Coming from Warren Buffett, one of the richest people on the planet (around $80 billion) I can't disagree with him. For him, and those wealthy enough to invest in his money pot I imagine everything is just fine.
Did Warren feel the effects of the 2008 crash? Did he lose his home(s)? Did his retirement nest egg vanish?
From where Warren and the rest of the 1% sit; all is well and continues to get better. But, let's get down to earth now and the picture is not so bright, regardless of what Warren says. And, asking people to stop complaining is what any good capitalist would do.
In 2015, Berkshire's net worth grew $15.4 billion, or 6.4%, the "Oracle of Omaha" said. In the wide-ranging letter, Buffett, who preaches investment in a diversified collection of companies rather than securities, remains an optimist despite complaints about the 2% pace of economic growth.
"It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve). As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do," said Buffett, 85. "That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history."
He added that "for 240 years it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start. America’s golden goose of commerce and innovation will continue to lay more and larger eggs. America’s social security promises will be honored and perhaps made more generous."
So, for the rest of Main Street America let's consider what Bernie Sanders has to say about our economy;
In all due respect, you’re missing the main point. And the main point in the Congress, it’s not the Republicans and Democrats hate each other. That’s a mythology from the media.
The real issue is that Congress is owned by big money and refuses to do what the American people want them to do.
Notice that he didn’t say that “Republicans are owned by big money.” Sanders believes that ALL of Congress is owned by big money. That’s what he means when he says that the system is rigged. His view is that the gridlock we are witnessing right now is not a result of ideological differences. It is because big money is in charge and that makes Congress oblivious to the needs of the American people. It’s why he thinks the only way to change things is via a revolution of the people.
When it comes to this central belief of Sanders, it is not something new for him. Thirty years ago when he was Mayor of Burlington, VT, here’s what he told the LA Times:
I think from one end of this country to the other people are ripe for political revolution. Fifty percent of the people do not bother voting in the presidential and statewide elections. The vast majority of those not voting are low-income people who have given up on America. The whole quality of life in America is based on greed. I believe in the redistribution of wealth in this nation.
We are demonstrating in Burlington the peoples’ contempt for conventional old-fashioned Democratic and Republican politics. The good news here is that the two-party system and corporate establishment are not invincible.
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