Debate Stats:

Debate Score:23
Arguments:10
Total Votes:30
Ends:Never
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 Calculated Risk Takers (5)
 
 Lucky bastards (3)
 
 Moral crime (2)

Debate Creator:

joecavalry(3224)
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Behind great wealth is a great crime

crime to riches


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2 points

Think about the Kennedy's (rum runners). Steve Jobs (Stole graphical user interface and mouse from xerox). Bill Gates (stole DOS). They start out on a life of crime and then go legit after they've made big bucks. The trick is to get out before you're caught.

Posted 158 days ago
- pic Loudacris(822) Opposed
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3 points

I disagree that Jobs & Gates stole the GUI and DOS respectively. Stealing means that the property was ceased wrongfully. However, in both cases, the product knowledge was transferred willingly.

Its not a crime to recognize value in something that others have not yet understood.

Posted 158 days ago | Tagged As: Calculated Risk Takers
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2 points

Actually behind most great wealth is dumb luck. Those who are wealthy--criminals or not--obtained it through a large number of gambles. Take for instance Mr. Gates. Microsoft was a HUGE gamble. Is Gates a criminal? probably not. Is he deserving of wealth? probably not. But is he lucky? Hell yeah! Pretty much the same story for every rich sot out there.

That's why I'm against the theory that "I worked hard and I deserve all my money." Bullshit. Your country and society provided you with the chance to gamble and you're one of the few lucky ones. So now that you've won, it's time to give back to that country and society--we call it taxes.

falls off soapbox

Posted 158 days ago | Tagged As: Lucky bastards
- pic DebateMan(404) Opposed
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2 points

While I agree that oftentimes people that are wealthy had some fortunate breaks along the way, I disagree that most wealthy people are just "lucky". The people that are individually wealthy (not passed down family money) primarily had the cojones to step out on their own and try something. Rather than accepting a life of the status quo, they decided to break out on their own and take a leap of faith, and it paid off. I think that people that worked their butts off to create a new product, or new company, or new whatever really deserve their wealth. I think they do owe their country/society and should pay taxes on that so others may have the same opportunities they had, but still their work should not be dismissed as "dumb luck".

A great quote by Thomas Edison, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work" really drives this point home. Those that had the courage to take on that opportunity and the blood, sweat and tears that come along with it are oftentimes rewarded with great wealth, and I think they deserve it.

Posted 158 days ago | Tagged As: Calculated Risk Takers
- pic Tamisan(840) Opposed
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1 point  

What about all those with cojones who just never got lucky? How many silicon valley failures? How many dot bombs? How many investor nightmares? For every one with balls who makes millions, thousands of others attempt and fail--despite huge quantities of chutzpah.

Posted 158 days ago | Tagged As: Lucky bastards
- pic jessald(600) Opposed
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2 points

10% luck,

20% skill,

15% concentrated power of will,

5% pleasure,

50% pain,

----------

100% reason to remember the name

Posted 158 days ago
- pic jessald(600) Favored
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0 points

Btw, I didn't come up with that; it's from the song "Remember the Name" by Mike Shinoda.

Posted 157 days ago
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2 points

I'm sorry but I think that taxes should be spent by the country in order to provide its society with the chance to gamble and win (not to compensate the unlucky ones). Charity is the way through which the lucky ones compensate the unlucky ones.

The U.S. has many opportunities. If you take advantage of those opportunities, you can better your odds, gamble and get lucky. I gave 2 years of my life to the U.S. Army which had a program that paid for 6 years of college. That Army program was the opportunity that increased my odds. Going to college was the gamble. My salary is the lucky part, except I call it hard work.

I also like to give to charities of my choice rather than have the government take that choice away from me in the form of taxes.

Posted 156 days ago | Tagged As: Opportunist
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1 point  

I think there is moral "crime" in needless wealth or wasted wealth.

That's just me though.

Posted 158 days ago | Tagged As: Moral crime
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1 point  

Moral Crime. Just look at bill gates. For pretty much all of his products, you have to buy like 5 different things for just one of them to work, then it gets infected by a bunch of viruses and if you don't have your data backed up you are screwed, and even if you do, you have to go and buy ANOTHER one of his computers. That is just immoral and wrong!

Posted 157 days ago | Tagged As: Moral crime


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