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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPaul Krugman: Pathos of the Plutocrat
Pathos of the Plutocrat
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: July 19, 2012
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. So wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald and he didnt just mean that they have more money. What he meant instead, at least in part, was that many of the very rich expect a level of deference that the rest of us never experience and are deeply distressed when they dont get the special treatment they consider their birthright; their wealth makes them soft where we are hard.
And because money talks, this softness call it the pathos of the plutocrats has become a major factor in Americas political life.
Its no secret that, at this point, many of Americas richest men including some former Obama supporters hate, just hate, President Obama. Why? Well, according to them, its because he demonizes business or as Mitt Romney put it earlier this week, he attacks success. Listening to them, youd think that the president was the second coming of Huey Long, preaching class hatred and the need to soak the rich.
Needless to say, this is crazy. In fact, Mr. Obama always bends over backward to declare his support for free enterprise and his belief that getting rich is perfectly fine. All that he has done is to suggest that sometimes businesses behave badly, and that this is one reason we need things like financial regulation. No matter: even this hint that sometimes the rich arent completely praiseworthy has been enough to drive plutocrats wild. For two years or more, Wall Street in particular has been crying: Ma! Hes looking at me funny!
Wait, theres more. Not only do many of the superrich feel deeply aggrieved at the notion that anyone in their class might face criticism, they also insist that their perception that Mr. Obama doesnt like them is at the root of our economic problems. Businesses arent investing, they say, because business leaders dont feel valued. Mr. Romney repeated this line, too, arguing that because the president attacks success we have less success.
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/krugman-pathos-of-the-plutocrat.html?_r=1
riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)Many do think they are superior and that everyman's rules don't apply to them.
DCKit
(18,541 posts)Bring back the 95% tax rate, and give 'em something to cry about.
They can either invest in business infrastructure and jobs, or they can hand it over to the IRS. They've been coddled enough.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Raster
(20,998 posts)...from Madame Guillotine!