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>Again, right or wrong, that is how the rich view the situation when they are facing increased taxes and dilution of their wealth through inflation. Whether you
by mcantelon 16y ago
>Again, right or wrong, that is how the rich view the situation when they are facing increased taxes and dilution of their wealth through inflation. Whether you agree with it or not, it's not hard to understand.
Statistically, the rich are getting richer. The middle class are the ones who should be angry as they are the demographic who have suffered the most economically in recent decades.
This political cartoon nicely counters the rich's complaints about tax burden:
http://i.imgur.com/zehGy.jpg http://i.imgur.com/zehGy.jpg
I would attribute the recent anger of the rich, and their tea party proxies, more to greed than rational self-interest. I see the present greed as irrational because it creates the potential of political blowback that will likely imperil the greedy in the long term.
- george_george 16y agoThe rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer... but only in relative terms. In absolute terms, we're all getting richer. It's pretty hard to argue that the lower classes are getting poorer when you compare what we had 50 or 100 years ago with what we have now: our houses are bigger, they have plumbing and electricity, they're filled with God knows how many gadgets and appliances, cars outnumber people, sugary and fatty foods that used to be considered luxuries are eaten in excess even in (or especially in) the lower classes. We're definitely better off. If the middle classes are suffering it's because their own prosperity meant they never learnt to live within their means.
- pmb 16y agoNot true. Income in the bottom 3 quartiles has remained constant or fallen slightly (adjusted for inflation) since the 1970s. We have better tech, but we have also had the rich getting much much richer.