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This is a red-herring, when people no longer have the ability to fund their local communities in this country, they also lose their agency. Look at Flint, MI; D

This is a red-herring, when people no longer have the ability to fund their local communities in this country, they also lose their agency. Look at Flint, MI; Due to their tax revenue (or lack thereof) the state government put a crony in charge; who proceeded to poison the water supply and destroy the lives of hundreds of children (brain damage). The plutocrats of our country do not have the right to drain the wealth of the "under-class" so they can redistribute it to another underclass in another country... which will of course conveniently help their economic interests at the same time.

jondubois 10y ago
Yes, that's pretty much exactly what's happening. See http://voxeu.org/sites/default/files/image/FromMay2014/laknerfig1_2.png http://voxeu.org/sites/default/files/image/FromMay2014/lakne... From this chart, we can clearly see that the middle class of the western world (80th percentile) has been paying all the cost of globalization. What's worse is that this chart is only in terms of income growth. I think if we looked at the percentile breakdown in terms of wealth growth, it would be even worse (remember, if you're wealthy, you can reinvest most of your income and it will compound over time).
yummyfajitas 10y ago
I'm confused. Flint lacks tax revenue due to having nothing of value to tax. How did the "plutocrats" drain wealth from Flint if Flint doesn't have any? Wikipedia suggests Flint has had a budget deficit for many years. That means wealth is flowing into Flint, not out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#First_financial_emergency:_2002.E2.80.932004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#First_financia...
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  No, it just means the wealth flowed out of Flint without being taxed or invested locally. That's what oligopolies do. In a sane system a single large employer would have to contribute to building a self-sustaining independent ecosystem of businesses in an area, instead of being allowed to extract profit and then leave when there's more profit to be made elsewhere. Monocultures are an unworkable idea with toxic effects in economics just as much as they are in nature.
  - yummyfajitas 10y ago
    So your complaint is that GM did business in Flint, and then stopped? That's very far from taking wealth out of Flint. It's a lot more like putting a lot of wealth in, but then not putting more in.

jondubois 10y ago

Yes, that's pretty much exactly what's happening. See http://voxeu.org/sites/default/files/image/FromMay2014/laknerfig1_2.png http://voxeu.org/sites/default/files/image/FromMay2014/lakne... From this chart, we can clearly see that the middle class of the western world (80th percentile) has been paying all the cost of globalization. What's worse is that this chart is only in terms of income growth. I think if we looked at the percentile breakdown in terms of wealth growth, it would be even worse (remember, if you're wealthy, you can reinvest most of your income and it will compound over time).

yummyfajitas 10y ago

I'm confused. Flint lacks tax revenue due to having nothing of value to tax. How did the "plutocrats" drain wealth from Flint if Flint doesn't have any? Wikipedia suggests Flint has had a budget deficit for many years. That means wealth is flowing into Flint, not out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#First_financial_emergency:_2002.E2.80.932004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#First_financia...

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
No, it just means the wealth flowed out of Flint without being taxed or invested locally. That's what oligopolies do. In a sane system a single large employer would have to contribute to building a self-sustaining independent ecosystem of businesses in an area, instead of being allowed to extract profit and then leave when there's more profit to be made elsewhere. Monocultures are an unworkable idea with toxic effects in economics just as much as they are in nature.
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  So your complaint is that GM did business in Flint, and then stopped? That's very far from taking wealth out of Flint. It's a lot more like putting a lot of wealth in, but then not putting more in.