The #1 with Wealth Inequality: It's An Invitation to Slam the Door in Your Face
After reading Robert Reich's article about the political ramifications of extreme inequality (http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/robert_reich_the_1_percent_is_gutting_americas_middle_class_partner ), I was reminded of how every big political showdown in history has come down to expediency: "Can you FORCE us to do it? How will this increase our POWER?"
Moral persuasion and justice has never been enough to secure rights, to free slaves, to win the franchise, or prevent vile abuses. There always has to be that element of "well we better get it done this time OR ELSE." There has to be an ultimatum. There has to be the art of the deal.
Think of the most basic injustice in our medical system as well. When the cure for cancer is discovered, who will be the first in line to get it: the wealthy. That's economic "rationing". The rest will be told to "live within their means". That's moral/character "rationing". Those on welfare won't have access to these kinds of treatments at all: they don't have a political voice, so no one will be the wiser. They don't have a political voice because they don't "contribute": they are a "cost center" rather than a "profit center" in terms of society. They should feel lucky when we throw them a moldy bread crust. They should not expect "cadillac care" from the medical system.
Similarly, people without money should not expect "cadillac care" from the political system. The wealthy persuaded us to give them all the money with the oh-so-economic-rational argument that this was the best way for the money to trickle back down to the rest of us. But all that does is empower the wealthy to shut the door in our faces. Now, as far as the wealthy are concerned, we're just an annoying rabble whose MoveOn petitions and Tweetstorms are at be swatted aside like flies. If they don't want to see our diseased bodies and dirty hovels, they can just build a gated community...on a "tax liberated" space station if they have to! The more money they have, the less they have to care about justice and human rights for other people. In fact once the walls go up they can commit humiliations and abuses we thought we had eradicated along with feudal society: because they own the judicial and police forces as well as the political establishment - that's part of what Ferguson is about.
In the U.S. we used to explain away wealth inequality by saying we had some sort of spiritual equality self-worth and "equality of opportunity". But who can say we have either of those any more when a tiny sliver of society not only has more rights than the rest of us, but they have the power to slam the door in our faces, preventing us from ever getting any kind of justice in the future?
