Many of us think we’re special because “this is America.” We think we’re immune to the same forces that started the Arab Spring—or the French and Russian revolutions, for that matter. I know you fellow .01%ers tend to dismiss this kind of argument; I’ve had many of you tell me to my face I’m completely bonkers. And yes, I know there are many of you who are convinced that because you saw a poor kid with an iPhone that one time, inequality is a fiction. Here’s what I say to you: You’re living in a dream world. What everyone wants to believe is that when things reach a tipping point and go from being merely crappy for the masses to dangerous and socially destabilizing, that we’re somehow going to know about that shift ahead of time. Any student of history knows that’s not the way it happens. Revolutions, like bankruptcies, come gradually, and then suddenly. One day, somebody sets himself on fire, then thousands of people are in the streets, and before you know it, the country is burning. And then there’s no time for us to get to the airport and jump on our Gulfstream Vs and fly to New Zealand. That’s the way it always happens. If inequality keeps rising as it has been, eventually it will happen. We will not be able to predict when, and it will be terrible—for everybody. But especially for us. The most ironic thing about rising inequality is how completely unnecessary and self-defeating it is. If we do something about it, if we adjust our policies in the way that, say, Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the Great Depression—so that we help the 99 percent and preempt the revolutionaries and crazies, the ones with the pitchforks—that will be the best thing possible for us rich folks, too. It’s not just that we’ll escape with our lives; it’s that we’ll most certainly get even richer. newamerica.net/publications/books/true_patriot/ It’s been hijacked by the right and abandoned by the left, but the principles of true patriotism -- country above self, responsible stewardship, equality, shared sacrifice and service -- are inherently progressive. The True Patriot challenges progressives to retake patriotism. Written in the pamphleteering style of Thomas Paine, it presents a manifesto, ten-principal plan, and moral code that reframe the concept of patriotism and return politics to what it once was: a civic virtue and responsibility that fueled the country’s founders. Praise for The True Patriot The True Patriot makes a powerful argument that our heritage as a great nation is a progressive heritage, and it shows what each one of us can do to heal America and regain our position of moral leadership at home and abroad. -- Governor Howard Dean I WOULD INVEST SOME OF THAT CASH INTO DETROIT BEFORE I FLEW OFF TO NEW ZEALAND, AND DEFINITELY NOT JUST FOR THE WHITE MAN. It’s not just that we’ll escape with our lives; it’s that we’ll most certainly get even richer. I dont know how rich yall think ya need to be but there is only so much $ to go around. Drop in for a visit at your local mental asylum or prison asylum. Patients doing ok? Where I come from they are not. Far from it. You can still find extremely bad conditions for mental health patients across the country. You got the $ now, great, DO SOMETHING FOR THEM!
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:24:59 +0000
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