> Contrary to America’s dominant cultural myths about “bootstraps,” wealth and income are selectively created (and in many ways directly subsidized) by the state through tax policy and other measures. To wit, Americans in the top 20 percent of income generally receive a much larger return from the federal government in terms of subsidies, credits, and other benefits than the amount of taxes they pay. Political scientist Suzanne Mettler has compelling described these benefits as “the submerged state”, i.e. “welfare for rich people.”
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> America’s elites (and especially the news media) love to tout the stock market as a barometer for the country’s economic health and prosperity. But that data is misleading: The top 1 percent of richest Americans by wealth control some 54% percent of stocks and mutual funds. Here, the American financier class benefits from the tax and other economic policies that they literally write, which are in turn passed by Congress and the president (who are also members of the financial elite).
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>
Madogson21 on
What even is ‘Trumpism’ ?
Just be as corrupt and lawless as possible, and sell out everything to the highest bidder?
john_andrew_smith101 on
>We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
FDR, January 11, 1944, on the Second Bill of Rights
WorkerClass on
I don’t know what started it, but what got me to support him this election was:
1. The rampant anti-Semitism that’s been going unchecked in blue states
2. The massive increase in crime and lack of punishing criminals that’s been in blue states
3. The unchecked illegal immigration, especially when blue sanctuary cities suddenly changed their tune when they were the ones that illegal migrants were winding up in.
5. Biden’s constant forgetting what he’s talking about and starting conversations that are nonsense.
6. Weak response to helping our allies, i.e. Israel, and hindering them in ways we’ve never done to anyone else.
I’m no ‘Trump is the 2nd Coming’ shouter, but I’m picking him.
rando_mike on
The Democratic Party somewhere along the way gave up fighting against corporate elites that the Republican Party used to coddle. Trumpism was born out of people who likely used to be Democrats with solidly middle class, union jobs that were outsourced or automated. These people now work for wages that don’t even afford them rent, if they work at all. They feel the system screwed them (it did) and they turn to someone like Trump who knows exactly how to appeal their emotions.
ParanoidTrandroid on
> Though Trumpism is ten times more terrifying than Reaganism
I’m guessing the author is neither gay nor Central/South American.
sagetraveler on
Reaganism killed the American Dream. What was sold as allowing people to succeed or not based on individual merit was revealed to be pulling up the ladder behind those that were already successful, whether they deserved it or not.
Altruistic_Dress_527 on
I just realized why I should never get on this app. A bunch of losers with to much free time acting like if they read an article and comment on Reddit they’re opinions matter lmao
8 Comments
A bit from the post:
> Contrary to America’s dominant cultural myths about “bootstraps,” wealth and income are selectively created (and in many ways directly subsidized) by the state through tax policy and other measures. To wit, Americans in the top 20 percent of income generally receive a much larger return from the federal government in terms of subsidies, credits, and other benefits than the amount of taxes they pay. Political scientist Suzanne Mettler has compelling described these benefits as “the submerged state”, i.e. “welfare for rich people.”
>
> America’s elites (and especially the news media) love to tout the stock market as a barometer for the country’s economic health and prosperity. But that data is misleading: The top 1 percent of richest Americans by wealth control some 54% percent of stocks and mutual funds. Here, the American financier class benefits from the tax and other economic policies that they literally write, which are in turn passed by Congress and the president (who are also members of the financial elite).
>
>
What even is ‘Trumpism’ ?
Just be as corrupt and lawless as possible, and sell out everything to the highest bidder?
>We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
FDR, January 11, 1944, on the Second Bill of Rights
I don’t know what started it, but what got me to support him this election was:
1. The rampant anti-Semitism that’s been going unchecked in blue states
2. The massive increase in crime and lack of punishing criminals that’s been in blue states
3. The unchecked illegal immigration, especially when blue sanctuary cities suddenly changed their tune when they were the ones that illegal migrants were winding up in.
4. Massive inflation compared to any other president in my lifetime, especially Trump’s presidency. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0L1E?output_view=pct_12mths
5. Biden’s constant forgetting what he’s talking about and starting conversations that are nonsense.
6. Weak response to helping our allies, i.e. Israel, and hindering them in ways we’ve never done to anyone else.
I’m no ‘Trump is the 2nd Coming’ shouter, but I’m picking him.
The Democratic Party somewhere along the way gave up fighting against corporate elites that the Republican Party used to coddle. Trumpism was born out of people who likely used to be Democrats with solidly middle class, union jobs that were outsourced or automated. These people now work for wages that don’t even afford them rent, if they work at all. They feel the system screwed them (it did) and they turn to someone like Trump who knows exactly how to appeal their emotions.
> Though Trumpism is ten times more terrifying than Reaganism
I’m guessing the author is neither gay nor Central/South American.
Reaganism killed the American Dream. What was sold as allowing people to succeed or not based on individual merit was revealed to be pulling up the ladder behind those that were already successful, whether they deserved it or not.
I just realized why I should never get on this app. A bunch of losers with to much free time acting like if they read an article and comment on Reddit they’re opinions matter lmao