“The middle class has been declining — we just haven’t recognized it fully,” LISEP Chairman Gene Ludwig told CBS MoneyWatch. "It’s really dangerous because it’s the kind of thing that leads to social unrest, and it’s not fair. The American dream is not that it’s given to you — it’s that if you work hard, you have a chance to get ahead and achieve the things in life that you want to achieve. It’s not living in a tent, not having to steal."
The wealthy always forget this, because they’re convinced they’re a special unique snowflake and smarter than everyone else, instead of understanding they were just lucky.
It’s not because of the wealthy that someone else is poor - it’s the system and regulations that allow people to accumulate that level of wealth. Once you reach a certain point, making more money becomes easier and easier. Going from 1 million to 100 million is often much easier than going from zero to 1 million. If the game is rigged, it’s not the fault of the player for playing it well.
It’s like saying NFL linebackers don’t cause concussions, rather its the rules and protective gear of professional football which cause concussions
Both ways of seeing it are true - the linebacker is the one actually performing the tackle, but he would not be permitted to cause that damage were he not enabled by the inherently dangerous rules and equipment
Same thing here. Clearly the billionaires are the ones directly causing the harm. But they are only able to do so (and only able to become billionaires in the first place) because of the existing system
The currently alive billionaires largely didn’t design it; previously alive billionaires designed it and the currently alive ones have refined it.
Which is the way capitalism is supposed to work; it’s a society ruled by and for capitalists - aka the billionaires who own the largest units of capital
Regardless, it is this system that is to blame. The actors within the system are also contributors, obviously. But individualizing systemic issues is not an effective way at seeing the solution.
The way to solve the problem of a bad king is not to replace him with a good king; it is to abolish monarchy altogether and replace it with a system wherein the people are the ruling class
The wealthy always forget this, because they’re convinced they’re a special unique snowflake and smarter than everyone else, instead of understanding they were just lucky.
It’s not because of the wealthy that someone else is poor - it’s the system and regulations that allow people to accumulate that level of wealth. Once you reach a certain point, making more money becomes easier and easier. Going from 1 million to 100 million is often much easier than going from zero to 1 million. If the game is rigged, it’s not the fault of the player for playing it well.
This is like saying John Wilkes Booth didn’t kill Lincoln, a gun did…
It’s like saying NFL linebackers don’t cause concussions, rather its the rules and protective gear of professional football which cause concussions
Both ways of seeing it are true - the linebacker is the one actually performing the tackle, but he would not be permitted to cause that damage were he not enabled by the inherently dangerous rules and equipment
Same thing here. Clearly the billionaires are the ones directly causing the harm. But they are only able to do so (and only able to become billionaires in the first place) because of the existing system
It’s not like that.
NFL players don’t design and control the rules around equipment.
Billionaires 100% designed the current system that benefits themselves over everyone else.
The currently alive billionaires largely didn’t design it; previously alive billionaires designed it and the currently alive ones have refined it.
Which is the way capitalism is supposed to work; it’s a society ruled by and for capitalists - aka the billionaires who own the largest units of capital
Regardless, it is this system that is to blame. The actors within the system are also contributors, obviously. But individualizing systemic issues is not an effective way at seeing the solution.
The way to solve the problem of a bad king is not to replace him with a good king; it is to abolish monarchy altogether and replace it with a system wherein the people are the ruling class
Not at all.