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22 Comments
- ForumDriv, on 05/23/2009, -6/+30But I thought poor Mexicans were responsible for all of the problems afflicting the United States? That's what my TV and radio said. That's why we don't let them come with visas so that they don't have legal status or labor rights and the jobs they fill here remain low-wage and that those jobs provide more downward pressure on low- and medium-wage jobs in the US. Maybe if we enforced labor laws and conformed our immigration laws to reality so that they were enforceable, workers would be in a better position in the US and Mexico? You think?
- inactive, on 05/23/2009, -4/+21So we're right up there with a kleptocracy and a third-world country. Ladies and gentlemen, your GOP!
- novenator, on 05/23/2009, -6/+22Notice the chart on top earners pay vs bottom 80%? It started to climb right about the time Ronald Reagan and the conservative 'revolution' took place. This inequity has climbed steadily ever since, even during Clinton (who held a conservative economic philosophy). This paradigm has got to change. When the rich are raking in billions to store away in out of country tax havens while many Americans are working longer and harder than ever just to get by (many without insurance and losing their homes), something has to change.
I cite this often, but CEO pay vs the average working in the US is ridiculously high compared to other countries: http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6738/payratioceotoa ... - MercyPolitics, on 05/23/2009, -2/+18To read my take on this topic, with very useful data & a great Digg discussion on the topic of wealth & inequality in America go to:
http://digg.com/political_opinion/Core_Issue_Wealt ... - homercles337, on 05/23/2009, -4/+18I have been saying this for a long time now. We have not seen such a disproportionate rate of wealth distribution since the Great Depression. In addition, because Washington cooks numbers, the real unemployment rate is nearing those numbers too.
- Lederhosed, on 05/24/2009, -4/+13I do respect the Economist for taking on income equality even though they are hard core free marketers.
- pintomp3, on 05/24/2009, -4/+10We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.
- Louis D. Brandeis - elijahyossie, on 05/24/2009, -3/+9The Economist is always worth reading, and I think massive wealth inequality can be damaging to a society, the "let them eat cake" type problems.
- charlie6969, on 05/25/2009, -0/+5 “Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error”
Marcus Tullius Cicero - MercyPolitics, on 05/24/2009, -4/+9And your own conclusions( " a robust & large middle class/ Lower cost of living than in the EU") are based on what exactly? I would suggest that you read my article( in the above comment here) it will take you to a link with some very extensive statistics refuting your claims.
- scottknick, on 05/25/2009, -0/+4And sometimes ignorance is also ignorance.
If you had spent the time reading the article instead of thumbing through Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, you would have found out that this issue isn't envy. It's sustainability. Plutocracies aren't sustainable. Eventually the masses no longer have the money to spend to keep the wealth flowing upward. So they go into debt -- something the oligarchs are only too happy to help them do, because it's the only way to create more wealth to flow upwards (thus the heavy pressure to buy subprime mortgages). But it's a Ponzi scheme that must collapse eventually, and collapse it has. - hummstheword, on 05/24/2009, -1/+4He uses logic and reasoning! Get him!
- clvngodess, on 05/24/2009, -2/+5Hmm. I think you might want to read Zizek and his observations about this communism thing of which you speak. The new communists, the liberal communists are actually people like Bill Gates... Source: Violence, Slavoj Zizek.
- epublicus, on 05/24/2009, -1/+3And even more damaging...
"Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself excluded." ~William Hazlitt, Characteristics, 1823 - EarlOfLade, on 05/25/2009, -0/+2Don't know much about European history or countries, I can see that! Maybe you should educate yourself before opening your mouth?
- graphictruth, on 05/24/2009, -0/+2He says, pissing upon the jealous from the fantail of his imaginary yacht. Do you note the date cited? Circa 1920? Can you think of any widespread social movements that arose around that time? I can think of several.
Actually, MY personal motivation is not wanting to be a bystander in CWII, thank you very much. I'm too damn old to think it a Magnificent Adventure.
Nor do I think it unreasonable for people to believe that it is wrong that poverty and misery goes unaddressed and dismissed as the fate of the "undeserving," used as the fate of those who would like to work no more than 40 hours most weeks, at least, and all to maintain a lifestyle that still doesn't realistically include decent housing, health care and higher education.
There is only a very small fraction of the population that benefits from vast pools of cheap and desperate labor. Nor can one shrug and say, "well, that's the free market at work." It is by no means a free market for labor. Or anything, really. The more those in the expensive suits howl about it, the less true that is.
Capitalism is about two things - a free, properly regulated market that ensures fair transactions. The more free and fair transactions, the more people who use that market. It DOES advantage the better players, but part of that advantage is the willingness of many to pay a premium for that ability in order to advantage their own skills. - inactive, on 05/24/2009, -4/+5The Economist is always a good read. Don't think we can "equalize" American wealth without full-blown Communism here. No, thanks.
- inactive, on 05/24/2009, -2/+1It's only damaging for awhile.... ;-)
- charlie6969, on 05/25/2009, -2/+1We are a very young country. Our country is younger than some Churches in Europe.
Who knows what kind of Government we will end up with?
If we take the best ones from all different kinds of ideas; this country will be even more awesome! - epublicus, on 05/24/2009, -7/+3Jealousy is a crutch. ~C. Astrid Weber
Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it. ~Honore de Balzac
Envy is ignorance. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. ~Jennifer James
and last, but not least.....
Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead. ~Mark Twain - inactive, on 05/24/2009, -12/+5People are jumping to conclusions, once again. All this means is that our rich are VERY VERY rich. Is there a problem with that? That does not mean everyone else is poor. We still have a robust and large middle class (despite what naysayers say) and the cost of living is still lower than the far majority of Europe.
- GovernmentsGun, on 05/23/2009, -15/+5Egalitarianism is a subtle and popular form of jealousy.
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