Yo, top 1%: shut the fuck up

[Ari]

Hey gais remember that time when the richest companies had workers die in dangerous conditions because they were treating physical labor like a slave commodity and all the poor people thanked them for it?

Actually no one except the super rich are better off, the distribution curve is a lot steeper than you might imagine.

[Stormlight]

Originally Posted by AynMisesLibertarian

Yes, and more people around the world have escape extreme poverty thanks to the riches

so everyone is better except some entitled american and european middle class, what is wrong about that?

You uttering the word "entitled" without bursting into flames is pretty incredible, I'll give you that!

[AynMisesLibertarian]

Originally Posted by Stormlight

You uttering the word "entitled" without bursting into flames is pretty incredible, I'll give you that!

How much do you make? If it is more than $34K/yr, you are the 1% this article is referring at. The global median is $1225/yr.

The important thing is not inequality, but the lowest decile. How poor are they? Answer: better off than ever in the history of mankind

[Stormlight]

Wrong, Locutus of Lolbert. Stop getting your education from the Daily Mail!

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by AynMisesLibertarian

The important thing is not inequality, but the lowest decile. How poor are they? Answer: better off than ever in the history of mankind

So true. I thought about this really hard and came to the exact same conclusion. 200 years ago nobody, not even kings and queens had smartphones. Now every schoolkid in my neighbourhood has one. What else could one possibly want? I mean, apart from job security and frivolous things like that. The so-called poor don't realise just how lucky and well off they are.

[Dingfod]

200 years ago, even the royals had bedbugs. Now it's mostly the poors, the lucky beggars.

[ImGod]

Obama's trolling the teaparty again.

1%er tax increase

I bet he's going to use it to hand out $100 bills to illegals.

[lisarea]

Debt doubts cast shadow for professional couple with five kids - The Globe and Mail

Not even summarizing this beyond "OH HO HO HO HO" and maybe asking you to mentally insert some pictures of crying babies.

[SR71]

Originally Posted by ImGod

Obama's trolling the teaparty again.

1%er tax increase

I bet he's going to use it to hand out $100 bills to illegals.

ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Obamaphone!

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by Stormlight

Wrong, Locutus of Lolbert.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by lisarea

Debt doubts cast shadow for professional couple with five kids - The Globe and Mail



Not even summarizing this beyond "OH HO HO HO HO" and maybe asking you to mentally insert some pictures of crying babies.

What did I just read? That can't be a real thing, right? This is some sort of satirical comment that is obvious to Canadians who are smarter than me. Right, Clutch?

[SR71]

How America's Wealthy Stole the American Dream and Cashed It at an Offshore Bank | Alternet

parking this until later, looks interesting, digestible and coherent on casual inspection, but have to go worky now

[Clutch Munny]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

What did I just read? That can't be a real thing, right? This is some sort of satirical comment that is obvious to Canadians who are smarter than me. Right, Clutch?

Uh. Right. I'd explain the excess runoff cleverness, but it's, like, some Canadian thing that you'd be all LOLWHUT BOB AND DOUG about.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just nipping out to burn down Vancouver and sow the ground with salt.

[The Lone Ranger]

I guess this goes here as well as it does in any other thread. In a recent article, Paul Krugman points out the obvious: in the "debate" about global climate change or about how disastrous Republican economic policies have been, the facts of the matter are completely irrelevant as far as the Conservative True-Believers are concerned.


For a significant portion of the American public, there is literally no amount of evidence that could convince them that global climate change is anything but a hoax. No matter how many times it is demonstrated that supply-side economics simply does not work, they will continue to insist that it will lead to prosperity for all. No matter how successful "Obamacare" turns out to be, they will continue to loudly insist that it is a disaster which will bankrupt the country and destroy our healthcare system.


Krugman suggests that the reason so many so-called "conservatives" hate the very idea of government serving the common interest is because they aren't conservatives at all, but reactionaries.

Originally Posted by Paul Krugman

That is, they’re defenders of traditional hierarchy — the kind of hierarchy that is threatened by any expansion of government, even (or perhaps especially) when that expansion makes the lives of ordinary citizens better and more secure. I’m partial to that story, partly because it helps explain why climate science and health economics inspire so much rage.

It's hardly surprising that the very wealthiest would be ardent defenders of "traditional hierarchy" -- especially when that's coupled with the conviction that those on the top got there because they somehow deserve to be there.

In my experience, it's more or less an article of faith amongst my Libertarian-leaning acquaintances that the rich are rich because they're -- somehow -- objectively better than others, and so deserve their wealth. What proof do they have for this assertion? Well, these people are rich, right? Therefore, they're "obviously" better than us poor slobs, or they wouldn't be rich. QED.

It's simply amazing how successful "Conservatives" have been at convincing working-class and middle-class Americans to vote against their own interests -- and in far, far too many cases to ardently defend a system that is actively screwing them over. [If I have to read one more e-mail from a relative who insists that "Obamacare" is "socialism" and that it will destroy our healthcare system ...]


The good news is that demographic trends are not in the GOP's favor. Sadly, it's not as if the Democrats are a lot better, though.

[Sock Puppet]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

Sadly, it's not as if the Democrats are a lot better, though.

Off topic a bit for this thread, but ...

I agree with that statement in general. The Democrats have been working really, really hard for years to be as close to useless as possible. However, for quite a number of years, the Republicans have been working just as hard to be as poisonous as possible. So lately, it seems like the gap is widening; even though I recognize that the Democrats are no better than fellow shills in the same shell game, lately they've become the much more attractive choice in the binary clusterfuck we're stuck in.

It's terrible to be starving so badly that you're forced to eat cardboard. But it beats eating dogshit.

[Dingfod]

You're a passenger on a bus that's headed toward the deep canyon. Which would you rather have driving the bus, the bus driver that wants the bus to go in the ditch or one that doesn't?

[ImGod]

It depends, are they handing out golden parachutes when you get on the bus or promising golden showers...er trickle down after the ride?

[lisarea]

The top 25 hedge fund managers earn more than all kindergarten teachers in U.S. combined - The Washington Post

Dear Hedge Fund Managers Having THE WORST YEAR SINCE THE 9-11 OF 2008:

Arms of an Angel Commercial - YouTube

[LadyShea]

I hate our society, especially that so many actively promote and support the shitstains that cause the inequality, even though they are the Kindergarten teachers, and food servers and shit. They will never, ever, be in the top 1% yet they still vote and act as if they will.

[ChuckF]

[Obama] wants to tax carried interest more.

JESUS WEPT

[ImGod]

Ha, I earn more than the two kindergarten teachers at the school down the block combined. Just 45,000+/- more schools to go.

[Dingfod]

[Ensign Steve]

I fucking love living in Silicon Valley. It's like LA, but without the self-awareness.

Rich Californians balk at limits: "We're not all equal when it comes to water" - The Washington Post

People "should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful," Yuhas fumed recently on social media. "We pay significant property taxes based on where we live," he added in an interview. "And, no, we're not all equal when it comes to water."

[The Lone Ranger]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

I hate our society, especially that so many actively promote and support the shitstains that cause the inequality, even though they are the Kindergarten teachers, and food servers and shit. They will never, ever, be in the top 1% yet they still vote and act as if they will.

That's a huge part of the problem, I think.

The message is relentlessly drilled into us -- from birth onward -- that "If only you're willing to work for it, someday you, too, will be rich." All through elementary, junior high, and high school, we were subjected to this mantra on a daily basis. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that it was a deliberate attempt at indoctrination.

And, according to some polls I've seen, a ridiculously large percentage of poor and middle-class Americans believe that transparent lie. Millions of Americans are somehow convinced that any day now their ship is going to come in and they'll get rich -- somehow.

Sadly, it's a purely faith-based belief, since, if you happen to have been born into the poor or working-class, your chance of someday ending up in the 1% is probably substantially less than is the chance that you'll be hit by lightning. But the persistent belief of so many Americans that someday, somehow, they're going to be rich is probably a big part of the reason that so many of them vote against their own interests.

[Not that it's exactly a terrible message. I mean, what are we gonna tell our kids? The truth? "Listen, kid, the truth of the matter is that hard work and education will definitely help you improve your lot in life -- but if you weren't lucky enough to be born rich, your chances of ever being wealthy are somewhere between 'slim' and 'none.' Welcome to reality." Yeah, that is a cheery and inspiring message.]

***

Not to change the subject or anything, but NPR had a story today about how Bernie Sanders is attracting far more listeners to his speeches than anyone -- including Sanders -- ever anticipated. [Despite this, the overwhelming message from the Mainstream Media is that Sanders can't possibly hope to win.]

If Sanders were to win, somehow, could he get anything done, I wonder? I think it's absolutely certain that the Republican Party would make opposing him at every step its Absolute Number One Priority. I mean, given how Obama gets them frothing at the mouth -- despite the fact Obama has essentially been governing as a Republican Lite, and that just 20 years ago, many of Obama's policies would have been considered pretty far to the Right -- I would imagine that a win by Sanders would cause a complete meltdown in the GOP.

Sadly, it seems likely that if he did win somehow, Sanders wouldn't be able to get anything through Congress -- not unless the Democrats managed to gain a commanding majority in at least one House of Congress. (And I daresay that there'd be plenty of Democrats who wouldn't exactly be thrilled at the prospect of a Sanders Presidency.)

I was discussing this with an acquaintance on saturday, and he was of the opinion that if Sanders were to somehow win, he'd quickly be assassinated.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

People "should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses . . . "

I am worried that somebody is forcing this guy to play golf.