Unless you have been living in a cave with no internet access for a couple years, you have undoubtedly heard scores of Democrat politicians and pundits whining about “income inequality.” Many have deemed Income Inequality to be the defining crisis of this Age.
But the expression itself is insidious and stupid.
The actual problem in the U.S. – from a public policy standpoint – is the phenomenon of persistent, generational poverty (“PGP”). Occasional poverty, temporary poverty, and the poverty that people experience at the beginning of their working lives, are problems that are already addressed in one way or another, and they are arguably more a “personal” issue than one that requires a Government solution.
But PGP is growing and, from a societal economic standpoint, is a cancer that can eventually consume so many resources that it will bring Government to its knees (along with public pensions and CSO).
But the Left is unable to even address PGP.
It’s causes are broadly and unquestionably known, as are its solutions. The cause is illegitimacy, and the solution is three-fold: (1) finish school, (2) get a job – any job, and (3) don’t have kids until/unless you are married. Living according to those simple, easy guidelines reduces one’s chances of living in poverty by 80%. But a Leftist government is powerless to broadly publish that message, because to do so would be tantamount to being judgmental about the lifestyle of millions of people now living in poverty. And the Cardinal Sin of the Left is being judgmental – even when the data are incontrovertible proving that the judgment is correct. They simply cannot be judgmental about anything (except smoking).
So they made up the expression, “Income Inequality.” Income Inequality takes the focus OFF of poverty and the obvious causes thereof, and places it on people who are SUCCESSFUL, as though the reasons for PGP were the success of others – which is economic nonsense. So the Left abandons the possibility of a united campaign to fight PGP – one which both ends of the political spectrum could support, each in their own way, and in its place they construct a shining monument to Envy of The Rich! That monument being the expression, "Income Inequality."
The next time you hear a politician bemoaning the “crisis” of Income Inequality, ask yourself why they have chosen NOT to address it as “fighting poverty.” There is only one reason: they want to use the expression as a means of blame Rich Republicans for the real problem of persistent generational poverty. (Parenthetically, it is quite perverse that the Left and the MSM have been able to sell the B.S. narrative that it is the Right where all the rich people are; this is provably false).
Imagine a teacher who is confronted by a small group of students who decide at the beginning of the school year that they will refuse to do anything the teacher says, and will do their best to fail utterly, just to see what the school will do to them. What would you think of the teacher who presented this issue to her Principal as a problem of “an unacceptable gap between the grades of the best students and the worst”? Delusional? Stupid?
But the expression itself is insidious and stupid.
The actual problem in the U.S. – from a public policy standpoint – is the phenomenon of persistent, generational poverty (“PGP”). Occasional poverty, temporary poverty, and the poverty that people experience at the beginning of their working lives, are problems that are already addressed in one way or another, and they are arguably more a “personal” issue than one that requires a Government solution.
But PGP is growing and, from a societal economic standpoint, is a cancer that can eventually consume so many resources that it will bring Government to its knees (along with public pensions and CSO).
But the Left is unable to even address PGP.
It’s causes are broadly and unquestionably known, as are its solutions. The cause is illegitimacy, and the solution is three-fold: (1) finish school, (2) get a job – any job, and (3) don’t have kids until/unless you are married. Living according to those simple, easy guidelines reduces one’s chances of living in poverty by 80%. But a Leftist government is powerless to broadly publish that message, because to do so would be tantamount to being judgmental about the lifestyle of millions of people now living in poverty. And the Cardinal Sin of the Left is being judgmental – even when the data are incontrovertible proving that the judgment is correct. They simply cannot be judgmental about anything (except smoking).
So they made up the expression, “Income Inequality.” Income Inequality takes the focus OFF of poverty and the obvious causes thereof, and places it on people who are SUCCESSFUL, as though the reasons for PGP were the success of others – which is economic nonsense. So the Left abandons the possibility of a united campaign to fight PGP – one which both ends of the political spectrum could support, each in their own way, and in its place they construct a shining monument to Envy of The Rich! That monument being the expression, "Income Inequality."
The next time you hear a politician bemoaning the “crisis” of Income Inequality, ask yourself why they have chosen NOT to address it as “fighting poverty.” There is only one reason: they want to use the expression as a means of blame Rich Republicans for the real problem of persistent generational poverty. (Parenthetically, it is quite perverse that the Left and the MSM have been able to sell the B.S. narrative that it is the Right where all the rich people are; this is provably false).
Imagine a teacher who is confronted by a small group of students who decide at the beginning of the school year that they will refuse to do anything the teacher says, and will do their best to fail utterly, just to see what the school will do to them. What would you think of the teacher who presented this issue to her Principal as a problem of “an unacceptable gap between the grades of the best students and the worst”? Delusional? Stupid?
