CASH FOR VOTES

[spence]

Originally Posted by justplugit

What $ amount do you consider a fortune, or what amount does one need to be wealty in your opinion?

The context for my remark pertained more to those amassing enough wealth to be considered investors taking more significant risks that create economic growth. Certainly there's a sliding scale here.

Obviously one can be fortunate and very happy without financial wealth.

The oportunities I speak of are not monetary but what your ancestors sacraficed so that you could become successful. Genetics aside, how many left everything to come to this country to be free and start over? How many struggled to just eek out a living for their family? These were the things that were done to create opportuniiesnfor thier children.

And they were certainly risk takers depending on how you look at it.

To the point above though. In the US today, we have children with a lineage of wealth, a lineage of migrants taking risks, a lineage of slaves etc...in some cases the sacrifice was deliberate and in some cases the sacrifice was forced.

If you haven't already done so, you will become interested in your "roots" when you enter your 60's. Delving into your families history, you will find out what I am talking about. There are no self made men without someone who sacraficedfor them or who have been fortunate enough to have great mentors.
Having gratitude for them is a great blessing.

I completely agree, but I think the point is that in many ways that sacrifice is shared among not just a family, but a community or even a country or a league of countries that share similar values. Here you can draw a line...

My father has documented our family genealogy to a pretty good detail. Funny enough one time his travels to dig up family records actually put him and his cousin Terry at the hotel across mine while I was on a business trip. I might have posted Terry's obit a few years ago...if I can find it I'll send it to you, you'd love it.

Anyway corporate "shortermism" , they have become that greedy that there are no longer ten year corporate plans?

There certainly are more conservative companies that have 10 year plans. These (and longer) are more common in Asia. Many though are so reactive to quarterly performance it requires really good leadership to navigate. I work in a sales organization so my exposure is exacerbated by buying cycles. Also, a poor balance sheet will certainly impact your ability to execute a longer term plan.

That being said, so many companies aren't looking very far beyond the horizon...

-spence