The Political Party

[thefunkman]

An article in The American Conservative bags on the current generation of one-percenters, maintaining that the super-rich have seceded from America, even as their grip on its control mechanisms has tightened. 

LINK

From the article-

"Our plutocracy now lives like the British in colonial India: in the place and ruling it, but not of it. If one can afford private security, public safety is of no concern; if one owns a Gulfstream jet, crumbling bridges cause less apprehension—and viable public transportation doesn’t even show up on the radar screen. With private doctors on call and a chartered plane to get to the Mayo Clinic, why worry about Medicare?"

[kav]

Surprised nobody else commented. More from the link:

"To some degree the rich have always secluded themselves from the gaze of the common herd; their habit for centuries has been to send their offspring to private schools. But now this habit is exacerbated by the plutocracy’s palpable animosity towards public education and public educators, as Michael Bloomberg has demonstrated. To the extent public education “reform” is popular among billionaires and their tax-exempt foundations, one suspects it is as a lever to divert the more than $500 billion dollars in annual federal, state, and local education funding into private hands—meaning themselves and their friends. What Halliburton did for U.S. Army logistics, school privatizers will do for public education. A century ago, at least we got some attractive public libraries out of Andrew Carnegie. Noblesse oblige like Carnegie’s is presently lacking among our seceding plutocracy.

In both world wars, even a Harvard man or a New York socialite might know the weight of an army pack. Now the military is for suckers from the laboring classes whose subprime mortgages you just sliced into CDOs and sold to gullible investors in order to buy your second Bentley or rustle up the cash to get Rod Stewart to perform at your birthday party. The sentiment among the super-rich towards the rest of America is often one of contempt rather than noblesse."

[guido61]

This isn't news.  It's been apparant that the very rich absolved themselves of any loyalty to America long ago.  

The main Republican/conservative response to this seems to be that the only chance America has is to get on our knees, grovel, and beg them to stay in America by promising to give them lower tax rates than anybody else.

I say "fuck 'em".

[moonlightin]

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guido61 wrote:

This isn't news.  It's been apparant that the very rich absolved themselves of any loyalty to America long ago.  

The main Republican/conservative response to this seems to be that the only chance America has is to get on our knees, grovel, and beg them to stay in America by promising to give them lower tax rates than anybody else.

I say "fuck 'em".

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I agree! Charter schools were allowed in WA state this last election. They were encouraged by the wealthy and idiot voters voted for them.

[yumpy]

i saw al gore in an emergency room once, yeah, he had trouble breathing. LA General. i think he was looking for Dr. House. (wrong hospital) 

bill gates too! soros, pelosi, kerry (mass general) 

steve jobs? (medicare fail)

" 

An article in The American Conservative bags on the current generation of one-percenters, maintaining that the super-rich have seceded from America, even as their grip on its control mechanisms has tightened. 

LINK

From the article-

"Our plutocracy now lives like the British in colonial India: in the place and ruling it, but not of it. If one can afford private security, public safety is of no concern; if one owns a Gulfstream jet, crumbling bridges cause less apprehension—and viable public transportation doesn’t even show up on the radar screen. With private doctors on call and a chartered plane to get to the Mayo Clinic, why worry about Medicare?"

[Ed]

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guido61 wrote:

This isn't news.  It's been apparant that the very rich absolved themselves of any loyalty to America long ago.  

The main Republican/conservative response to this seems to be that the only chance America has is to get on our knees, grovel, and beg them to stay in America by promising to give them lower tax rates than anybody else.

I say "fuck 'em".

---

Great! Seriously, you really need to think like that because it is a reality. Don't get angry, don't swear and call the local witch doctor for a voodoo doll set of the rich.

Just say "fuck em".

However, that does have consequences. Those rich guys pay the vast majority of taxes in the country. Those taxes are used to fund all your favorite progressive programs that are used to assist the poor. Getting rid of them means your poor and middle class are going to be hurting.

But what the hell. Fuck 'em.

[John Ellis]

  They don't give a fuck about the poor

They're just jealous of the rich.......fact.

[Ed]

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John Ellis wrote:

  They don't give a fuck about the poor

They're just jealous of the rich.......fact.

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No, I don't believe that they are jealous of the rich. I think they believe that the rich have taken too much money.

They aren't jealous. They are angry. Angry that people can actually become so wealthy that some can measure their wealth in billions. They feel this is wrong, and something needs to be done.

The country was never about wealth redistribution, but rather letting people get wealthy. Now that some have done that, those that didnt see this as unfair.

To think it is anger is to ignore what it really is. They do not believe in capitalism. If they did, they would see the ultra wealthy as successful. Instead, they see them as unpatriotic,

[John Ellis]

OK I'll concede that.

But this constant song and dance sure as hell doesn't have anything to do with the poor.

[Fred Fartboski]

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

[Ed]

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John Ellis wrote:

OK I'll concede that.

But this constant song and dance sure as hell doesn't have anything to do with the poor.

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Of course it has nothing to do with the poor. Anybody with half a brain knows that if you tell the rich to gtfo, then this is going to hurt.

I work for a rich corporation, headed by an extremely rich man. I am sure most of us do. Telling them to "fuck off" would cost me my job if they did that. Who the hell would I work for then? Mom and Pop down the street that sell vegetables? They aren't rich, and there sure the hell aren't enough mom and pops to employ those of us who work for the uber-wealthy.

I would be hurting without the rich, because I am employed by the very people that guido is saying need to fuck off.

But to quote him "fuck them".

or perhaps it should read "fuck me!"

[John Ellis]

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guido61 wrote:

This isn't news.  It's been apparant that the very rich absolved themselves of any loyalty to America long ago.  

The main Republican/conservative response to this seems to be that the only chance America has is to get on our knees, grovel, and beg them to stay in America by promising to give them lower tax rates than anybody else.

I say "fuck 'em".

---

 And how many people do you employ? How many rely on you personally for a paycheck? 

[John Ellis]

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

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  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

[yumpy]

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John Ellis wrote:

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

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  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

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they see lots of pictures. better than a basement.

[John Ellis]

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

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  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

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they see lots of pictures. better than a basement.

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 I dont thin fred lives in a basement. Most likely the projects. 

[yumpy]

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John Ellis wrote:

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

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  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

---

they see lots of pictures. better than a basement.

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 I dont thin fred lives in a basement. Most likely the projects. 

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25th floor. lol!! 

like trainset! 

the higher the better, i guess.

[John Ellis]

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

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  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

---

they see lots of pictures. better than a basement.

---

 I dont thin fred lives in a basement. Most likely the projects. 

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25th floor. lol!! 

like trainset! 

the higher the better, i guess.

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 I guess that's why they're such bitter losers. 

[yumpy]

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John Ellis wrote:

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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yumpy wrote:

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John Ellis wrote:

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Fred Fartboski wrote:

Don't jump out of your trailer, without your gun, prematurely, John.

---

  You're jealous of my motorhome aren't you Freedy ?  Bwahaha

---

they see lots of pictures. better than a basement.

---

 I dont thin fred lives in a basement. Most likely the projects. 

---

25th floor. lol!! 

like trainset! 

the higher the better, i guess.

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 I guess that's why they're such bitter losers. 

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pisses me off when i'm only on the 7th floor. waiting for an elevetor.

i'd kill people too! 

[mauser]

Guido: I suspect the lack of loyalty is to the government rather than the country.

Can't say that I blame them, because the government has and continues to show its lack of loyalty to the people with each passing day.

[Invisible Hand]

Is there a point where the wealth gap becomes too large?  What if there were a thousand multi billionaires that controlled everything and everyone else lived hand to mouth?  Would you still defend capitalism?  

The point is, we have a structural problem with our economic model that is resulting in wealth inequality that is a threat to the existence of our society.  This problem is growing.  At what point do you set aside your prejudices (they're just jealous and lazy!) and concede that we have allowed our system of governance to become corrupted by monied interests to the point that it has effectively become a plutocracy? Have we learned nothing from history?