POLITICS SCHMALITICS

[CMRivdogs]

Trickle down economy has never worked. All $$ eventually trickles up to the rich guys

[CMRivdogs]

 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, CMRivdogs said:

Trickle down economy has never worked. All $$ eventually trickles up to the rich guys

capitalism is inherently concentrative. You can always make better investments when you can make bigger investments and capital will always concentrate. That's a feature. So if you don't want to end up in a banana republic, you need to support strongly progressive taxation and robust government expenditure on human investment and inheritance taxes. This is not a matter of political philosophy, it's a matter of economic reality.

Of course, it is also one that the rich do their damndest to obfuscate by casting it wrongly as a matter of free market philosophy and personal liberty, and at that they have been extremely successful since 1980.

Edited 1 hour ago by gehringer_2

[Screwball]

Are we just figuring this out? We have had the big red white and blue stuffed into us as Carlin so eloquently explained in 1991, known as the American Dream skit. You gotta be asleep to believe it.

35 years when you do the math...

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Are we just figuring this out? We have had the big red white and blue stuffed into us as Carlin so eloquently explained in 1991, known as the American Dream skit. You gotta be asleep to believe it.

35 years when you do the math...

Yup. It's should be pretty obvious to anyone who has their eyes open, but the population is economically illiterate. The idea that capitalism is a real thing with moving parts and good and bad properties and sets of predictable outcomes is miles over the head of the average American who is conditioned to never think about these things in more than misty 10sec slogan sound bites. And there are billions of dollars being spent in every political cycle to create enough confusion to make sure the public stays just as ignorant as it is now.

So we reach a point where even Joe 6 pack has realized the system is failing him, but he doesn't know why or how or what should be done about it. So you end up with a lot of very mad but very gullible voters.

Edited 44 minutes ago by gehringer_2

[Screwball]

Well, it all comes down to WTF you going to do about it? We ain't voting our way out of this.

But many still think we can. They are delusional.

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Well, it all comes down to WTF you going to do about it? We ain't voting our way out of this.

But many still think we can. They are delusional.

"We have met the enemy, and He is Us."

--Pogo, 1972

[oblong]

It’s the old adage, updated for inflation…. Billionaires have convinced people making $75-$100K that the problems are caused by people making $35-$75K.  And that group is convinced the problems are immigrants. Everyone below you is a mooch.