{"id":4318,"date":"2011-10-28T16:37:57","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T22:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/election\/victims-of-republican-style-redistribution-stealing-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-rich\/"},"modified":"2011-10-28T16:37:57","modified_gmt":"2011-10-28T22:37:57","slug":"victims-of-republican-style-redistribution-stealing-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/election\/victims-of-republican-style-redistribution-stealing-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"“victims of Republican-style redistribution — stealing from the poor to give to the rich”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The study that shows why Occupy Wall Street struck a nerve – The Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If Americans were to realize they\u2019ve been the victims of Republican-style redistribution \u2014 stealing from the poor to give to the rich \u2014 the whole political atmosphere might change. I believe that\u2019s one reason why the Occupy Wall Street protests have struck such a nerve. The far-right and its media mouthpieces have worked themselves into a frenzy trying to disregard, dismiss or discredit the demonstrations. Thus far, fortunately, all this effort has been to no avail. \u2026<\/p>\n

First, the system is rigged. Wealthy individuals and corporations have disproportionate influence over public policy because of the often decisive role that money plays in elections.<\/font> If the rich and powerful act in their self-interest, as conservative ideologues believe we all should do, then the rich and powerful\u2019s share of income will continue to soar.<\/p>\n

Second, and more broadly, the real issue is what kind of nation we want to be<\/font>. Thomas Jefferson\u2019s \u201cAll men are created equal\u201d is properly understood as calling for equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes. But the more we become a nation of rich and poor, the less we can pretend to be offering the same opportunities to every American. As polarization increases, mobility declines. The whole point of the American Dream is that it is available to everyone, not just those who awaken from their slumbers on down-filled pillows and 800-thread-count sheets.<\/p>\n

So it does matter that as the pie grows, the various slices do not grow in proportion<\/font>. We\u2019re not characters in one of those lumbering, interminable, nonsensical Ayn Rand novels. We believe in individual initiative and the free market, but we also believe that nationhood necessarily involves a commitment to our fellow citizens, an acknowledgment that we\u2019re engaged in a common enterprise. We believe that opportunity should be more than just an empty word.<\/p>\n

eugenerobinson@washpost.com<\/a> <\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The study that shows why Occupy Wall Street struck a nerve – The Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The study that shows why Occupy Wall Street struck a nerve – The Washington Post If Americans were to realize they\u2019ve been the victims of Republican-style redistribution \u2014 stealing from the poor to give to the rich \u2014 the whole political atmosphere might change. I believe that\u2019s one reason why the Occupy Wall Street protests … Continue reading “victims of Republican-style redistribution — stealing from the poor to give to the rich”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}