General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Capitalism Is Dismembering America
http://thecontributor.com/opinion/how-capitalism-dismembering-americaHacking Off the Poor Half of Society
Some wealthy and uninformed individuals have referred to the lowest-income 47 percent of Americans as the "takers," who enjoy government benefits at the expense of the high-earning one percent. But their claim is meaningless. The total amount paid out in 'welfare' is less than the investment income of just three men in a single year.
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Slashing the Security of the Elderly
Recipients of 'entitlements' are accused by the uninformed of getting something for nothing. The opposite is true. According to the Urban Institute, the typical two-earner couple making average wages throughout their lifetimes will receive less in Social Security benefits than they paid in. Same for single males. Almost the same for single females.
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Castrating the Taxman
Corporations have doubled their profits and cut their taxes in half in 10 years. The burden of taxes, which Oliver Wendell Holmes called the price of a "civilized society," has been shifted to workers. For every dollar of employee payroll tax paid in the 1950s corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)When I see such wild histrionics, I immediately shut down from reading. Whatever complaints we may have about the capitalist system in this country, the use of screaming metaphors evoking bodily dismemberment and castration just make any argument look like the rantings of a lunatic.
Share a reasoned analysis, and I might consider reading it.
PDittie
(8,322 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)"...might consider reading it."
zeos3
(1,078 posts)I think you're doing yourself a disservice by not reading the article. The author makes some very good points and decided to paint a picture with words to convey the urgency he places on the material presented.
The style in which the message is presented shouldn't detract from the message itself.
I left out the parts about "slicing" and "severing" so as not to offend...