General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Stripping away the distracting BS, this is what it all boils down to. (In my opinion.) [View all]gulliver
(13,180 posts)I agree with the basic premise that the operation of the system is creating polarization in income. But more directly and to the point, the system is creating a ridiculous and intolerable level of misery. I think it is the misery we want to go away.
I don't think anyone would care if the Kochs had a trillion dollars in checking if there were no poverty and everyone had the opportunity to achieve their best potential. If that were the case, the Kochs would just be a couple of nasty old men whose daddy gave them everything.
What I really think is that we build the economy from the middle out as Obama keeps saying. We need to tax the wealthy a lot more and we need to create not just widespread and equal opportunity but demand. Some things we demand ourselves as consumers. Some things businesses demand. But other things the people demand are through their democratically elected government. I think the government needs to "demand" a lot more.
I think income inequality is a bit off the mark as anything but a rallying point. It may motivate the changes needed, but it is just as likely to produce a chain reaction of useless finger pointing. First principles like opportunity and demand seem more important to me. If we had higher demand, then we would not need to treat opportunity as a scarce consumer product that needs to be rationed based on our ability to pay.