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Then they should stop saying they are concerned about "inequality" and start saying they are concerned with "dynastic wealth". This sloppy rhetoric makes it ea

Then they should stop saying they are concerned about "inequality" and start saying they are concerned with "dynastic wealth". This sloppy rhetoric makes it easy for opponents to attack. See, e.g., https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw And she is absolutely right. Because if "inequality" is the problem then a solution is to shape society so that everyone has $1 rather than the rich having $3 and the poor having $2. If that's not a desirable solution then "inequality" is not the problem.

cryoshon 11y ago
People are concerned about egregious opulence while others are barely middling along or are impoverished; there is currently no other configuration in which income inequality exists. The other stuff is a distraction until that isn't the case.
- jdc 11y ago
  It would be wise to remember that we only speak for ourselves.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Except, cryoshon simply echos what a large proportion of the population feels. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/23/around-the-world-dissatisfaction-with-economy-and-concern-for-its-future/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/23/around-the-w... > Americans and publics in Africa are less dissatisfied, but they are hardly happy about the way things are going. More than half of Americans (56%) say the U.S. economy is doing poorly. In the nine African nations surveyed, a median of 51% believe economic conditions are bad. Within Africa there is a particularly wide divergence of opinion. More than seven-in-ten Ghanaians (73%) judge their economy to be performing poorly, while nearly nine-in-ten Ethiopians (89%) believe their economy is in good condition. https://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle_class_is_just_this_screwed_janet_yellen_declares_victory_while_workers_drown/ https://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle_class_is_just_th... > Down here at the pedestrian level, between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties, when compared to the 2005 to 2009 period, according to the U.S. Census’s American Community Survey. In fact, the “recovery,” that pastel-colored unicorn, was only seen in the 4 percent of the nation’s counties where poverty actually declined. The rest remained stagnant. > It should come as no surprise. Millions of Americans lost their homes, and with them the foundation of their household wealth. During the “recovery,” census data documents that the median U.S. household income has actually declined for three years in a row and remains below its peak in 1999. And the fact that the middle class has been hollowed out: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459087477/the-tipping-point-most-americans-no-longer-are-middle-class http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459087477/...
viraptor 11y ago
Disregarding the fact that it's more like $1M of wealth for rich vs $2 for poor: Why is $1 for everyone not desirable in that case? Of course it's pure speculation, but a complete wealth reset like this would have to result in either: inflation where new $1 means old $2.01, crazy taxation where country keeps most wealth (but has to then spend on social support), or complete economy collapse. Two of those results may be quite desirable actually.

cryoshon 11y ago

People are concerned about egregious opulence while others are barely middling along or are impoverished; there is currently no other configuration in which income inequality exists. The other stuff is a distraction until that isn't the case.

jdc 11y ago
It would be wise to remember that we only speak for ourselves.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Except, cryoshon simply echos what a large proportion of the population feels. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/23/around-the-world-dissatisfaction-with-economy-and-concern-for-its-future/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/23/around-the-w... > Americans and publics in Africa are less dissatisfied, but they are hardly happy about the way things are going. More than half of Americans (56%) say the U.S. economy is doing poorly. In the nine African nations surveyed, a median of 51% believe economic conditions are bad. Within Africa there is a particularly wide divergence of opinion. More than seven-in-ten Ghanaians (73%) judge their economy to be performing poorly, while nearly nine-in-ten Ethiopians (89%) believe their economy is in good condition. https://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle_class_is_just_this_screwed_janet_yellen_declares_victory_while_workers_drown/ https://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle_class_is_just_th... > Down here at the pedestrian level, between 2010 and 2014 poverty increased in one third of America’s 3,000 counties, when compared to the 2005 to 2009 period, according to the U.S. Census’s American Community Survey. In fact, the “recovery,” that pastel-colored unicorn, was only seen in the 4 percent of the nation’s counties where poverty actually declined. The rest remained stagnant. > It should come as no surprise. Millions of Americans lost their homes, and with them the foundation of their household wealth. During the “recovery,” census data documents that the median U.S. household income has actually declined for three years in a row and remains below its peak in 1999. And the fact that the middle class has been hollowed out: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459087477/the-tipping-point-most-americans-no-longer-are-middle-class http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459087477/...

viraptor 11y ago

Disregarding the fact that it's more like $1M of wealth for rich vs $2 for poor: Why is $1 for everyone not desirable in that case? Of course it's pure speculation, but a complete wealth reset like this would have to result in either: inflation where new $1 means old $2.01, crazy taxation where country keeps most wealth (but has to then spend on social support), or complete economy collapse. Two of those results may be quite desirable actually.