Undermining a favorite Republican meme...as seen on facebook

[Matariki]

[Xipe Totec]

1. Wealth is the invevitable result of hoarding money. nt

[femrap]

10. Or simply

being born into it. By the grace of Goddess....

The Kennedy Family felt a responsibility to help their community....too bad they're aren't more of them. I still see Teddy up there in the Senate, red faced and yelling at the repugnants, "What is about working people that makes you hate them so much?"

[Curmudgeoness]

2. I have had this posted on my FB page for a while now.

Love it! This is too true. Lots of people liked it, no one can dispute it.

[kag]

19. I just posted it to mine. n/t

[unblock]

3. wealth is achieved by claiming a wildly disproportionate share of some group's large cash flow.

[world wide wally]

4. Great!... And here's another one..

Why is it that when we're talking about the lives of men and women in war they say "Freedom isn't free" But when we ask the wealthiest people in the country to pay another dime in taxes, all of a sudden Freedom is supposed to be free?

[calimary]

5. Hey, Welcome to DU, world wide wally! That IS a good one.

I usually say something like - "YES, you're quite correct - freedom certainly ISN'T free! It costs the blood of patriots - and lots of TAX MONEY."

Glad you're here. We need you. This thing isn't won yet.





Now get to work.

[savannah43]

7. Because they can buy everything they want or need. Thus, they

don't NEED freedom. In their greedy and beady eyes, money is infinite. It isn't.

[femrap]

12. They have so much $$$

that they have lost interest. Now the wealthy want to manipulate and control. They want to use their power to put the 99% in a state of torture. The wealthy of The Business Round Table laugh at the laborers. They love to sit around and see how they can make the regular guy's more difficult...it's fun to them.

Years ago, I was told, "Life isn't fair." Today, "Life is sheer torture."

[TahitiNut]

6. Wealth is the result of getting income FROM THE LABOR OF OTHERS.

Capitalism is the ownership of the means of production and, instead of leasing those 'means' to others who labor, one 'hires' them and takes a disproportionate share of the income THEY EARN. It's insane that we have a system that has occasionally placed limits on interest (usury) but has never placed limits on the share of ANOTHER'S INCOME from their own labor that an "owner" can exact merely by granting them the "privilege" of working.

Before anyone calls me a Marxist, I'll point out that Marx had the 'problem' pretty much nailed... but his 'solution' just doesn't work.

[savannah43]

8. Please don't ever apologize for your points of view. If we took all the good points

from all of the theories of goverment, we'd likely have something of which to be proud.

[Ikonoklast]

17. Marx correctly points out the inherint flaws of Capitalism.

Not that he got it wrong, but because he was absolutely correct is what terrifies them.

When Labor refuses to participate, Capital collapses.

[Blanks]

23. I'm not sure being called a Marxist is an insult.

A government of the people, by the people and for the people doesn't sound like capitalism at all.

I think we've been so conditioned to believe that socialism and communism are evil that we don't recognize just how commonplace they are.

The very people who benefit from 'socialism' are the people who are the most vocally opposed to it. If you fish in a river that is owned by the government; you are taking advantage of a socialist system. If you take your boat onto a lake that was created by an Army Corps of Engineer dam; same thing. If you drive cross country; etc.

Communism didn't fail in the Soviet Union; a centralized government that didn't follow the communist philosophy is what failed. There are successful examples is communism. It may not be practical on such a large scale, but it isn't a failed philosophy.

We need to get to a point where we each have a reasonable amount of ownership for the earths resources, and away from the concept that non-renewable resources should be controlled and exploited by a select few.

Whether it's socialism, communism or some limited form of capitalism makes no difference; the current system is destroying the earth. That's reason enough to look at modifying the current system.

[TahitiNut]

26. That''s a cogent and rational summary with which I fully agree.

It seems to me that it's absolutism that fails... some simplistic imposition of a 'rule' completely throughout the system, whether that be "free markets are the answer" or "private ownership is bad." It seems to me, for example, that insurance is best established at the common or public level for those risks which are universal, such as threats to health and the need for care both preventative and corrective. For those risks which are associated purely with choices, such as automobile ownership and operation, a regulated free market (since unregulated is NEVER free) offers the most viable approach. The most harmful (to the public) factor in private insurance today seems to me to be sheer scale and the massive economic clout wielded by companies with huge reserves, much of which are leveraged.

The component of our economic system that most cries out for public regulation is labor, imho. While we do have a federal statute that prohibits the treatment of human labor as a commodity, the violations are rampant. Human trafficking, for example, which I regard as including all "work visas" that permit such human trafficking to operate under the guise of legitimacy, is a worldwide scourge. Likewise, the presumed theory that "compensation" for one's labor must only be based on the supply/demand calculation and 'competitive' lowest cost is a huge example of where human labor is treated as a commodity, since the very vocabulary and mechanisms for determining that compensation are solely those associated with commodities. The evil can bee seen most clearly in the use of the term "compensation" itself, since it does not, in any way, factor in such intangibles as the loss to a family of the time spent by a 'provider' or the loss to the laborer of time possibly more beneficially spend obtaining education or rest and recreation.

In summary, I believe we have a long way to go in gaining (or regaining) a more equitable and just balance between the health of a society and the power of wealth. A very long way.

The mere fact that a single individual can amass a fortune greater than the combined wealth of 50% of the entire population of a nation is, to me, prima facie evidence that the 'system' is serious out of balance. Broken. The mere fact that this is not only not seen as prima facie evidence by so many and, in fact, is seen as some kind of 'good' by so many is an indication of how far away we are from achieving any acceptable balance.

[Blanks]

27. Capitalism should equal competition.

There is a mixture of each (socialism, communism, capitalism) in a properly working economy.

Technically, the Rec complex that I go to play Raquetball is a socialist organization because it is owned by the city. The farmer co-ops were an attempt at communism. the farmers just don't know it.

Where we have failed: we now have a capitalist system that is not built on competition because we have allowed unregulated (or under-regulated) monopolies. There aren't enough energy companies, or media outlets, or insurance companies.

As far as labor. If we want to fix the wage problems we need to put the top marginal tax rate back up to where it was in the '50's. and lift the ceiling on FICA (make the employers part increase as the salary increases). They can either pay a decent wage or pay more taxes. If they want to over-compensate their white collar folks they can pay more taxes.

It worked in the past; there is no reason to believe it wouldn't work now.

[Risen Demon]

24. It's not really a shameful thing

The whole "Marxist; Commie; Pinko; Socialist" call-sign is still ingrained in the heads of some of the older Americans that relate it to the red scare days, and they teach it to the younger generation.

The Soviet Union of the Cold War days is somewhat similar to the Bible Beater fundies of today. The Soviet leaders were corrupt and oppressive, but hit behind the book of Marx. Same way the Bible Beater leaders are corrupt hypocrites who preach "God's Law" but end up being tied to a child prostitution scandal.

[SunSeeker]

9. K&R

[YOHABLO]

11. ''Hard Work'' is relative

I don't think these rich Repugs know what hard work entails. Perhaps sitting by the pool and waiting for the dividend checks to come in is considered hard work.

[femrap]

13. You got it....

they get a sweat going just punching the computer keys trying to add up their assets.

Welcome to DU!

[sheshe2]

14. Life Liberty and the Pursuit

Of happiness! For all of us the freedom to make a choice in life partner and a womans right to chose what is right for herself...oh and so many more. Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin "Freedoms just another word for nothing less to lose. Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free"

[SemperEadem]

18. Kris Kristofferson wrote that immortal song

if it weren't for him, the song wouldn't have been sung.

[sheshe2]

29. Me and Bobby

Thanks didn't know that. Did Kris ever preform it? Always loved that song.

[SemperEadem]

31. yes he has

[sheshe2]

32. Thank you

That was great! They both had that husky voice that made the song so great.

[FailureToCommunicate]

25. Welcome to DU!

[sheshe2]

28. Thanks

Thank You for the welcome.

[StClone]

15. If every worker were a millionaire they would all be average!

Workers in the image given are not directing there efforts towards WEALTH! They are producing self-sufficiency - Are Rightist opposing that now?

Rich people do not create wealth. Wealth can only be generated by WORK! Accumulating vast wealth requires saddling workers and harvesting their efforts by devious monkeys with sociopath tendencies. Once that wealth far exceeds the needs of a lifetime of what use is it to society? It is in fact antisocial and we are seeing the results now as antisocial and callous are now acceptable.

[thesquanderer]

16. Except R's think it's due to the Exceptional American system

so the African reference is easily explained away, i.e. it's something that "can only happen here."

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. For a Republican, hard means smoozing for tax breaks & subsidies at cocktail hour. nt

[porphyrian]

21. If money were the only form of wealth, humanity would be as morally bankrupt as the republicans. n/t

[truedelphi]

22. That has been one of my recent FB favorites. Thanks

For sharing it over here.

[Aoxous]

30. Republicans don't believe this. In fact, awhile ago I argued against a

couple of republicans who claimed that a dump truck driver should earn as much as someone pushing a wheelbarrow since most of the productivity difference came from the person who owned the capital, despite if the person who owned capital was living in an air conditioned office, drinking champagne, and fucking hookers.

They owned the capital, and hence all the profits earned by it.

In fact, Republicans would believe that whoever owned those farm tools and land would rightfully own most of the profits. After subtracting who owns the tools and the land, those African women are right were they should be --- dirt poor. Of course, this is Republican logic I am invoking.