<p>DocT, we had a PTA. I knew these families. Not that there weren’t issues that I didn’t know about, but you don’t know every issue about what was going on in the presumably more upscale households of the kids that went to school with your kids. It proves nothing.</p>
<p>It depends so much on the standard of living where the subjects are located.</p>
<p>For instance, $100,000 is a whole heck of a lot of money in South Dakota – that might be a top-5% (or higher) salary in that state.</p>
<p>In New York City… would $100k even be in the top quartile?</p>
<p>I think this whole “1% vs. 99%” thing is a bunch of balogna meant to make enemies out of the rich. It totally demeans and ignores the effort and worth of those who work hard and are self-sufficient – and there are plenty of self-sufficient people who are far from rich. </p>
<p>To me, it’s more about those who are self-sufficient vs. those who are not.</p>
<p>“At the neighborhood upper middle class high school, a vast majority of the students drink, take drugs or both. Many kids are having sex and I dont blame them. The kids are very good looking. The girls wear very little and the guys are buffed. I dont know how they concentrate on school work in class.”</p>
<p>Maybe that’s why the pregnancy rate is pretty low around here. We aren’t as good looking as the California crowd. Girls don’t wear much makeup, skirts aren’t that short. A lot of athletic wear.</p>
<p>Oh… And the parents…</p>
<p>There was some swinging going on…Ive been told. 
There was a story years ago about 2 baseball players swapping wives and one new couple was happy. The other new couple didnt click. I think that was in NY.
Same story in my area here. I know one couple. </p>
<p>Of course the parents partake in booze and drugs. I think that is slowing down. People are getting too old. You can get a good price for pain killers if you have some lying around. Vicadin is popular. </p>
<p>A friend of mine was very wealthy at one time. He was growing pot on his property and he got busted. </p>
<p>The cops confiscated the pot. That’s it.</p>
<p>Well - they aren’t so good looking here either but all those things apply. Of course, the school, parents and the town in general do not want to admit to having drug issues etc. They would rather play make believe. The ignorance of parents to these issues is astonishing.</p>
<p>Prezbucky, the median household income in NYC is $51,865, as was cited several times in this thread. Higher in Manhattan but not that much higher.</p>
<p>Post 301: how do you define “self-sufficient”?</p>
<p>Gee, all this partying and swinging makes the lives of us people around here pretty dull. At our age, who has the energy?</p>
<p>I have no idea what it is like to go to bed hungry. Live in a dangerous area. No parental or societal support. No mentors. Very little hope.</p>
<p>If I had to trade places what would I do? I really dont know what I would do… I would like to think I would do the right thing… But…</p>
<p>I like the movie Trading Places. It is about what we are discussing plus it has the best trading scene at the end of the movie. :)</p>
<p>Oldmom, I’m wondering about the top quartile (25%) in NYC.</p>
<p>Hayden,</p>
<p>I’d call someone self-sufficient if he or she does not rely on government(s) or charity(-ies) for his or her income. IE, a worker or a retired person who lives on his or her own savings. </p>
<p>Defined thus, most working-age adults are self-sufficient. I’m not sure about the elderly – I’d imagine that most who do draw SS did pay into it themselves while they were working, so they are getting some of that money back. </p>
<p>The point is, I think it’s more positive and productive for us to come together to celebrate our industry and independence than it is for us to whine about not being rich.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I liked the Jamie Lee Curtis scenes, but Eddie Murphy was a close second. Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche were very good. Very nice of Akroyd et. al. to include the oldsters, as they did with the Blues Brothers movie. </p>
<p>Trading Places was a great all around movie. i agree. The cast was fantastic.</p>
<p>The last trading scene captured what it was like on the trading floor when it was super busy. Couldnt trade like that today. Which leads me to…</p>
<p>busdriver11, people my age are slowing down. Our kids graduated high school 8 to 10 years ago.
Now…the big activities are backgammon and netflix. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“What Percent Are You? - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com”>What Percent Are You? - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com; indicates that, in 2012, $100,000 income in New York and northeastern New Jersey was top 26%, or just barely outside the top quartile. (For the US as a whole, it reports top 21%.)</p>
<p>However, some of the other nearby areas are wealthier:</p>
<p>Stamford: $100,000 is top 48%
Nassau County: $100,000 is top 44%
Danbury: $100,000 is top 43%
Bergen/Passaic: $100,000 is top 36%</p>
<p>Seems that much of the “New York City wealth” lives in the surrounding areas, as opposed to the city itself.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>However, most current Social Security recipients will get much more back than they put in plus interest. Don’t forget Medicare as well, since they are of the age when medical costs are the highest.</p>
<p>Ugh. So if I work hard and invest wisely… and maintain a middle-class lifestyle… that of the 5%(ish) that is sucked out of each pay check… I likely won’t see that same 5%, adjusted for the time value of money, when it comes time to retire?</p>
<p>What a horrible investment! Thanks for losing my money or giving it away, US gubmint!</p>
<p>I’m just gonna throw an idea on the table:</p>
<ul>
<li>Most (or at least many) of us abhor taxes per se or at least certain types of taxes. How about this: you still pay the same amount of federal taxes. However, you are given the liberty to decide where 50% of those funds go. Want to allocate all of your remaining 50% to Defense? Go ahead. Want to put some into Interior and State? Fine.</li>
</ul>
<p>Probably none of us like where all of our tax money goes. This adds some liberty, in a sense, to federal taxation; allows the taxpayer’s voice to be heard. And Congress would have to come up with the federal budget based on what taxpayers desire.</p>
<p>emilybee:
</p>
<p>Well… just goes to prove some demographics are smarter than others. Maybe they are even smart enough to get the whole procedure done for free!!! Free is gooood!!!</p>
<p>presbucky:
Bingo…post of the day…All this pitting of % XYZ against % ABC is a wonderful shiny object for those silly enough to fall for the trap. While ‘we’ are busy fighting amongst ourselves…others are busy moving on with the business of getting a life.</p>
<p>“Well… just goes to prove some demographics are smarter than others. Maybe they are even smart enough to get the whole procedure done for free!!! Free is gooood!!!”</p>
<p>Or maybe they’re smart enough to use birth control. Or the morning after pill if they screwed up.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But…but…but… I wanna whine…I wanna be a victim… I wanna blame someone …I wanna call you bad names if you expect me to accept consequences of my own behavior…Oh…and I figure I can win votes by encouraging your whining and victim hood and reinforcing idea that you are being beaten down by the man! (And then I can enter the 1% and stay there if I manage to continue reinforcing your belief in victim hood).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would not surprised if the result were a lot of “votes” for “pork-barrel” type stuff over items where the benefits are more diffuse or generalized. E.g. someone may prefer to tag the money toward keeping open the local military base that the military wants to close because it is useless in a military sense, or buying extra equipment from the local supplier that the military does not want, rather than tag the money for general military spending or diplomatic activities.</p>
<p>“But…but…but… I wanna whine…I wanna be a victim”</p>
<p>LOL!!!</p>
<p>You do this extremely well in the ACA thread. </p>