By Glen Wallace
In regard to the Bloomberg interview with Ron Paul posted below, I don't think the citizens have ever expected the government to do as much as Paul says. Congress and the president just keep on acting separately from the public and then just hold a popularity contest every 2 years to see who gets to stay or join up with the ivory tower that is capitol hill. Who among the citizenry, after all, has demanded we have several hundred overseas military bases? Not many, but the politicians go ahead and fund those bases, give out foreign aid and farm subsidies that most citizens are blissfully ignorant of, much less advocating for.
Also, I highly doubt that we are not as productive as we used to be. I'm quite sure instead that we are much more productive than we ever have been. It is just with every improvement in productivity, the fruits of those improvements have been going into fewer and fewer hands. Unfortunately that regressive trend will likely continue where every job lost to technology will only represent a loss of income for the worker replaced by the machinery while the owner will just hang on to all the increased profits due to the total cost of ownership of the machine being less than the cost of the employee. I don't see any other way to reverse the trend other than with the help of the government to force a fair redistribution of the nations wealth and bounty.
We are living in a fundamentally different time from when the constitution was written. There was no such thing back then as the computers, robots and artificial intelligence that now or in the future could potentially replace the modern day equivalent of the colonial blacksmith, cooper, cobbler and every other position that was once held by a human being. Without a government enforced fair distribution of wealth, how will a human be able to have any income in a world where there are no no longer any jobs that provide an income for humans?
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Wealth Redistribution is Class Peacefare not Warfare
By Glen Wallace
Government assistance as it has been practiced in this country is clearly not a case of wealth redistribution as has been alleged. If it were intended to be so, then those in charge of distributing the wealth have been doing a rather crummy job since it has been apparent that even as the prevalence of food stamps has greatly increased in this country the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few has correspondingly only also increased. So if anything the opposite has been occurring whereby wealth ultraconcentration has been going on for decades in the US regardless of the POTUS and his political party affiliation. And while the the wealth has been concentrating in fewer in fewer hands, the remaining masses left over have been left with less and less of the available material wealth. It's not so much a merely a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer it's a case of everybody else besides the already rich getting a smaller piece of the pie. What appears to be going on is that the government assistance is a case of the powers borrowing from the play book of the ancient Romans, and using food stamps and the like as the bread in the 'bread and circuses' plan to keep the masses somewhat content and less likely to rebel. For the circuses analog, fortunately for the ruling elite there is more than ample entertainment distractions both passive and active ranging from video games to movies and TV to sports to keep the plebs distracted 24 hours a day. It is rather clever of the rich elite to try to turn the tables and allege that government assistance is a form of wealth redistribution when in reality it is a method to prevent the masses from rising up and demanding a fair share from the wealthy in a true form of wealth redistribution.
A similar tactic is employed when allegations are made by some that demanding higher taxes on the wealthy is a form of class warfare. I believe this 'warfare' baiting is being deliberately employed to both apply a unflattering label to the progressives and to try to get the progressives to think less of themselves engaging in activism since most progressives do not want to think of themselves as engaging in warfare of any kind. But when looked at closely, the demands of the progressives or 99 percenters are nothing like warfare. The requests instead, have been along the lines of demanding fairness by way of the peaceful changing of the civil laws. There need not be any warfare.
All that is needed is to have laws enacted that allow for the transfer of funds from one account to another or the changing of names on titles from one name to another. New taxes could be enacted that completely bypass the accounts of the IRS but instead revenue funds could go directly from, for instance, the cash accounts of large corporations to the accounts of a number of food shelves. In the process no blood was shed and no heads rolled as was the case with the French Revolution, which was a true case of class warfare -- I might add that I think that what the French Revolutionists did was an immoral, inhumane, brutal act when they coldly gathered all the members of the upper class and systematically ended their lives by means of the guillotine, all without even due process or assessment of character. I'm supporting a true wealth redistribution by a peaceful, civil and legal means not just because it is the right thing to do but also to prevent a true class warfare situation as was seen with the French Revolution.
I believe there is a certain amount of unavoidable scarcity on this planet and there is a point that is reached with any individual or organization where they necessarily end up taking out for themselves more than they every can be credited with contributing to the material wealth of a society through the increased productivity they may have activated. I believe there is certain principle I like to call 'sandbox values', where when we were growing up we learned that while playing in a sandbox there is a limited number of toys to play with and we should learn to share those toys and not hog all of them for ourselves while all the other little boys and girls just sit there in the sand with nothing to play with while one brat sits there with a grin on his face with all the toys piled up behind him in the corner of the sandbox.
We don't need a revolt, just an awakening. People need to realize that gov assistance is not wealth redistribution but rather the old ancient Roman trick of using bread and circuses as succor to quell the rabble. The goal then of the ruling elite is just the opposite of what is being accused; government assistance is designed to prevent the people from demanding real wealth redistribution. The democrats just coyly sit there allowing themselves to be accused of something that they have tried to prevent but should be a compliment - spreading the wealth around, while in reality both parties are together in the plot to further consolidate wealth. That is the one constant that has existed for many decades now -- regardless of what party is dominating, wealth consolidation has continued unabated.
I propose a civil, peaceful legal system of wealth redistribution whereby a system of taxation is instituted that completely bypasses the IRS and instead mandates direct bank transfers from the super rich to the working poor. Both individual and institutional accounts would be subject to these transfers such that corporations with large cash balances would also see significant outflows to individuals and organizations such as food shelves that actually need the money. There would be no class warfare because there would be no warfare. Instead these measures would be taken civilly as the result of laws enacted by a populace demanding such laws. Most of the actual redistribution would amount to nothing more than a few electrons moving around and changing the digits on hard drives and computer screens. The rich whose digits become smaller on their balance sheets likely would never miss them to any practical manner but oh what a difference it would make to those that have been struggling and now see a higher balance on their accounts.
I think my proposal would be rather inviting to most, but you will likely never hear of it from a mainstream politician from either party or even a so-called liberal mainstream political commentator on the radio or TV. You wont hear about such an idea because they are all part of the effort to help consolidate the wealth until nearly everyone becomes an indentured urban serf slave to a few bourgeoisie elite.
Government assistance as it has been practiced in this country is clearly not a case of wealth redistribution as has been alleged. If it were intended to be so, then those in charge of distributing the wealth have been doing a rather crummy job since it has been apparent that even as the prevalence of food stamps has greatly increased in this country the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few has correspondingly only also increased. So if anything the opposite has been occurring whereby wealth ultraconcentration has been going on for decades in the US regardless of the POTUS and his political party affiliation. And while the the wealth has been concentrating in fewer in fewer hands, the remaining masses left over have been left with less and less of the available material wealth. It's not so much a merely a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer it's a case of everybody else besides the already rich getting a smaller piece of the pie. What appears to be going on is that the government assistance is a case of the powers borrowing from the play book of the ancient Romans, and using food stamps and the like as the bread in the 'bread and circuses' plan to keep the masses somewhat content and less likely to rebel. For the circuses analog, fortunately for the ruling elite there is more than ample entertainment distractions both passive and active ranging from video games to movies and TV to sports to keep the plebs distracted 24 hours a day. It is rather clever of the rich elite to try to turn the tables and allege that government assistance is a form of wealth redistribution when in reality it is a method to prevent the masses from rising up and demanding a fair share from the wealthy in a true form of wealth redistribution.
A similar tactic is employed when allegations are made by some that demanding higher taxes on the wealthy is a form of class warfare. I believe this 'warfare' baiting is being deliberately employed to both apply a unflattering label to the progressives and to try to get the progressives to think less of themselves engaging in activism since most progressives do not want to think of themselves as engaging in warfare of any kind. But when looked at closely, the demands of the progressives or 99 percenters are nothing like warfare. The requests instead, have been along the lines of demanding fairness by way of the peaceful changing of the civil laws. There need not be any warfare.
All that is needed is to have laws enacted that allow for the transfer of funds from one account to another or the changing of names on titles from one name to another. New taxes could be enacted that completely bypass the accounts of the IRS but instead revenue funds could go directly from, for instance, the cash accounts of large corporations to the accounts of a number of food shelves. In the process no blood was shed and no heads rolled as was the case with the French Revolution, which was a true case of class warfare -- I might add that I think that what the French Revolutionists did was an immoral, inhumane, brutal act when they coldly gathered all the members of the upper class and systematically ended their lives by means of the guillotine, all without even due process or assessment of character. I'm supporting a true wealth redistribution by a peaceful, civil and legal means not just because it is the right thing to do but also to prevent a true class warfare situation as was seen with the French Revolution.
I believe there is a certain amount of unavoidable scarcity on this planet and there is a point that is reached with any individual or organization where they necessarily end up taking out for themselves more than they every can be credited with contributing to the material wealth of a society through the increased productivity they may have activated. I believe there is certain principle I like to call 'sandbox values', where when we were growing up we learned that while playing in a sandbox there is a limited number of toys to play with and we should learn to share those toys and not hog all of them for ourselves while all the other little boys and girls just sit there in the sand with nothing to play with while one brat sits there with a grin on his face with all the toys piled up behind him in the corner of the sandbox.
We don't need a revolt, just an awakening. People need to realize that gov assistance is not wealth redistribution but rather the old ancient Roman trick of using bread and circuses as succor to quell the rabble. The goal then of the ruling elite is just the opposite of what is being accused; government assistance is designed to prevent the people from demanding real wealth redistribution. The democrats just coyly sit there allowing themselves to be accused of something that they have tried to prevent but should be a compliment - spreading the wealth around, while in reality both parties are together in the plot to further consolidate wealth. That is the one constant that has existed for many decades now -- regardless of what party is dominating, wealth consolidation has continued unabated.
I propose a civil, peaceful legal system of wealth redistribution whereby a system of taxation is instituted that completely bypasses the IRS and instead mandates direct bank transfers from the super rich to the working poor. Both individual and institutional accounts would be subject to these transfers such that corporations with large cash balances would also see significant outflows to individuals and organizations such as food shelves that actually need the money. There would be no class warfare because there would be no warfare. Instead these measures would be taken civilly as the result of laws enacted by a populace demanding such laws. Most of the actual redistribution would amount to nothing more than a few electrons moving around and changing the digits on hard drives and computer screens. The rich whose digits become smaller on their balance sheets likely would never miss them to any practical manner but oh what a difference it would make to those that have been struggling and now see a higher balance on their accounts.
I think my proposal would be rather inviting to most, but you will likely never hear of it from a mainstream politician from either party or even a so-called liberal mainstream political commentator on the radio or TV. You wont hear about such an idea because they are all part of the effort to help consolidate the wealth until nearly everyone becomes an indentured urban serf slave to a few bourgeoisie elite.
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