Comments for The Billionaire Syndrome at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sat, 18 May 2013 21:00:33 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5395 Mr. Marlin: You, sir, are right on the money. - Billy Bean Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:56:11 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5394 This is exactly the reason why the Bush tax cuts of 2001 should NOT be renewed for the highest income brackets! - David, Chicago Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:19:58 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5393 Pardon me if I sound a note of caution. Mr. Marlin's piece is interesting and accurate but paints with a broad brush. It is easy to jump on the class warfare bandwagon but perhaps it is neither fair nor accurate. Net worth has little to do with human defects, personality disorders or sin. We all know narcissists who are poor, middle class and, as Mr. Marlin notes there are "billionaires" who fall into that category also. Most of us know good and worthy people from all classes and with widely varying balance sheets.Throughout history totalitarians have come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of wealth. Hitler, the "little corporal" came from rather poor stock and Stalin was a peasant from Georgia before he began his ascent in the Soviet Union. The fact that there are people of wealth who are misguided does not mean all wealthy people are evil or even misguided. - Ray Hunkins Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:52:32 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5392 Mr. Marlin, In writing "these billionaires have devoted most of their time and energy to building the business endeavors that earned them their fortunes, they often have limited knowledge and understanding of philosophy, theology, and history..." you have missed a few categories of their ignorance. Specifically, anyone who believes that anthropogenic global warming is a threat, is unaware (i.e., ignorant) of physics and unaware of the limitations of numerical models of the atmosphere. I would also humbly suggest that it is ignorance in the extreme for any human being to so much as seriously entertain the idea "that they are superior to the rest of the population and, therefore, know best." I think Scott Adams was onto something in giving us his Dilbert Principle. Pax et bonum, Keith Töpfer - Martial Artist Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:02:56 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5391 Thanks for addressing what should be a hot concern for us all -- the tyranny of plutocrats, which masquerades as "philanthropy." Even genuine philanthropy -- not this sort of disguised narcissism and solipsism -- is problematic, because it loves humanity in the abstract rather than in the concrete, allowing real individuals to suffer for the sake of some putative "greater good for humankind." What the world needs is not philanthropy, but charity, which seeks always the good of one's neighbor -- a very concrete and identifiable individual, not some nebulous abstraction. The problem with the "high and mighty" is that they are so "high and lifted up" that they can't see concrete individuals who live far below them in the ordinary world. If they see us at all, they see us as ants milling around at their feet, whom they can squash without compunction, or even notice. Perhaps this is why the Christian is constantly urged to cultivate humility, which punctures the balloon of arrogance and keeps us grounded! - Lisa Nicholas, Ph. D. Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:55:46 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5389 Amen Mr. Marlin - Other Joe Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:25:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5387 Unfortunately the mindset of these elites has entered and perverted our courts, our academic institutions, our executive branch of government and even our Church. This good article should be a warning to the indolent uninformed American populace. - Willie Wed, 01 Dec 2010 06:06:27 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5386 And so, thanks to these "philanthropists," we go on marching towards Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," where "ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches..." In the year of Stability, A.F. 632... And around Lenina's waist, she "wore a silver-mounted green morocco-surrogate cartridge belt, bulging with the regulation supply of contraceptives...what a perfect Malthusian belt!" Meanwhile, there is always "delicious soma" to soothe the seething masses. "Suffer little children," said the Controller. "Stability. Stability. The primal and the ultimate need. Stability. Hence all this." "There was a thing, as I've said before, called Christianity." "We have the World State now. And Ford's Day celebrations, and Community Sings, and Solidarity Services." "There was a thing called Heaven; but all the same they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol... There was a thing called the soul and a thing call immortality... All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects." "But every one belongs to every one else," Mustapha Mond concluded, citing the hyponaedic proverb. In the Year of Our Ford: "COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY." - Grump Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:01:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5384 Well written, Mr. Marlin, and so true. I agree, leaders need the disciplines of philosophy, history and theology and not just business skills. Business can easily fail if important factors are not considered. "To whom much is given, of him will much be required." - Scott Hesener Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:22:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5383 You are soooo right! This is exactly what is going on in our world now and I am afraid it will make Hitler's eugenics look like a picnic compared to what these people will do. They are aggressively funding every form of "depopulation" experiment out there in the name of "saving" humanity. Aren't they nice. Problem is.....most people don't believe this is really happening, they cant believe anyone would do such a thing. They live with the blinders of "People are basically good" on and can no longer see reality. Ugh..... - Fr Tim Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:36:51 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/the-billionaire-syndrome.html#comment-5382 Great article George. Sums up the eugenic movement nicely. - Paul Hanrahan Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:28:12 +0100