General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn open letter to America’s 1%: you had better hope violent protesters stay stupid.
https://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/an-open-letter-to-americas-1-you-had-better-hope-violent-protesters-stay-stupid/Nothing whatsoever else at the link today. Just a rant.
It’s become a cliche': oppressed people get pushed over the edge, riot, and trash their own neighborhoods. Those in government and media who are not from the oppressed class pontificate from the comfortable safety of their communities. So it goes, again and again. Ferguson today, Watts yesterday, and no doubt somewhere else tomorrow.
Of course, it is stupid to foul one’s one nest. But angry people often do stupid things. And that angry idiocy is the oppressors’ BFF; in fact, that anger is the product of said oppression.
So, you in the 1% (aka the oppressors): whatcha gonna do when the rioters get a clue and stop burning down the slums and decaying suburbs to which you have confined them? When they realize that their destructive impulses could better be directed away from those who are scarcely better-off than themselves? When they learn to focus on the real enemy?
Because, trust-fund turkeys, that enemy is you. You are the greedy motherf***ers who have bought the government and by so doing have robbed the rest of us blind, binging on your wealth while millions starve. You are both the cause and effect of inequality, and are completely dependent on its continuance.
And like many oppressors, you fail to see how precarious your position truly is. Someday, it will happen, as it always has and always will: the foolish will see the error of their ways and will choose a new path: in this case, towards your neighborhoods, your homes, and your businesses. The flames will not stay confined to the dwellings of “those people” forever.
Don’t believe it? Ask Marie Antoinette, or perhaps the Romanovs…oh…wait…you can’t ask them, can you? Because they got killed by those they oppressed, didn’t they? And like you, they thought it couldn’t happen.
Want to avoid that seemingly inevitable fate? Stop being a bunch of short-sighted, self-absorbed greedheads and start paying attention to the plight of those whose fortunes and futures you have stolen. Their present needn’t become your future, but it most surely will if you don’t smarten up yourselves.
Because while it may be stupid of them to burn down their own neighborhoods, it’s even dumber for you to incite them to burn down yours.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
daleanime
(17,796 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)I know someone who has his and her's Ferrari's, and they are liberals, allegedly.
I think they make me angrier than the wealthy rightwinger, it just makes me sick.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)Why not? What cars are acceptable to you? I'm not seeing in my liberal handbook as to acceptable vehicles...
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)At what price-range does your nausea end?
Stryst
(721 posts)Do they drive by in their $200-$400,000 cars? At what point is it morally acceptable to splurge on you own comfort while your fellow does without basics?
Does it not make YOU sick to see some with so much when there are others with so little?
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)Are you riding around in beater Yugo, or are you cruisin' in something a bit more comfortable? Lemme take a gander at your reply: You bike to work, or take public transportation like a (scold, scold) good liberal should.
Do you have a roof over your head? Are your basic needs being just met, or is your home a bit more luxurious? Right-wingers like to condemn liberals/Democrats (e.g., Michael Moore, Al Gore) for living in large homes, and it's a tired argument.
High-end cars, like with Chevy Cobalts, provide jobs for designers, engineers, auto workers, salespersons, mechanics, car washers/detailers, etc. Do you have a problem with jobs?
It makes me sick that so many have so little, but the problem of poverty goes WAY beyond some wealthy dude driving a Ferrari. And it's possible that said wealthy dude is philanthropic, like many of Hollywood's do-gooders.
In a little bit I'm going to splurge on my own comfort, in the form of a glass of very expensive bourbon, and I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I work -- HARD -- in the health care industry, and I've earned this splurge.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)Yes, that makes me fucking sick to my stomach.
If it doesnt you, I cant help you.
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)a couple of assholes driving Ferraris. (At least you've made these people you supposedly know out to be assholes... I don't know them.)
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)Owning nice things is fine as long as you are doing all you can for everyone in your family and in your world, so to speak.
I am just so sick of so few having everything and everybody else struggling so much
So maybe I am less angry at someone like that and more angry at the system that allows so much suffering
jwirr
(39,215 posts)businesses already. And I am not talking about black rioters doing it. There are a lot of angry people in this country including teabaggers. Than no one has hit out at the corporations is amazing.
riqster
(13,986 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)there are far more distracted people than angry people in this country. Bread and circuses.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)persons killing other persons but not many deliberate destruction by an individual to get back at the rich and corporations.
SomeGuyInEagan
(1,515 posts)... did not get shot, point-blank in the face by one of those tens of thousands of people screwed out of their life's savings amazed me.
Some prrobably saw that as a sign to really start the looting of the 99% and hunkered down to make plans.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Just wonderful. 
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)
riqster
(13,986 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)who occasionally posts on DU has said for a long time now.
I happen to agree it's inevitable. Black folks are like most folks in that they don't really pay a lot of attention to politics and the economy in any sort of analytical fashion, but in my anecdotal opinion that is changing somewhat. There are a LOT of people and groups now days who are trying to educate and explain to people of all races who the real enemy is in today's politics and economy.
Of course, there are some folks who become involved in the riots in a strictly opportunistic way. Those might not make the effort to go to a more affluent area to express their rage, but the more politically motivated one will eventually catch on to who the real enemy is.
riqster
(13,986 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)In my case I'd like to think that I'm planting the seeds for a socialist revolution. I consider it my primary job to connect the dots between oppression, whether racial or economic or both, and the system of capitalism.
redstatebluegirl
(12,767 posts)They send money to Walmart....
riqster
(13,986 posts)And they will, eventually.
cali
(114,904 posts)and they are.
the problem with the Marie Antoinette and Romanov comparisons is that the vast majority of the American populace is far more concerned with Kim's ass and apps for their phones than injustice. People aren't starving. And if it ever came to that, the 1% would still be protected.
riqster
(13,986 posts)and eventually people get to what I call The Popeye Point: "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more!!" Some people are actually starting to wake up and realize the water in the kettle gets hotter every day.
cali
(114,904 posts)are more asleep than ever.
cali
(114,904 posts)and again, people aren't starving. distractions can work for a very long time. What would it take? a complete and catastrophic end to our society.
Tommymac
(7,334 posts)Glad I will be long gone from this planet before then; this past few months has made me realize that I am so tired from 50 years of struggling mostly in vain for liberal values. This new generation is at a cusp, whether they accept it or not - they can either briefly enjoy their toys until the shit really comes down - or take action against the selfish conservative oldsters and their greed now. In the long run it's their quality of life that is at stake - not mine.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)You do realize that the minute the "riot" moves to threaten the neighborhood of the 1%, is when the rubber bullets get put away and the real ones come out.
riqster
(13,986 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)As sure as eggs is eggs, as the Brits say. Hope I live to see it. History may not repeat itself, but as Mark Twain says, it rhymes.
jillan
(39,451 posts)and he said that people have to realize that corporate America is creating inequality.
Plus - look at the dumpster that was placed infront of the Walton's ritzy apartment complex.
It's begun.
riqster
(13,986 posts)NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)jillan
(39,451 posts)warning - there is talking on this one... sorry, I hate that.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/28/crowd-protests-grand-jury-decision-black-friday-st-louis/19624337/
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)I believe that was just the beginning. Unless people feel that justice and equity are attainable these movements will continue.
riqster
(13,986 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)where any benefits got to an infinitesimal few and the vast majority get none of the benefits. In addition, there are a lot more people connecting the dots now between capitalism and oppression.
riqster
(13,986 posts)We need to help even more people connect those dots.
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)but they will have taken their precautions like police protected communities
like getting government protections in other forms, and lastly by creating a
diversion by a carefully arranged fearful news event. Remember:
FEAR WORKS!
world wide wally
(21,836 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 28, 2014, 05:00 PM - Edit history (1)
I hope I'm wrong!
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)They'll just start a war or fake a terrorist attack. Probably working the script up right now.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)They already have a few plans in waiting.
OldRedneck
(1,397 posts)No one will attack the homes, neighborhoods, businesses, or persons of the 1% -- because -- they own the media and they use the media -- e. g., Fox, Limbo, Hannity, Beck, and the like -- to convince the 99% that it's brown people, black people, liberals, Democrats, gays, atheists who are the enemy.
And the 99% has bought it and will continue to buy it. After all, Republicans continue to win elections because the 99% are convinced to vote against their own interests.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)that overlooked the city. A few fires -- probably near the homes of those setting the fires.
The frightening thing is the short-sightedness of those who are leaders in a community in which people set fires to their own community.
In LA I think there was a sentiment that the "local" businesses were actually owned by people who were exploiting the community.
But there have to be more positive ways to work for change.
One of the problems with both the rich and the poor, black and white, is that each sector of society lives in its own community and does not comprehend the reality of the other.
Imagine a Thanksgiving dinner with a large family seated around the table. One member of the family takes 40% of the meal and puts it on his plate. It doesn't make any difference whether that one member of the family is black or white or orange. That member will find some reason to justify taking so much that others have less than they need.
Race is an excuse. The exaggerated disparity in wealth is the problem.
In my view, race is a wedge issue that divides poor from poor.
African-American leaders need to make a much bigger effort to form coalitions with other groups like unions and women to fight for economic justice including forming communities that are not geographically divided by race.
If the racial balance in Ferguson had better reflected the racial make-up of our society, do you think that the Wilson would have hassled Brown and Johnson less?
I tend to think that if white people had been living in that area in larger numbers and had been able to see what was going on on a daily basis, that the officer would not have dared to treat Brown as he did. Racially divided cities, geographically viewed, invite police brutality in the communities of the racial minorities. Officers take out their anger in areas in which they think they can get by with it.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)We are consumers, even before we leave the womb. AS long as the M$M keeps the masses docile and entertained, there will never be any kind of uprising. And they can do that forever with the billions they have to spend on social engineering.
cali
(114,904 posts)won't be protected to the max.
Rex
(65,616 posts)I don't think most people realize what a huge monster the M$M has become over the decades. Nor do they comprehend teams and teams of staff members spending all day thinking up ways to make them spend more money, be more loyal to a brand, keep people docile with sport and other forms of entertainment and make sure people vilify the poor while praising the rich.
This is what commercials would look like with full transparency.
Moostache
(11,009 posts)10 years ago, the internet was mainly free of multimedia and advertising. Hell, 5 years ago you could freely move about from site to site without being bludgeoned with ads every 15 to 30 seconds or god forbid, page changes.
The advertising industry has taken basic psychology and turned it into a weapon of mass distraction.
They did it to radio and print first, then motion pictures, then television and phones and now the internet. I have no doubt whatsoever that electronic chip entertainment - something not too far off from the premise of "Total Recall" or "The Matrix"; a chip that directly stimulates specific brain functions to create the illusion of actually experiencing something - with be the ultimate end game. The entire history of the 20th century is a long tale of the public being easily manipulated into working longer and harder for less and less while being bombarded with messages to buy more things we do not truly need.
Denis Miller, back when he was a comedian and not a right wing shill, used to talk about how the future of entertainment would make crack cocaine look like candy. We're closing in on that time faster and faster...
riqster
(13,986 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)We do not need voices of hopelessness, despair and passivity. We need strong voices.
cali
(114,904 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)b) that the 1% won't be protected to the max. "
And you said: "the 1% damn well knows they're protected and they are.
the problem with the Marie Antoinette and Romanov comparisons is that the vast majority of the American populace is far more concerned with Kim's ass and apps for their phones than injustice. People aren't starving. And if it ever came to that, the 1% would still be protected."
AND you said: "not unless they're starving. The vast majority of Americans are more asleep than ever."
That, dear Cali, is the voice of defeatism. It is the speech of one who has given up. And you wrote those words.
Of COURSE you disagree with me. That is a common occurrence, and part of the general pattern of posting between us. 
But that's not why I wrote: "If you have given up, why are you posting on an activist site? We do not need voices of hopelessness, despair and passivity. We need strong voices." I wrote them because of your specific words on this specific thread.
azmom
(5,208 posts)Protesters shut down a mall in St. Louis.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)I would imagine an employee living paycheck to paycheck wont be excited about the mall being shut down next pay day.
aikoaiko
(34,213 posts)He needs an editor.
delete_bush
(1,712 posts)but based on this one I agree with your assertion of silliness and am not inclined to see what else he's done.
randr
(12,620 posts)"If it were not for religion, the poor would have eaten the wealthy a long time ago"
riqster
(13,986 posts)
kairos12
(13,474 posts)private fire departments, family bunkers, etc. Maybe the French National Razor will catch up them anyway. I would like to see it in my lifetime. It will be interesting to see what happens if SCOTUS invalidates the ACA this term and takes health care away from millions.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
riqster
(13,986 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
lastlib
(27,608 posts)...so's we kin keep 'em stoopid.......
oh, and give us s'more tax cuts, pleeze.
say the people you're talkin' to...
riqster
(13,986 posts)
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)unrelated to the "1%", but what has always me mad about the violent protestors (whether with this or with Occupy) is how there have been people from out of town burning things. I've heard of people from outside areas such as Berkeley, San Jose, and as far away as Fresno come to Oakland just to create a ruckus and tear up the city. If they're in the mood for that behavior, why not keep it in their cities instead of bringing it here?
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)And admitted their irrelevance. If there had been fires but in a white neighborhood, then the "outside agitators" would have been accused of starting a race riot (same as if white cops -- er, klansmen -- from St. Louis county had come into a black neighborhood and started setting up roadblocks and lynching black people on the street for "looting", like they did during Katrina. unprosecuted for the most part.)
They can't win. Although there is an out: Corporations are neither white nor black. And corporations own much of the nation's infrastructure.
Just sayin'. *seattle 99*cough*hack*cough*
riqster
(13,986 posts)Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)Little, tiny pieces.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)No specific property in mind, mind you, that is.
riqster
(13,986 posts).00000000000000075 or thereabouts.
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)How much work you want me to put into this?
riqster
(13,986 posts)I'm not arguing with her on the topic. Pony power!
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)Last edited Sat Nov 29, 2014, 12:59 AM - Edit history (3)
...Parties! Perhaps throw party platters...
Into those trendy cupcake stores... no wait those aren't chains
well... I post ponies... you're just encouraging outside agitators like me 
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)on occasion. Wearing a DJ P0N-3 button as I type this. Love your graphics!!
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)
DemocratSinceBirth
(101,656 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)Bohemianwriter
(978 posts)We all learn from history that we don't learn from history.
And I hope to live to see how folly mankind is stumbling on the same obstacle for centuries before we finally get it.
May I suggest something?
How about returning the oil that runs all over your creeks and neighborhoods to it's rightful owners? To their back yard, and then set it on fire? Who knows? They might give you a finders reward?
Just a notion. A little idea picked up from reading about the Boston Teaparty in 1773....
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are."
HL Mencken
riqster
(13,986 posts)
Bonhomme Richard
(9,495 posts)people started protesting outside their homes.
i never understood why it stopped.
zentrum
(9,870 posts)That is, not enough of us 99 will have an informed analysis of the status quo.
But yes, I suppose rage can create a lot of violence. But usually Rage without a really informed critique and trustable leadership usually creates demagogues and we're back to square one.
riqster
(13,986 posts)"When people are asleep, we must all become alarm clocks". (J. Biafra)
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)so, lucky us, they're brought to DU.
What are you referring to?
Brigid
(17,621 posts)I don't know when.
I don't know what will finally light the fuse.
But like bluntandcranky said, the French and Russian aristocracies didn't think it could happen either.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
jimlup
(8,009 posts)and it doesn't bode well for their future. History does repeat itself often with a significantly stronger bit each successive time. Looking back at the French revolution gives us a clue as to where we are headed.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Here's hoping the 1% wake up.
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)People like that deserve everything they will one day soon reap.
Maineman
(854 posts)many of us who hurt less to join the effort. We must not leave the difficult work only to those who have been hurt the most already.
This post to which I reply is most eloquent and sounds convincing. The question is, how dumb and greedy and out of touch are the oppressors? I do know from my previous profession that those with the least power usually know much more about those with power than the powerful know about the oppressed. It is a matter of survival. For example, abused children are absolute experts at reading the mood and behavioral clues of the abuser.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Wise words.
No wonder little changes.
- It appears that they're planning on the calvry coming in to save them at the very last minute.
[center]
[/center]
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)the oppressed just trade one oppressor for another and the lives of the oppressed are not made significantly better.
riqster
(13,986 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)well ... I think an anonymous quote I found online is appropriate:
riqster
(13,986 posts)My focus is on the causal agents. If the Kochs and their ilk continue as they are, they will also be repeating history.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)many (and I would argue, most) of those calling, loudest, for revolution would fall silent, if they could/would just win the Powerball.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Android3.14
(5,402 posts)eom
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Many are not short-signted, self-absorbed greed heads.
And many have not stolen the fortunes and futures of others.
Being wealthy does not automatically make a person evil.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)the coextensiveness of wealth and evil is uncommonly high.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)There are though some very very good people who happen to also be very very wealthy.
Iamthetruth
(487 posts)I'm pretty sure the top 20% are happy with their lives and those just outside of the top 20% aspire to become a member of that group.
Thespian2
(2,741 posts)When the revolution begins, the private armies, i.e., US military, and private police, i.e., local police forces, will kill as many as possible to protect the GREEDY BASTARDS and their property.
GREEDY BASTARDS depend on distractions and entertainments to keep the non-informed from starting the revolution. Look at the fans at a sports event.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)yet fill the streets to protest.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)the lack of choice on the ballots. Do you want neo-liberalism or neo-liberal lite? That's ALL the choices we have. And even if people don't frame it that way, they know that their situation doesn't get any better whether there's a Democrat or a Republican sitting in the political power seat.
Filling the streets to protest is the only thing left to vent rage at this situation.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)the voters, especially those that always vote, are the the ones who over time determine the type of candidates that run. A non-vote empowers every candidate.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)but quite frankly, not many of average voters are going to look at the long term implication of voting/non voting. Yep, it is a demand for instant results. Like it or not, it IS a big factor.
Then you've also got to look at the fact that candidates are selected only to reflect a narrow spectrum of differences. Since there's a sizable minority of the populace that isn't helped by that narrow spectrum of beliefs that BOTH candidates have to espouse, then you have today's situation where we have the worst turnout in almost 80 years and the extreme vacillation between the two allowed political parties.
There's a problem with scorning people for wanting "instant results" too. A lot of people NEED instant results because their current situation is so dire. And with the onset of serious consequences of climate change, I'm not sure that even humanity as a whole can afford the luxury of the glacial pace of change that voting under the American system offers.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)the sum of what you say either, Here in my Super Duper Red State, only 16% of the voters were able to elected the Super Majority Trifecta. Until some of the Great Majority that dont give a damn, decide to start voting. nothing will change since protest no longer has any circumstance for change to take place.
roamer65
(37,818 posts)They keep telling me if I work hard I can be one of them...the "American" dream and all of that.
Why would I want to alienate the "club" that I could soon be part of?
The mindset of the 99 pct has to change significantly in the USA for there to be any progressive change.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
DeadEyeDyck
(1,504 posts)Bothers me. Though I am an American by birth, because of my upbringing, I see myself as an outsider. Being biracial, with a German mum and black pop, and having grown up in Germany and England (boarding school), I tend to see America through a more objective eye than most.
My question is, did America suffer for the likes of Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates? Did they earn their wealth at the cost of others? Did J.K. Rawlings exploit those who read her books?
I am doing quite well myself. I don't know if I am a 1%er since that is merely a mathematical expression. There will always be a 1%.
I am not yet 30, hold a PhD that I am quite sure I earned. I am not that interested in money, but have aspirations to go as high as I can in this life. With success will come increased revenue. For that I am evil?
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)There's no reason those with Ph.D's (and a job) should make 20x as much money as those without a degree (or with a post-doc).
Saying there will always be a 1% belies the point. In America, the prevailing ideology is that winning is all that matters. And only 1% are allowed to "win". The rest of us are just supposed to admire from a safe distance.
Americans love to lie with statistics, I've noticed... insisting that they want all their kids to get into the top percentile, and that sort of thing. I'm sure you've had a good upbringing (with comfortable family salaries) and academic success, I've met many people who have. Also note how they are absolutely atroc'ed when and if their kids don't do better than them financially... because America is a giant conveyor belt full of money, right?
Also, corporate control of the marketplace by a handful of multinationals in every field is un-economical, anti-free market, anti-choice and un-democratic.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Whatever the job is. I would gladly pay a plumber more than a retail worker because of their skills. And if I get sick and tired of costly bills to fix my plumbing, then I should learn how to fix a toilet myself.
DeadEyeDyck
(1,504 posts)You might be the best farrier in your town but if no one has a horse, you are probably unemployed. But if there was a need, you could nearly right your own ticjet since there would be little competition.
A skill that is easily acquired will not be paid as much as one that requires a lot of training and education, when the demand is equal.
A CEO is paid a huge sum because the board believes he will return an even "huger" amount to the table. But his pay is also based on what it would take to stop a competitive business from hiring.
DeadEyeDyck
(1,504 posts)Is it wrong for Mark Zuckerberg to make a million times more than his gardener? If he paid his gardener proportional to his return, his gardener might realize $250,000/hr. for planting petunias! But where does that put his gardener next to all other gardeners?
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)I'm not going to get into "what value he provides" society, because I regard Facebook as a social menace, but --
Is it social justice for people to make more money than their subjects than the ancient kings did, and still call it a democracy (when the people with the most money clearly have the most power and influence on elected officials and the media and even on intellectual critics?)
Isn't it interesting that when a rival *business* ox is gored, then the intellectual property rights guys reverse themselves, and say, this guy is sitting on his inventions and stock options, hogging all the patents to keep others out of the market that they supposedly "pioneered" (often because of dumb luck, as an early Amazon investor who's now a billionaire -- and a liberal -- pointed out in an op-ed) and discouraging innovation?
DeadEyeDyck
(1,504 posts)I used Zuckerberg because he is very rich and famous.
But he created a service that is, obviously, highly desired. It is free to the end user so he is not taking money from them. He must be the ultimate 1% er, if not the .0001% er! But his gazillions do not make me one cent poorer!
That is the point I have been trying to make.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)The problem is the huge disparity between the wealth of the top 10% and the bottom 60-70%. The rate of the disparity has increased from 10 times to hundreds of times the average wage resulting in a situation that can not be justified of sustained without some type of eventual response. Perhaps the response will be increased unionization of workers or perhaps open class warfare. The fact is that it cannot continue. However, this may not be within the foreseeable future as judged by the results of recent elections in which millions of the working class people either failed to vote or actually voted against their own interest. It is almost inconceivable that this could be happening and can only be attributable that fact they are the victims of a massive propaganda machine that begins at the municipal level and extends to the national campaigns.
You have to at least hand it to the Republicans that their campaign has been very successful. It begins at the local level. Conservative and fundamentalist churches are major force in their campaign in which the champion key wedge issues that determine the outcome. These groups are not comprised of part time activists, but by determined zealots and outright demagogues who are determined to advance their agenda. When it is coupled with virtual control of the mass media it becomes a force that has proven to be successful. When virtually ever municipal office is dominated by conservative Republicans it becomes nearly impossible to gain any traction for progressive ideas. Just to contemplate the influence that conservatives have in determining local school practices coupled with their determination to destroy the public school system it is evident that progressives will have a difficult struggle ahead of them.
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)That is doing just enough better than everyone else in the world, like the citizens of the Roman empire, that they keep the 1% in power ruling over them by virtue of their prosperity and upbringing. Why else do we keep institutions like Harvard around -- and the whole NY - LA media machine?
navarth
(5,927 posts)Please tell me you're not serious.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Maybe that's what people hate.
When you put it in this "hate success" mode you are 1 - talking like a right winger and 2 - making yourself the victim, and what is more unseemly that people who are doing well complaining about how they are the victims rather than the poor and 3 - show us you care more about your feelings than you care about the poor 4- fail to acknowledge the luck and privilege that gave the opportunity to "work hard and follow the rules" and then get success and tone deaf that the poor don't even have that chance. And nobody called you "evil" which is a straw man. And even if people called you evil, you aren't suffering from the effects of poverty.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)or someone else? Because Rowling would rip your arguments to shreds. This Rawlings character might agree with you. But I've never heard of Rawlings.
DeadEyeDyck
(1,504 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)I could have said "Much of the 1%".
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Do the TV broadcasts of the richest country on earth suggest their economy is fulfilling that purpose?
Does someone with skills and specialized knowledge deserve to earn more? Sure, and the job market assures that this will be the case - or at least until others acquire the skills to have the good job too.
It isn't an issue of high skill workers vs low skill workers. It's an issue of workers vs non workers (i.e. capital). Labor hasn't enjoyed any of the benefit of a growing economy for my entire adult life. It's not just time to change that, or bend the curve, but to invert it.
Capital gains, dividends and carried interest should be taxed at 70% and the proceeds used to fund social security, expand EITC and reduce the bottom three tax brackets.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,848 posts)which seems more like an actual typo.
samsingh
(18,252 posts)probably half are trying to improve things, don't mind paying taxes, like to pair fair wages, and to help the environment.
the other half are assholes i think.
navarth
(5,927 posts)Period.
Buzz505
(92 posts)To prevent us from over throwing this system for the 1%ers. It won't/can't happen. We are totally screwed.
riqster
(13,986 posts)
Initech
(107,574 posts)Well after two three trillion dollar wars that will never end, and relentless looting of our treasury by the upper 1%, I think they beat Osama to that goal. Does that make the upper 1% terrorists by association? 
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)We were already bankrupting ourselves without help.
DemocratSinceBirth
(101,656 posts)When Malcolm was criticizing Dr. King's emphasis on passive disobedience and Dr. King pointed out the foolhardiness of violence as a response to governmental oppression when the government has a near monopoly on the use of force.
The moment protesters threaten people's homes and lives that's the moment they will be getting caps in their ears.
riqster
(13,986 posts)I am a frequent critic of violent revolution, because it causes the most damage to the weakest among us. The actual targets of revolution rarely get hit.
In our revolution, did King George get offed by a musket ball? Did he even miss a meal? Of course not. But lots of ordinary people starved and died.
The OP was a prediction of violent uprising and a message to its targets, not a recommendation of violent uprising.
And history shows us that, eventually, when people have nothing left to lose, they will act based on that condition. The only people who can stop it from happening are those who have caused the crisis.
But as of right now, they show no inclination to change their ways.
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)That -- Dr. King and Malcolm X played "good cop bad cop" with the nonviolence issue.
In other words, "support nonviolence and respond to us. Because aprés moi, le deluge."
riqster
(13,986 posts)Is there any documentation showing they planned it? That would be fascinating.
Leopolds Ghost
(12,875 posts)MLK and X obviously disagreed on tactics (and more generally in philosophy until late in Malcolm's life, I think) but it was like when Walter (last name escapes me) from the railroad porter's union threatened a huge civil rights march in Washington during WWII, to get concessions from FDR I think it was. He knew that would be unpalatable to FDR (and probably would have been alienating to white supporters of the civil rights movement) but he used that to get concessions on labor issues. So it's like, you know what the competition is doing, and you use that to make your case.
greatlaurel
(2,020 posts)Keep up the good work, sir.
The wealthy liked to call FDR a traitor to his class. He laughed heartily at that, since he knew he saved their behinds.
Someone I knew really well was a young man in the Great Depression and a staunch Republican, told me that if it had not been for FDR, there would have been a very violent revolution. I do not see anyone in the 1% with the insight of FDR to act to save themselves this time. Rich people are surrounded by people who are paid very well to tell them how great they are. It is not a reality based lifestyle.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Just as it is not, sadly, a new situation.
malaise
(293,109 posts)Few were made up
flobee1
(870 posts)One thing I noticed with Occupy, it went well until the m$m wanted a list of demands, and a spokesperson. Why give them what will make their task easier? Why give them a single person they can put in front of a camera to over-analyze and discredit? why give them a list they can refute point by point?
The reality is, the greedy bastards have changed the rules so that they can milk the middle class dry and keep it for themselves. They own politicians, the news, the police, the food, the water, and very soon, the air we breathe!
Its a game for them to keep "the little people" fighting amongst ourselves so we don't notice them picking our pockets.
I don't know when, but somebody is going to feel the hand of the 1% slipping the wallet out of their pocket, turn around and rip that hand off of their arm.