As you all know, before President Obama became the most powerful person on the Earth his most significant endeavor came as a community organizer in Chicago, where he worked to get poor folks organized into a larger voting bloc.
Uh-oh...
As we look at the "Occupy America" demonstrations now taking place in cities all over the country we can now clearly say that Mr. Obama is the all-time greatest community organizer in our nation's history.
I thought Thomas Paine, with his book Common Sense was huge, but Mr. Obama's campaign - which could be entitled Common Nonsense is even more significant.
I have told people for years that America will be finished off if (a) the bums out there ever realize that their vote counts the same as Bill Gates, (b) realize that bums outnumber productive people like Mr. Gates and (c) get organized into a mob with voter registration cards.
Occupy America is just that and Mr. Obama is responsible for it. He has, since 2008 whipped up the masses of below-average Americans into a frenzy of hatred towards those of us who are trying to serve our fellow man in return for a return on our hard work. He has made the rich (i.e. the really, really productive people) the enemy and has convinced the people you know to be lazy, stupid and disinterested in obtaining an honest living that they are all victims of Starbucks, General Electric and Toys 'R' Us executives.
Now the bums are organized, angry and literate enough to use all of that time on their hands to make signs that say, "Save trees, burn the rich", "Arrest the 1%" and "Down with Capitalism" to name a few.
To those of you out there who think this is going to go away soon, you should recall the year 1917. The leaders of Russia did not take the rise of Communism seriously either. Oops. This is only the beginning of a revolution that will play out in the streets and eventually, the voting booth.
I think I will open up my gun cases tonight to make sure my guns are in good working order....
Isn't Valencia funded by the State? Don't your students receive financial aid? Why don't you teach at a private institution?
ReplyDeleteIt's ashame that this is happening not only with this but other scenarios that are coming to play such as the new congress proposal of protectionism from china. It's appalling that my generation, my peers, our nation, the "99 percent" are preying on the productive in society. the irony of this trend is that the "99 percent" will continue to benefit from the innovations created by the productive e.g. The apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad... The comedy in the mindset established by the "99 percent" class; they will remain in the lower income bracket especially with their emphasis and energy focused on " occupying wall street" rather than occupying a more rewarding life. I just want you to know, as a professor of economics you have not failed the capitalist loving American people, "one percent" of your past, present, and future students will continue to strive and carry on the torch of liberty,capitalism, prosperity, and productivity. I can not thank you enough for how your courses opened my eyes to help shape me into a productive and prosperous member in our society.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me that the supposed 99% feel that they are so entitled to everything being handed to them. The protesters are entitled not to be creative on achieving their own prosperity. They are entitled to student loans to pay for a higher education but are entitled to not pay back those loans. I watched in interview with a young lady who had a masters degree in geography complain that there are no jobs in her area; she wants to live near her family even though she was told there was a demand in another area for her qualifications. We're supposed to feel sorry for her due to the lack of jobs even though it was her choice not to move. Some of the issues may be real with the protesters but with the energy these people are putting out there for the injustice imagine if they put the same energy into actually improving their own station in life. We are facing a truly scary time in history. We are witnessing the decline of our country all in the name of making life "fair" for all. Do these people not realize that there will always be the have and have nots? There has always been the poor and homeless in every country under every type of government. As long as there is the basic essence of greed in a human those in power will have more than those not in power.
ReplyDeleteHey Jack,
ReplyDeleteWhen you refer to 'bums,' are you speaking of the 99% as a whole or just those involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement? You warn that these people can and will instigate a revolution in this country--but if they number enough, and are concerned enough, to organize and successfully carry out a revolution in the strongest nation in the world, well, shouldn't the country have listened to their concerns and acted on them before a revolution was even deemed necessary? I thought that democracies were meant to reflect the needs of it's citizens! A country that ignores those needs seems not to be much of a democracy at all.
You seem disgusted at the idea that groups of poor people might vote strategically to get more benefit from their government. Of course, this is patently un-democratic, but I don't want to dwell on the buzzword 'democracy.' You seem to be in favor of a plutocracy. Fine. But our country isn't a plutocracy; it might act that way sometimes, but if it was then there would be no need to worry about the poor massing their vote. They wouldn't have a vote. This sentiment is revolutionary itself! You clearly want to change our government from its foundations, much as the Occupy Wall Streeters would like to.
There are millions of men and women working harder and longer than Bill Gates ever did. They may contribute less as individuals to our economy, but as a group they accomplish much more than Bill Gates will. He relied on these people, those that manufacture and consume. Without them, we would have no Microsoft, or personal computers at all. Certainly, some people are born or come to our country that are less suited to work than others. But our status as civilized people means that we'll be able to live happy fruitful lives even if we're not necessarily the most fit to survive. You seem to want a form of government where the poor can be easily ignored, pushed aside in favor of the rich (and, I assume, male, white and protestant because those traits tend to run together). How can you be surprised that the poor might take offense to this and try to change the course of our country from reaching your ideal? How could you even propose such a ridiculous form of government? It would bring us back to the days of royalty. The rich might be hard-working, they might be smart, but there's no way of knowing if their sons and daughters, rich by association, will be suitable heirs to our country.
I admit, I think our country would run much better if it were run by a group of extremely smart people and no one else, but it's just so unfeasible and it would be much too easy for such a centralized power center to be corrupted or taken over.
You write a new edition of your textbook every year, forcing your students to buy the new edition rather than a much cheaper used edition. Is this where you make the money that might grab you an extra vote in your future dream-plutocracy? I'm sure most of those students use federal aid to buy their books--you're exploiting federal money for your own greed, all while straining the pockets of your students! How do you account for this?
And this thing about the gun... what are you, a clown? Why ruin your argument with this immaturity?
Parker Allen
Let me begin by saying that I hope most Americans do not value a person's self-worth based upon their ability to produce income. For the sake of all the people that are motivated to serve their communities by something other than a salary, and for the sake of all those who aren't mentally or physically capable of competing with the "top 1%"... I hope you are not representative of 21st century America.
ReplyDelete"I have told people for years that America will be finished off if (a) the bums out there ever realize that their vote counts the same as Bill Gates, (b) realize that bums outnumber productive people like Mr. Gates and (c) get organized into a mob with voter registration cards."
Don't worry so much. The bums, as you affectionately refer to the bottom 99% of income earners have (a) realized that their vote should count the same as Bill Gates' vote, (b) realized that they outnumber the top 1%, and (c) logically concluded that their socio-economic classes should have more collective political representation/power than the top 1% of income earners. After all, the spirit of "one man, one vote" is that each citizen should have equal say--equal "representation"--in how their government functions. However, the bums have also realized that, in practice, their individual votes do not count the same as Bill Gates'. The knowledge of the legal consequences of Citizens United** has made its way to the masses. The bums have finally realized that so long as corporate "persons" are given the same rights to free (and now unlimited) political speech that natural persons receive, natural persons of the lower income classes will never have the same political efficacy as the natural persons in the 1%.
I don't know how many times I have to explain this: "OWS is, at its core, not so much about income inequality, as it is about the extremely wealthy's disproportionate access to representation in government."
In any case, there's no need for you to become so alarmed. All of their organization, anger, literacy, and time isn't enough to change the status-quo of unequal representation.
**"The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere...."
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"I think I will open up my gun cases tonight to make sure my guns are in good working order...."
Are you sure that you belong in academia, and not on talk radio? :)