You're looking through your lens again. I'm NOT saying that the "fix" (if there is one) involves redistribution or taking from anyone. What I am saying (and I think it is obvious) is this: (I'll lay it out nice and simple for you.)
1. The wealthy and highly-paid executives have tremendous power over business activities and national policy.
2. Most people act most of the time out of self-interest. The wealthy and corporate executives are no exception.
3. Given 1 and 2, it would be logical to assume that the current state of affairs - reduced income for workers, lots of overseas labor - has benefitted the wealthy and corporate executives. Otherwise they would have pursued paths that didn't lead to where we are.
4. Given 3, if worker income rises and there is less overseas labor, it stands to reason that it is likely that the wealthy and corporate executives will suffer some diminution in wealth and income, otherwise they would have already pursued strategies that increase the lot of the domestic worker.
OK, get it? I'm not saying that TAKING from the wealthy is the method or even the desired outcome. I'm not saying REDISTRIBUTION is the method or even the desired outcome. If the wealthy could stay just as wealthy as they are, and the rest of us could get up to where maybe the 30%ers are... that'd be just peachy.
BUT... I don't think that's possible. If the current situation didn't benefit the wealthy, it wouldn't exist. Plain and simple. So the converse is undoubtedly true. If the current situation changes, it is likely to be at the detriment (even if slight) to the wealthy. Hurting the wealthy isn't the goal here, but I cannot see how it wouldn't happen.
Seems that some of your ideas about investing in new technology and changing the way the educational system works would require - gasp - government investment and intervention. Oh the horror.
Don't blame the current educational system on the unions or the teachers. How about the bizarrely named "no child left behind" unfunded mandate that requires standardized testing up the wazoo and makes it absolutely impossible to do some of the things in education that you propose? How does state subsidized higher education fit into your world view? How about the fact that even state schools are now getting priced out of the range of many?
Quote:
Look - just today J.C. Penney stock took a $1B INCREASE in net worth on the market....
NONE of that was redistributed, but it illustrates what we VALUE today in business and politics and that is VISION and PERFORMANCE.
|
C'mon. Not only was none of that redistributed, it also isn't real! That $1B increase in market capitalization is a paper number. (And it isn't "Net Worth.") It's based on a portion of the outstanding shares of the company trading at a higher price today than they traded at yesterday. The market cap is about $7.5B. If every stockholder decided to sell their stock tomorrow, what do you think the market cap would be? Not $7.5B, that's for sure. I don't begrudge highly competent people making a lot of money. If this guy can increase the corporation's PROFITS by $1B a year, he's worth some money. The fact that a bunch of Wall Street speculators bid up the stock today doesn't mean the guy is worth a damn thing. All that happened today is that some old speculators got really lucky, and some new speculators are guessing that it'll get even better before it gets worse. No value was added to society.