NYT's Gail Collins: Only The Good Get Rich

[Scuba]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/opinion/collins-only-the-good-get-rich.html?_r=1

The big, if-not-quite-articulated, message in Tampa was that in a free economy, everybody will get what they deserve. There is no need to worry about the vast, growing gap between the richest and the rest, or the shrinking middle class, or the fact that America currently has one of the worst rates of social mobility in the developed world.

Untrammeled, the business sector will create plenty of jobs, and the hard-working big-dreamers will jump in, amass wealth and achieve success. You cut taxes, reduce regulation and let the magic happen. It’s that or what Paul Ryan called “a dull adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.”

Listening to the convention speeches, it was easy to get the impression that every high-ranking Republican in the country had parents who were truck drivers or convenience store workers who moved up entirely through their own efforts. Also, there were a lot of grandfathers who worked in the mines. Republicans love mines, particularly coal mines. This is partly because of their big donors, but the fact that environmentalists hate coal makes coal mines even more adorable.

And the miners themselves are always sympathetic figures because they work hard and play by the rules. As a result, their biggest dreams have been realized, and they are able to spend their lives underground developing chronic pulmonary disease.

[russspeakeasy]

1. A well written piece. Thanks for posting.

[sweetpea7788]

2. The Just World Hypothesis

...is a very commonly held bias. It is what underlies all "blame the victim" thinking. It intuitive to humans, and difficult to overcome. The higher intelligence a person has, the less likely they are to believe in the JWH.

[tjdee]

3. Chris Hayes had information that says only 4% of the poor end up rich.

I missed most of that segment, but the impression I got was what most of us already know if we are honest:

the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.

It's just beautiful to say that rich kids have to work their way up like everyone else, but even if they sit on their butts playing video games 24/7, they will almost NEVER end up on skid row.

The way Republicans trot out the exceptions like Condi Rice, etc. and saying hey, you too can be rich with just some hard work guyz!!, with no changes to the way things are done in this country, is just... cruel, tbh.