I have no problems with that.
It is true that the lily-livered do tend to congregate on the left side of the spectrum. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
Oh great redstar, do lead us into the future, by whatever means are necessary. Out of curiousity, how far down their road do you intend leading us? A few lies for their own good? The politics of fear? Maybe a bit of necessary detention without trial? Maybe we can invent some enemies to help herd the sheep. Islamofascists perhaps? Has that been done already? Well, there must be some brown or yellow people that haven't been used? Some external enemies to help unite the nation? Maybe a little war or two?
It doesn't take much imagination to see alternative frames, ones which explicitly use class for instance.
Not all bankers are pot-bellied thiefs, for instance, just as not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all wealthy people are rapacious exploiters, just as not all brown or yellow people are at the gates waiting in their hordes to take our public housing.
But we can continue to use the social democracy frames, such as they are, if you like. It's just that...well....they're not working very well, are they? Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
You see, our less-than-perfectly-honest frames even have the advantage of hewing closer to reality than theirs.
Of course, theirs have greater currency, for the simple fact of the matter is that they are willing to give voice to them.
We're not, and that's the entire point. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
What? You don't think you're as much a rapacious exploiter and a thief as most other rich people?
I also do not think all in the 1st world are as you describe; the world is at it is because of the elites in that 1st world, and the economic system they seek to perpetuate for their increasing gain, at the expense of workers in both developed and developing countries. Most of us are just along for the ride, and many of us do not want to be. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
a majority of wealthy people are rapacious exploiters, and most bankers are thiefs
And most people in the business world are shameless exploiters, too?
Sigh.
That's where we split up. The problem is not the top 50% or even the top 10%, it's the top 0.1%. As you may remember, the 10-50% income range (fro mthe top) is not doing that mch better than the 50-90% income range. It's worth trying to target them too if you want a majority. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It is a fact though that those who have accumulated great wealth have much different ideas on their responsibility to their fellow men than those who have not, and yes, this translates into feelings of superiority, deserved or not, which naturally tends to lead them to have no qualms about ruthlessly exploiting, either in home markets or further afield, the misery and toil of others. This is simply a fact. It is as it ever was, and what makes capitalism "work". Not for nothing that Keynes said
Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
Similarly, it's a fact that those doing the transacting for them of the deals via which they accumulate ever greater sums of wealth tend to be far greedier than the average. Your average equity analyst does not tend to the altruistic side, shall we say, nor does your average CFO or investor relations professional. At least not over here in America, where I am one.
Problem is, the so-called "serious" left parties ignore the 50-90% group but are very keen on keeping folks like you and I on side. And that's why they get their asses increasingly kicked.
Why not target them too? Because their interests are not ours. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
Ah, redstar. What a shame. Fine comment originally, but totally eclipsed by the one above.
Eclipsed- as in putting out the lights.
It is not necessary to dish up the lies in order to create an important narrative that is convincing to a wide swath of people, from all walks and all levels. You just have to be good at it.
Al Gore comes to mind. Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.
