General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: VOX: This Trump voter didn't think Trump was serious about repealing her health insurance [View all]Buckeye_Democrat
(14,847 posts)I saw LOTS of Trump voters arguing that "at least Trump earned his wealth" while likewise claiming that Bill and Hillary Clinton did not.
There's a big disconnect between Republicans and Democrats regarding wealth.
http://www.occasionalplanet.org/2016/02/03/our-economic-system-favors-the-rich-see-what-republicans-say/
56% of Republicans believed that "the rich deserve to be richer" or "the rich are smarter" or "the rich work harder" compared to only 8% of Democrats! There's very little difference in belief between wealthy and poor Democrats too.
Republican/Libertarian voters, even among the ones who aren't affluent, are more likely to think government taxes people who "earned" their money and gives it away to people who don't deserve it. It's a very fundamental belief that they accept without much thought, and conservative propagandists usually wrap the idea in personal terms -- e.g., "Do you think lazy people should take YOUR hard earned money?"
I think more of them need to realize that the greatest wealth often gets directed to people who are deemed "owners" rather than the people who contribute the most work. Look at the increased use of automated machinery in this country, for example. It took hard-working scientists, engineers, technicians and others to create that technology. Who benefits from it? Mostly fat cats who are "legal owners" of the technology and who wouldn't have the slightest clue how to create it.
I've worked with poor and hard-working people who argue against greater taxes on corporations and the wealthy because "they're the smart ones who give us jobs." I sometimes wonder if poor serfs spoke the same way about their king and queens, thanking them for the opportunity to grow crops and the like?
African Americans probably understand how the system works better than white people (especially the less educated ones), considering the history of plantation owners and slavery.
I'd also hope that more Americans will someday realize that redistribution of wealth makes the entire system stronger. If you play the board game Monopoly, all of the players have an opportunity for greater wealth if some players don't get "knocked out" of the game! Once those other players have been eliminated, who's going to land their game pieces on the winner's properties anymore?