Six Studies That Show Everything Republicans Believe is Wrong

[applegrove]

Last edited Wed Aug 6, 2014, 11:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Six Studies That Show Everything Republicans Believe is Wrong

By Sean McElwee at Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/six-studies-that-show-everything-republicans-believe-is-wrong-20140423

"SNIP.........................

6. Rich people are no better than the rest of us.

Politicians on the right like to pretend that having money is a sign of hard work and morality – and that not having money is a sign of laziness. This story is contradicted by human experience and many religious traditions (Jesus tells a graphic story about a rich man who refused to help the poor burning in hell). But it's also contradicted by the facts – more and more rich people are getting their money through inheritances, and science shows that they are no more benevolent than others.

More and more, the wealthy in America are second or third generation. For instance, the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, own more wealth than the poorest 40 million Americans. Thomas Philippon and Ariell Reshef have found that 30 to 50 percent of the wage difference between the financial sector and the rest of the private sector was due to unearned "rent," or money they gained through manipulating markets. Josh Bivens and Larry Mishel found the same thing for CEOs – their increased pay hasn't been correlated to performance.

If rich people haven't really earned their money, are they at least doing any good with it? Studies find that the wealthy actually give less to charity as a proportion of their income than middle-class Americans, even though they can afford more. Worse, they use their supposed philanthropy to avoid taxes and finance pet projects. Research by Paul Piff finds that the wealthy are far more likely to exhibit narcissistic tendencies. "The rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people," Piff recently told New York magazine. "It makes them more likely to exhibit characteristics that we would stereotypically associate with, say, assholes."


............................SNIP"

[drm604]

1. K&R

[Live and Learn]

2. Great article. The other 5 are equally true. nt

[applegrove]

3. Yeah. I didn't know which ones to pick but since the 1% have been

upset that they are not being adored for supporting a party that has been attacking people's welfare, rights, incomes, infrastructure, education, information, and connection to each other I thought it might be good to remind them that they are only the same human being as the rest of us.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. ,

,

[Half-Century Man]

5. I must be a freaking genius, I figured that out half way through Reagan's first term

In a republican infected mind there is a synaptic infarction which transposes the importance of knowledge and belief. This allows them to cherish opinion, legend, and rumor while ignoring the mountainous volume of evidence refuting them.
This infection is so debilitating that it allows sufferers to make up beliefs about beliefs; ie, to believe that believing some guy 2000 years ago was the son of a sky god and he wants will grant you trillions and trillions of years of drooling happiness, even if you do not follow the instructions laid out by the son of the sky god for a lousy 80 (approx) years on Earth.

[Live and Learn]

6. It doesn't take a genius to know, one should stick to the OP's topic when posting. nt

[Half-Century Man]

7. Was pointing out that the infection of republicanism distorts intelligence

Explaining how the republicans can believe wrong things. And then double down on wrong belief.
Using the example of claiming to be devout christians while ignoring the teachings of the person christianity is based on.


Seems to be on point.