything. The same thing that happened with George W. Bush will happen with Ridge's kids (except they might not go for prez)

don't they tend to give more scholarships to those who are in financial need than those who are alreadt rich?

You are envious, thats why you hate the wealthy.

can anyone let the dog out?

it needs the toilet.

You are envious, thats why you hate the wealthy.

I don't envy the wealthy, I pity them.

Sink or swim Opal Island, if your parents made a decent living I think your outlook would be much different.

don't they tend to give more scholarships to those who are in financial need than those who are alreadt rich?
in theory, yes... although they give merit-based scholarships regardless of need
But some scholarships are solely need based, or a mix of the two

However, celebrities (or just really rich people) can often get stuff for free just by being rich & famous (which I never understood)

Sink or swim Opal Island, if your parents made a decent living I think your outlook would be much different.
Aren't $100,000 a year considerd a decent income?

Aren't $100,000 a year considerd a decent income?
its a very good income, but it also depends on where you live and what expenses you have eh?

You should spend less time worrying about what other people are doing, especialy as it doesn't directly affect you really.

w00t

My stepmom has already paid for all of my stepbrother's high school and 8th grade at a $33,000 a year. Plus he is "all set" for college.

Plus she and my dad are getting a $740,000 house. She also owns an Acura MDX, and she used to be the executive vice president of Foreign Operations for Mast INC.

In you face Opal Isle.

I on the other hand am 16 and work my ass off for everything.

Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, earns $175,000/yr.
Tom Ridge, earner of $175,000, is planning on quitting his job as SoHS so he can earn more money.
Tom Ridge, the guy planning to quit being SoHS for more money, wants to earn more money to put his two kids through college.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.

What's the problem here? The problem is, I didn't even work very hard for scholarship money and I am getting almost $17,000 in scholarships. I have enough scholarship money to pay four years tuition at the college I'm going to, but I have to keep a job to pay for things like living expenses and books. If Tom Ridge's kids are part of such a privilidged family, they obviously have some of the same genes as their father and some intelligence. If they can't earn the scholarship money to go to Ivy League schools, don't send them to those Ivy League schools and let someone who is actually qualified and can get scholarship money go into that school. I was thinking about going to MIT, and I probably could have been accepted, but with costs that would amount to about $40,000/yr for me to attend, I knew there was no way for me to afford an education there. So what did I do? I chose to go to a school that I could afford for my bachelor's and when it comes time to do Masters work, I may reconsider going up to MIT (because then it will really be worth it), but until then, I'm going to stick to an education I can afford and not really on my rich parents to buy my spot in college then pay for my education.

So do you hate him for wanting to provide more for his kids, or because you don't at the moment have the opportunity to make that kind of money?

Sounds like sour grapes. Let's see what you feel after you've that degree and the job that goes with it.

Aren't $100,000 a year considerd a decent income?

My dad makes $80,000, my stepmom made over $200,000 (she wont tell me) but her job was outsourced to Ohio and my mom before the economy went to the shitter made $115,000.

My parents are divorced though and I live in Massachusetts, so its very expensive to live here.

I hate rich people because I used to work at a private golf course. They’re nothing but a bunch of dumbasses who want to be pampered all the time. I quit because I the new boss was getting stricter and I was afraid that I might have to be giving members BJs if things kept going the way they were.


LOL they do PAY to be pampered, but I don't believe BJs are part of what they sign up for.

LOL they do PAY to be pampered, but I don't believe BJs are part of what they sign up for.
yes they are

i take the point to be most rich people are stuck up egotists who think they actually deserve more than they already have

Or that some people are dogs in the manger.

LOL they do PAY to be pampered, but I don't believe BJs are part of what they sign up for.

Well then they're going to the wrong country clubs!

lol, I voted Rich people, but unfortunately, your losing Opal Isle.

It's not like he had that offer just now. He was probably making more money before he took the job as SoHS.

So he should be penalized because he took time out at less pay to serve his country, but now feels it's time to serve his family.

I see. :p

I do, I really do...
Wanna know why? 'Cos one of the stuck-up smug cunts stole my (average income) girlfriend. So I'm biased in the extreme.

That, and the fact that I hate their air of superiority. I live in Turin, which has a huge rich-poor divide, also geologically, we're talking sides of the river here... Now, I'm average-income (actually a student, ergo lowest income in the country. Ever tried living on £5000 a year? It's not a bonanza of frivolity I can tell you...), and the attitude that these rich cabinotti exhibit... if I weren't an easy-going guy I'd hook them all... Seriously.

I thought that 'stuck-up' was just a cartoon or comedy type of behaviour, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S REAL!!

Bastards...

Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, earns $175,000/yr.
Tom Ridge, earner of $175,000, is planning on quitting his job as SoHS so he can earn more money.
Tom Ridge, the guy planning to quit being SoHS for more money, wants to earn more money to put his two kids through college.

My parents, average, hard-working Americans, have a combined income of about $100,000.
My parents, combined earners of about $100,000, are planning on watching me earn my own money through college by way of scholarships and hard work.
My parents, the people planning to watch me through college, have three kids to go through college between now and about 2010.

What's the problem here? The problem is, I didn't even work very hard for scholarship money and I am getting almost $17,000 in scholarships. I have enough scholarship money to pay four years tuition at the college I'm going to, but I have to keep a job to pay for things like living expenses and books. If Tom Ridge's kids are part of such a privilidged family, they obviously have some of the same genes as their father and some intelligence. If they can't earn the scholarship money to go to Ivy League schools, don't send them to those Ivy League schools and let someone who is actually qualified and can get scholarship money go into that school. I was thinking about going to MIT, and I probably could have been accepted, but with costs that would amount to about $40,000/yr for me to attend, I knew there was no way for me to afford an education there. So what did I do? I chose to go to a school that I could afford for my bachelor's and when it comes time to do Masters work, I may reconsider going up to MIT (because then it will really be worth it), but until then, I'm going to stick to an education I can afford and not really on my rich parents to buy my spot in college then pay for my education.


100k US! dude your rich. my dad works in a steel factory almost 25 years now and my mom works in another department there and combined they make about 80, 000 canadian dollars a year. thats about 50 or 60 US. so dont complain about your money situation. neither will i because it will get me nowhere. also my parents arnen't paying my way to university either. infact im not going to university. im going to the military as they help pay for college.

Worst thread ever.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/forumfun/sucks1.jpg

EDIT:

I do, I really do...
Wanna know why? 'Cos one of the stuck-up smug cunts stole my (average income) girlfriend. So I'm biased in the extreme.

That, and the fact that I hate their air of superiority. I live in Turin, which has a huge rich-poor divide, also geologically, we're talking sides of the river here... Now, I'm average-income (actually a student, ergo lowest income in the country. Ever tried living on £5000 a year? It's not a bonanza of frivolity I can tell you...), and the attitude that these rich cabinotti exhibit... if I weren't an easy-going guy I'd hook them all... Seriously.

I thought that 'stuck-up' was just a cartoon or comedy type of behaviour, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S REAL!!

Bastards...

Don't worry, I'm sure they feel the same way about you.

With your 100K? or are you saying that you're poor? Because many people would still call you rich, as many make much less.....however I would just laugh at your face and call you over to clean my carpets. They are in need of a good dusting.

Oh please... this is pathetic. Remember, they are other human beings, and should be treated as such, not with blatant hate.You would like them to treat you as a human being as well? Be the one to start it. And theres no point in worrying about something you cant control. They have a surplus of money, whereas you do not. I dont have much money, but I dont let it consume my life. Trust me, you will be alot happier if you let go of hate. It gets you nowhere.

:eek: :mp5: I hate richiez cause they brag and think thier way better than anybody else!!well thier not thier just regular ass people

:eek: :mp5: I hate richiez cause they brag and think thier way better than anybody else!!well thier not thier just regular ass people
theyre worse then regular ass people cause theyre trying to be something that theyre not

:eek: :mp5: good point

Just so people know, I've failed to respond this because people have attacked me without reading all my posts. I never said I was poor. I never said I wanted anyone to feel sorry for me. I never said there weren't people poorer than me. In fact, I even said there are probably people who think of me the same way I think of the people I'm talking about. And while I did initially say I hated all rich people, if you'd read all my posts, you'll find that I apologized and limited my hate.

I don't hate the rich or Opal Isle, so I couldn't vote. You should provide more options.

speaking of which...

WEWT!! I'm hated just as much as rich bastards!! Maybe someday I'll be a rich bastard too so I can hate myself.

Whoa Whoa Hold Up There.
You Definitely dont hate rich people.
you hate this Tob Bridge Guy.
And Hey What If Someday You Became Rich.
Would You Hate Yourself Or Donate All The Money To Mental People Like You.
Tell Me .Tell Me. :sniper:

My dad rakes in 150k

I win.

Whoa Whoa Hold Up There.
You Definitely dont hate rich people.
you hate this Tob Bridge Guy.
And Hey What If Someday You Became Rich.
Would You Hate Yourself Or Donate All The Money To Mental People Like You.
Tell Me .Tell Me. :sniper:
Tom Ridge*
and if you'll read my posts you might more clearly understand...
What I really hate is when rich kids have things bought for their resume by their parents even if they don't work very hard for it. How can you respect something you didn't really earn? If I became rich (which I wouldn't be surprised if I did), I'd like to think it was because of hard work and dedication and when I have kids, I'm going to make them earn their own way.

My parents combined made 180,000 last year so what they worked for it. I have to pay my way through college and will without government aid or any other and already have about enough to get me through a four year program from saving money I've worked for over the last few years ( I make about 12,000 a year) so ya

My parents combined made 180,000 last year so what they worked for it. I have to pay my way through college and will without government aid or any other and already have about enough to get me through a four year program from saving money I've worked for over the last few years ( I make about 12,000 a year) so ya
And I congratulate hard work. I have respect for hard work and unfortunately I've not made that clear enough in this thread. How do you earn $12,000/yr? What kind of work do you do and how old are you? etc...how far through your education?

Opal;

I dislike wealthy people for different reasons.

I don't dislike the ones that made the money; unless of course they killed people or swindled people....

The ones I don't care for are the people the inherit the money and have a sense of superiority or worst yet, act like they made the fortune.

But that is a tangent.

There is no time limit for getting an education and a majority of people had to work while going to colledge(I did).

As to Tom Ridge? The Ivy League does weigh names when dealing with applicants. Does it make it right? Nope. However, it's a fact of life.

It is not worth getting pissed.

College/University is a great time. Enjoy it.

Opal;

I dislike wealthy people for different reasons.

I don't dislike the ones that made the money; unless of course they killed people or swindled people....

The ones I don't care for are the people the inherit the money and have a sense of superiority or worst yet, act like they made the fortune.

But that is a tangent.

There is no time limit for getting an education and a majority of people had to work while going to colledge(I did).

As to Tom Ridge? The Ivy League does weigh names when dealing with applicants. Does it make it right? Nope. However, it's a fact of life.

It is not worth getting pissed.

College/University is a great time. Enjoy it.
There are a lot of facts of life that aren't right that aren't worth getting pissed about. I have this thing in my brain that tells me I have to get pissed at them. Like for instance, I don't think the electoral college is very good (especially considering the change in the distribution of Representatives), but it is a fact of life and I started a thread to gripe about that too. I like exercising my right to free speech, and isn't it better that I bitch about people here have opinions about rather than bitch about the people that are here?

My dad makes $80,000, my stepmom made over $200,000 (she wont tell me) but her job was outsourced to Ohio and my mom before the economy went to the shitter made $115,000.

My parents are divorced though and I live in Massachusetts, so its very expensive to live here.
So, what are you trying to say? That despite your folks making somewhere between 2, 300,000 a year you aren't as well off as it may sound?