Sounds like Warren is feeling a little guilty about his wealth and how he has to sequester himself away with a bunch of other rich people at the Yellowstone Club.  Rich doesn’t equal talented or better, just greedy.  Some are talented, all are greedy.

Looks like Warren just realized that everything the rich touch turns to manure.

Warren is right on with his analysis of achievement.  It’s one thing for the people who became wealthy because they inherited it, but for the others who achieved it through hard work and perseverance, they should not be punished.  We live on a street with 26 waterfront homes on it.  At least 3/4 of our neighbors own their own businesses, and leave for work by 6:00 AM.  I see them along with my self at the street light when nobody else is on the road.  They are often not home before 6:00 or later.  If they are willing to work a bit harder to achieve more, they should not be criticized for it by those people who are happy punching in at 9:01 and leaving at 5:00.  The opportunity we all have, and the ability for anyone to achieve great things, is part of what makes America great.  Someone once asked Andrew Carnegie what his key to success was, and his reply was “Success is easy.  You just need to figure out what you want, and how much it will cost, and be willing to pay for it”.

How has the downfall of the Yellowstone Club turned into a debate over people’s achievement’s and hard work?  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Blixseth acquired bulk land, re-zoned it as megarich skifield, paid Warren and LeMond as figureheads and then blew millions painting a picture of exclusivity and the self declared super elite.  Distillation of what makes America not great.  Greedy, self serving, egotistical capitalism.

Since when did rich equal greedy? If that’s really your sentiment, you should take a look at Cuba… Carl Marx is still alive and well there… You, are rich by comparison, so, by your own definition, you are greedy. If you really want to live in a communist society, feel free. This nation was built on something much bigger and better than that. Which is why everyone forced into communism wants to be here. So, why aren’t you trying to immigrate there if that’s your ideal society?

I choose not to. I choose to strive for greatness and to decide, for myself, what to do with the rewards. This is not greed, this is why we are no longer in the stone age.

Without “Greedy, self serving, egotistical captalism”, you wouldn’t even have this forum available to you to whine on.

disgruntled whiners… I know that not one of you would turn over a winning lottery ticket to the poor, the needy, or the government… ya, maybe some small percentage if forced… and maybe you’d buy your mom a car… and you didn’t even have to work for the lottery ticket, just got lucky… So, don’t assume that one is greedy just because they worked harder, achieved more, or got luckier than you.

You’re just a bunch of pathetic whiners trying to blame someone else on your own predicament.

Nice one, troy, but you forgot some factors: Jealousy and Laziness.  Add Apathy and Ignorance.  Mix in some Mediocrity and, okay, perhaps some Bad Luck (or Karma) and we have a clearer picture of the mindset of the “disgruntled whiners”. 
Remember, everyone has a chance at success.  How many will take it?  It, too begins with proper parenting.

Whoa there fellas - don’t get all bunched up and start making assumptions about who I am or how I do or do not spend my money because I said rich people are all greedy.  Some rich people aren’t greedy.  Take the other Warren (Buffet), for example: he is one of the wealthiest guys around, though drives a Camry, has lived in the same house since 1958, and busies himself making the world a better place through his philanthropy.  The problem is not necessarily with wealth, but with how that wealth is used.  The Yellowstone Club, and all other similar expressions of wealth employed for vanity and exclusivity, are immoral.  I would argue that The Yellowstone Club is not filled with rich people who are necessarily brighter, harder working, taller, and better looking than the rest of us (though some may be), but is rather filled with rich people who are necessarily greedier than most of us.

David,

If you don’t want people to assume that you mean what you say, you probably shouldn’t say it.

Say what you mean and mean want you say… Saves a lot of confusion.

In any case, your assumptions are naïve, misguided, and patently wrong.

To assume a member of the club is greedy makes as much sense as me assuming that all construction workers are retarded…

this country has been in a class warfare fought by the ultra-rich against the middle and lower classes for the last 28 years——that is a FACT not insults.  This country has the largest gap between the rich and poor than we did even during the great depression.  IT’s NOT because the rich are smarter, prettier or harder working than the rest.. The reason is they have manipulated the system to benefit them and to heck with everyone else.  Even Warren Buffet said he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.  Our country was NOT founded on these beliefs.  As much as you Ayn Rand loonies want us to believe.  Just read the Constitution.  It starts off We the People - not every man for himself.  Plus we have just witnessed the biggest ripoff of the Country in the last few months and the republicans still want to say they are for free enterprise. What they are really for is PRIVATIZED PROFITS AND SOCIALIZED LOSSES for the rich only…....otherwise there is no money for any common folk.  Why not trot out the ridiculous argument that war is good for the economy.  Or tax cuts for the rich will create jobs.  Both of those fallacies have worked out pretty well under the great mistake- I mean the Bush presidency.

Troy,
I’m not sure what your take is, but I meant just what I said: there is no way to make sense of something like The Yellowstone Club but as an expression of vanity and greed.  The only positive to it is that it might keep more of ‘em out of our towns (a reservation for the rich?) so they don’t drive normal, honest, hard working people away by driving up the price of everything as they build monuments to their egos (which you seem all to willing to worship in front of).

Mt don: Ayn Rand loonies indeed.

David,

Clearly, you are driven by ignorance and have no interest in truth.

Monuments to egos? Worship? c’mon… you don’t really believe that do you?

Personally, I don’t find myself vain or greedy. If you knew me, you’d agree… but, you choose to live in your dark and angry prison of ignorance. Good luck…

-Troy

why do members of the YC still clutch onto the dream that being a part of the club makes them elite (any more)?  They should be thankful the club stayed open this ski season!  It’s a laugh that they still strut on the forums like non-members are jealous, and that people not part of the club aren’t as rich as they are.

I have followed the fortunes and misfortunes of the YC for the past 3 years for sport, purely on the faith that Blixseth and his rainmaking type come and go.  Members fell for the hype of a former bankrupt selling his private powder snake oil at a super premium.  AND YOU BOUGHT IT!

What a laugh that anyone suggests that being a YC member shows they have achieved more than me…I gleefully watch the demise of YC having predicted it’s failure years ago, and watch the stupid members strive to keep their egos intact.  You were conned, easily.  If you worked hard for the money to pay for the over-priced and rapidly de-valuing land, all the funnier.

KL,

Not sure what you’re referring to, but, your random rant seems to display some sort of complex. Nobody’s “clutching” and nobody mentioned anything about being elite, or better than you… Perhaps you have some issues here?

I’m positive that nobody here knows, or cares, what you have or don’t have… The only thing obvious, is that you have a lot of misplaced hate and anger. It seems to drive you. Life’s too short to be angry. The fact that you take joy in the misfortune of others says a lot about who you really are. I’m sure you justify it to yourself somehow, but, to me I don’t care what a person has or doesn’t have, all that matters is who they are… So, when was the last time you asked yourself who you are?

Troy, so far your arguments consist of you not thinking that you are vain, speculation about what others MIGHT do if they won lotto and now more speculation about what YOU are ‘positive’ about.  So Troy, if you ‘strive for greatness’, why don’t you strive for anything resembling a fact, rather than your own cheap, raw guesses backed by indulgent self opinion and your own imaginary majority?

You seem to be too self satisfied to figure it out.  Any club that has a central selling point of having ‘private powder’ (tm!) and being the exclusive playground for ‘high net worth individuals’ of $3 mill is, at a minimum, pretentious, at worst an ego based confidence scam.  Well it is an exclusive club indeed, a club now of idiots who bankrolled the Blixseth’s opulent lifestyle!  Ah, sweet irony.

PS back to school troy:

troy-‘So, don’t assume that one is greedy just because they worked harder, achieved more, or got luckier than you.’

troy-‘nobody mentioned anything about being elite, or better than you’


‘Personally, I don’t find myself vain or greedy. If you knew me, you’d agree…’ (you’ve sold me bigshot!)

KL,

OK, Sport… I can tell you’re feeling proud of yourself, but, your argument makes no sense. I have offered opinion, and made assumptions based on the FACTs that you offered me. The FACT that you take pleasure in the harm of others. The FACT that you stated that you think that it’s “funny” if someone works hard for something and then loses it.

I like the quotes that you chose to pull out. I’m not sure what you think they signify, but, I stand by every one of them.

Everything’s relative. If privacy and security are signs of greed and oppulance, them perhaps we should all get rid of curtains and door locks. (I might mention that I use neither, but, that’s besides the point.) using them is not an isolationist statement, nor is it a statement of superiority, nor is it a statement of greed.

You don’t like the thought of “private powder”, well, how ‘bout we get rid of the idea of “private property”. Let’s nationalize everything. Sounds like a Marxist Utopian society… Then, we can all just hang out and complain about what works and what doesn’t and hope that someone else fixes it for us.

Based on your statements, you’re clearly on the far left… So, I assume (of course I can’t know) that this Marxist ideal is something that appeals to you. And, really, that’s great. But, my politics lean in the opposite direction. I’m glad that we have the opportunities that anyone worth their salt can achieve whatever they put their mind to. If you don’t believe that, you’re most likely not willing to try.

So, as per your request, I will “strive for something resembling a FACT”.
  1. I have no regrets for building a home in the yellowstone club
  2. I am disturbed by the apparent misappropriation of funds that led to the current bankruptcy.
  3. The club ownership and the club members are distinctly different.
  4. The club members are a diverse group of people, all with their own reasons for joining the club.
  5. I never take pleasure in the harm of another.
  6. Virtually every bank requires a “minimum net worth”, before taking risk on a borrower. (perhaps mortgages are only for the elite, pompous rich that want to flaunt the fact that they have enough money to qualify for a loan)

And here’s my opinion: 
  1. The bankruptcy in the club is only a temporary setback. The Club will reorganize and be viable again.
  2. Socialism/communism/marxism has never worked, no matter how glorius it may seem to some.
  3. Privacy and Security are not equal to eliteism.

BILLINGS, Mont.—The financial unraveling of the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club traces back more than three years, to a $375 million loan secured under club founder Tim Blixseth.

On the same day the millionaires-only club obtained that loan through Credit Suisse, it transferred at least $271 million to a Blixseth-owned corporate entity, BGI. The loan specified that most of that money could be used for purposes unrelated to the club—and it appears Blixseth did just that.

More than $150 million was soon deposited in various banks under the names of Tim Blixseth and his ex-wife, Edra Blixseth. At least $15 million was used to pay off various Blixseth-owned houses and properties. And almost $4 million went to pay off a pair of airplanes owned by a Blixseth company, according to court records in a 2006 lawsuit against the club and a copy of the loan documents obtained by The Associated Press.

...

Both the club and BGI are now controlled by Edra Blixseth, under the terms of the couple’s August 2008 divorce settlement.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Edra Blixseth rejected any assertion that the $271 million in loans went to her benefit.

“Even if it was under my name, I had nothing to do with opening any accounts. I had nothing to do with where the money was transferred. Tim was totally in charge,” she said Monday.

Edra Blixseth said the club was now “doing forensics” to trace where the money went. “We’re having to piece it back together,” she said.

Tim Blixseth referred questions about the $271 million in loans to his attorney, Stephen Brown.

Brown said the loans—secured only by a series of two-page “promissory notes” and with no collateral to back them up—were no longer Tim Blixseth’s responsibility. As “corporate notes,” he said the promissory notes remained the obligation of BGI.

“He’s not involved in the (Tuesday) hearing because he’s not involved in the bankruptcy,” Brown said. “BGI was a company that went to her (Edra) in the divorce. He has no ownership of BGI anymore.”