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I find this perspective frighteningly cynical and self-perpetuating. Government policy is one of the few mechanisms that has the possibility to address (if not
by glup 10y ago
I find this perspective frighteningly cynical and self-perpetuating. Government policy is one of the few mechanisms that has the possibility to address (if not fix) systemic inequality. And I think there's broad agreement across the political spectrum that inequality is a problem; rather, there are disagreements about how to best address it (social welfare and regulation vs. efficient markets). This isn't ammunition for political agendas---improving equality should be a central objective function of any democratic political system.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago>And I think there's broad agreement across the political spectrum that inequality is a problem No, I don't think there is.
- glup 10y agoAdmittedly this might be one of the white lies I tell myself in order to stomach American political discourse. Good catch.
- nickff 10y agoWhy must you ignore opposing viewpoints "in order to stomach American political discourse"? I find this point quite dismaying. Speaking as someone who has strong views, I think we should all strive to grant our intellectual opponents the respect we expect from them, and we should endeavor to understand their views. Ideally you would put yourself in the position where you could argue their side of the debate in a manner indistinguishable from them (according to them), only then could you claim to understand them.
- smallnamespace 10y agoJust to inject some data into this discussion: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/03/business/income-inequality-workers-rights-international-trade-poll.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/03/business/incom... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/business/inequality-a-major-issue-for-americans-times-cbs-poll-finds.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/business/inequality-a-majo... "Do you feel that the distribution of money and wealth in this country is fair, or do you feel that the money and wealth in this country should be more evenly distributed among more people?" 'Should be more even': 44% for Republicans, 89% for Democrats, 66% for Independents This was back in 2015 -- given the way the campaign has gone this year, I'd expect those numbers to have risen.
- internaut 10y agoEli is right.
- jrcii 10y agoYour perspective is "frighteningly" naïve, and typical of the left which imbues the government with the imaginary omnipotence to fix any and all problems. mechanisms that has the possibility to address (if not fix) systemic inequality What evidence do you have that this possibility exists at all?
- aninhumer 10y ago>which imbues the government with the imaginary omnipotence No it merely recognises that the government, by its nature, is in a unique position to attempt to tackle these problems, because pretty much any other actor has neither the power nor the inclination to do so. > What evidence do you have that this possibility exists at all? Perhaps there is none. But unless you can prove that, I'd rather continue trying, because inequality sucks pretty bad.
- wskinner 10y ago"This isn't ammunition for political agendas---improving equality should be a central objective function of any democratic political system." - proceeds to advocate a particular political agenda. While "government should promote equality" is a statement virtually everyone would agree with, how much equality, what else to compromise in order to get it, and what equality even means are in fact not widely agreed upon.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]