Whaddaya think?
"Forbes magazine runs a cover story alleging that the president of the United States is deliberately trying to bring America down as part of his Kenyan, âanticolonialistâ agenda,the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s." LOL
Op-Ed Columnist
The Angry Rich
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 19, 2010
Anger is sweeping America. True, this white-hot rage is a minority phenomenon, not something that characterizes most of our fellow citizens.
But the angry minority is angry indeed, consisting of people who feel that things to which they are entitled are being taken away. And theyâre out for revenge.
These are terrible times for many people in this country. Poverty, especially acute poverty, has soared in the economic slump; millions of people have lost their homes. Young people canât find jobs; laid-off 50-somethings fear that theyâll never work again.
Yet if you want to find real political rage â the kind of rage that makes people compare President Obama to Hitler, or accuse him of treason â you wonât find it among these suffering Americans.
Youâll find it instead among the very privileged, people who donât have to worry about losing their jobs, their homes, or their health insurance, but who are outraged, outraged, at the thought of paying modestly higher taxes.
For one thing, craziness has gone mainstream. Itâs one thing when a billionaire rants at a dinner event.
Itâs another when Forbes magazine runs a cover story alleging that the president of the United States is deliberately trying to bring America down as part of his Kenyan, âanticolonialistâ agenda, that âthe U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s.â When it comes to defending the interests of the rich, it seems, the normal rules of civilized (and rational) discourse no longer apply.
Instead, it has become common to hear vehement denials that people making $400,000 or $500,000 a year are rich. I mean, look at the expenses of people in that income class â the property taxes they have to pay on their expensive houses, the cost of sending their kids to elite private schools, and so on. Why, they can barely make ends meet.
And among the undeniably rich, a belligerent sense of entitlement has taken hold: itâs their money, and they have the right to keep it. âTaxes are what we pay for civilized society,â said Oliver Wendell Holmes â but that was a long time ago.
The spectacle of high-income Americans, the worldâs luckiest people, wallowing in self-pity and self-righteousness would be funny, except for one thing: they may well get their way. Never mind the $700 billion price tag for extending the high-end tax breaks: virtually all Republicans and some Democrats are rushing to the aid of the oppressed affluent.
And when the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, theyâll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices.
But when they say âwe,â they mean âyou.â Sacrifice is for the little people.
Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/opinion/20krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
"Forbes magazine runs a cover story alleging that the president of the United States is deliberately trying to bring America down as part of his Kenyan, âanticolonialistâ agenda,the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s." LOL
Op-Ed Columnist
The Angry Rich
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 19, 2010
Anger is sweeping America. True, this white-hot rage is a minority phenomenon, not something that characterizes most of our fellow citizens.
But the angry minority is angry indeed, consisting of people who feel that things to which they are entitled are being taken away. And theyâre out for revenge.
These are terrible times for many people in this country. Poverty, especially acute poverty, has soared in the economic slump; millions of people have lost their homes. Young people canât find jobs; laid-off 50-somethings fear that theyâll never work again.
Yet if you want to find real political rage â the kind of rage that makes people compare President Obama to Hitler, or accuse him of treason â you wonât find it among these suffering Americans.
Youâll find it instead among the very privileged, people who donât have to worry about losing their jobs, their homes, or their health insurance, but who are outraged, outraged, at the thought of paying modestly higher taxes.
For one thing, craziness has gone mainstream. Itâs one thing when a billionaire rants at a dinner event.
Itâs another when Forbes magazine runs a cover story alleging that the president of the United States is deliberately trying to bring America down as part of his Kenyan, âanticolonialistâ agenda, that âthe U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s.â When it comes to defending the interests of the rich, it seems, the normal rules of civilized (and rational) discourse no longer apply.
Instead, it has become common to hear vehement denials that people making $400,000 or $500,000 a year are rich. I mean, look at the expenses of people in that income class â the property taxes they have to pay on their expensive houses, the cost of sending their kids to elite private schools, and so on. Why, they can barely make ends meet.
And among the undeniably rich, a belligerent sense of entitlement has taken hold: itâs their money, and they have the right to keep it. âTaxes are what we pay for civilized society,â said Oliver Wendell Holmes â but that was a long time ago.
The spectacle of high-income Americans, the worldâs luckiest people, wallowing in self-pity and self-righteousness would be funny, except for one thing: they may well get their way. Never mind the $700 billion price tag for extending the high-end tax breaks: virtually all Republicans and some Democrats are rushing to the aid of the oppressed affluent.
And when the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, theyâll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices.
But when they say âwe,â they mean âyou.â Sacrifice is for the little people.
Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/opinion/20krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
