APP - 'What Were We Thinking?'

midcan5

Member
Looking back while thinking now.

'The intolerable inequalities we take for granted.'

"So let’s interrogate some of our beliefs about political morality with the eyes of our descendants. Two four-letter words lie at the heart of contemporary America’s public morality: “free” and “fair.” “It’s a free country” is every American’s boast; “I only want a fair shake” is every American’s plea. I doubt I need to remind many Commonweal readers of the more flagrant forms of unfairness in our national life—that one American child in five lives below or near the poverty line; that somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of our economy’s productivity gains since 1980 have gone to the top 10 percent of the income distribution...."


https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/what-were-we-thinking?ref=the-browser


"The human intellect is already more than adequate to dispose of apologetics for greed. It is the human heart that needs instruction."
 
Considering the founders who established that wouldn’t address slavery I would say that our morality was skewed from the beginning
 
I googled your question and below is a reply, not an answer but some thoughts from 2020.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

And, I'd think most could come up with some obvious ones that would help:

Make home ownership affordable and switch residential--first / personal home ownership--away from owing property taxes. That is, once you own the house you live in, it's yours and you own no property taxes on it. So, it can't be taken away from you. That grows wealth over time.

Bring back mandatory classes in K-12 on home economics and budgeting. That is, teach kids how to manage their money. Sure, that isn't a panacea, but it would help.
 
that one American child in five lives below or near the poverty line; that somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of our economy’s productivity gains since 1980 have gone to the top 10 percent of the income distribution...."
There is no "poverty line" except in the political agenda of the one supposedly defining it. It's like Marxists who hurl the term "the rich" as if it is some formally defined thing. Wherever the term "poverty line" is used, expect heavy dishonesty.

"The human intellect is already more than adequate to dispose of apologetics for greed. It is the human heart that needs instruction."
The word "greed" is another term that signals "WARNING: HEAVY DISHONESTY AREA"

Considering the founders who established that wouldn’t address slavery I would say that our morality was skewed from the beginning
I didn't expect this kind of virtue-signaling from you. It's a rather stupid thing to say and somewhat disappointing. The Constitution is not a penal code. It is a procedural document. Treason is the only crime addressed, and only because tyrants used "treason" as a catch-all crime for which they could cowardly avoid supporting their charges and simply convict with the death penalty. The founders created a Congress (a legislature) to create the laws and to address slavery and everything else.

The Constitution was a mark of genius and was the first of its kind, and there hasn't been another one like it since. The United States is the only country that treats freedom of expression as an inalienable right. All other countries that include protections for free speech in their constitutions also clearly state that those protections are subject to limitations that are described elsewhere, limitations that ultimately make freedom of speech a mere privilege that is granted by the government, and that can be taken away by the government. Germany is the classic example of a country with a constitution that appears on the surface to grant American-style freedom of speech, but is quick to specify limitations for the protection of others who might be hurt by your speech. As a result, Germans who say something that is politically incorrect are arrested, and yet they think that being arrested for saying something hurtful/offensive/rude is totally appropriate under "freedom of speech." Canada is the same way except there aren't as many instances of Canadians being arrested for expressing something politically incorrect. In Canada, one can be arrested under the charge of "wilful promotion of hate" for which you are guilty until you convince the tyrannical prosecutor that you won't support Trump ever, ever, ever again.

The US is the only country that defines the rights of the people as preceding the Constitution, and not as something somehow granted by the Constitution. The founders were arguably more moral than any other authors of national constitutions, ever.
 
I googled your question and below is a reply, not an answer but some thoughts from 2020.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/
Wealth inequality is a good thing, not a bad thing. The only way to have wealth equality is for everyone to be equally broke and miserable. This is, after all, the Marxist objective, so they are necessarily obligated to speak ill of wealth inequality.

Marxists HATE happiness, especially yours. I'll take the wealth inequality and much happiness in the world option, thank you.

Pop Quiz: What would happen if you were to magically double the wealth of all people on the planet, i.e. (a win-win-win-win-win-win-win- ... -win-win-win situation)?
Answer: The global wealth inequality would double!

Wealth inequality is a good thing, not a bad thing. The article is Marxist crap. It is not informative; it is religious dogma. It is dismissed.
 
I also disagree that wealth inequality exists.

Plenty of people are perfectly happy with their lives who are not in the top 10%.

Elon Musks wealth has zero impact in my life.
 
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