Ben Stein: "The wealthy are actually good for democracy-The poor are jealous, lazy drunks"

[Lizzie Poppet]

8. In many cases, those "causes" Stein lists are symptoms, just like poverty.

Symptoms of a dysfunctional economy, an inequitable society, etc., that is. While there certainly are plenty of self-sabotaging people, Stein's idea that they are the majority derives from thinking firmly rooted in a past that's a good three decades or more old. Back then, the playing field was at least a little closer to level (especially if you were white...).

Nowadays, a person can do everything "right" and still end up scrambling for survival. Such persons are no longer anomalies, they are a very substantial minority...and one that's growing every day as more and more capital is hoarded by a tiny few. Stein's worldview is obsolete.

Oh, and his example of landed nobility acting as a brake on the Crown is somewhat valid, but it's probably not an example he really wants to employ. Those nobles were able to restrain the Crown because they possessed the military force to do so. While force lies at the heart of political authority and probably always will (sadly...), ultra-rich wealth hoarders might well be on their way to an object lesson in the "we are many, they are few" principle once people have finally had enough. Not an outcome Stein's likely to enjoy...