I first became activated to start a website in part because of David Walker, the former top financial cop at the GAO. Something was terribly wrong with America’s chronic and systematic debt accumulation and Mr. Walker used to write about it consistently at the GAO website. (more…)
Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
Movies about Rich People
My (still relatively new) subscription to Netflix has given me access to a lot of documentaries I have never seen. Based on prior choices, Netflix suggested a couple of movies to me related to wealth maldistribution. One of them was called Park Avenue, and I highly recommend it. The movie shows just how different the super-rich are from the rest of us, and how, in spite of their massive wealth, their main motivation is simply more wealth for the sake of more wealth. John Thain (who was born with what must be one of earth’s more punchable faces) is one of the zillionaires featured.
I was also directed to The One Percent by Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson. I thought it was pretty cool a zillionaire was doing kind of an expose on the moneyed class, but I gotta tell ya, I stopped watching after about fifteen minutes. The reason was that I couldn’t stand listening to the narrator (Jamie’s) voice. For voiceovers, he spoke in a complete monotone, and for on-camera, it was just plain annoying. When you get used to the professional narration on things like Ken Burns documentaries, it can spoil you. If you want to give it a whirl, though, here’s the whole documentary:
The Queen of Versailles
Today I just finished watching the documentary Queen of Versailles (which some in the movie pronounce Ver-sass) which is about David Siegel, a rich time-sharing mogul, and his comically-large-breasted, much-younger wife, Jackie Siegel, and how they got caught up in the financial crisis of 2008. (more…)
This I Gotta See
I confess to be really enjoying my NetFlix account (although how they can provide me so much content for $7.99 per month, while those jackasses at Comcast charge triple-digits, is beyond me). This just showed up in my email inbox: (more…)
It’s Always About Trust
One can’t help feeling uneasy about revelations being reported everywhere. Doesn’t matter if it pertains to politics, religion, business, or family matters. The one aspect more than ever that seems lost is trust. No one trusts the other. Many times with good reason. (more…)
