The Former CEO of Young and Rubicam is afraid.

[LiberalArkie]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/12/1411454/-The-Former-CEO-of-Young-and-Rubicam-is-afraid



I was in France recently and while I travelled I read “Abundance, a novel of Marie Antoinette” by Sena Jeter Naslund, (Harper Perennial, 2007). It was a great read and provided great context for understanding the French revolution. This book was still fresh in my mind when I read “Capitalists, Arise: We Need to Deal With Income Inequality” by Peter Georgescu in the New York Times of August 7, 2015. This OpEd contribution has been widely discussed because of Mr. Georgescu’s opener:

“I’m scared. The billionaire hedge funder Paul Tudor Jones is scared. My friend Ken Langone, a founder of the Home Depot, is scared. So are many other chief executives. Not of Al Qaeda, or the vicious Islamic State or some other evolving radical group from the Middle East, Africa or Asia. We are afraid where income inequality will lead.”

America’s Oligarchs have good reason to be afraid, and history has more than enough examples of what happens when too few take too much at the expense of so many. The advent of the French revolution is one such example. The reign of Louis the 16th began with an overhang of debt inherited from his father and grandfather. The French monarchy had spent enormous sums in an endless cycle of wars against the Hapsburgs in the Netherlands and Spain, as well as the English. At the same time, the First Estate (the Church) and the Second Estate (the Nobility) were largely exempted from taxes, despite controlling most of the nation’s wealth. Unable to change that fact, the King resorted to selling titles to the wealthy few that could afford them, exempting even more wealth from taxation. Having spent huge sums aiding in the American Revolution, the crown simply did not have the resources to respond when a few bad harvests lead to widespread food shortages in 1788-1789. The government of the time was too slow to react, and while the need to raise taxes on the wealthy and to institute reforms was discussed, the Aristocracy proved unwilling to give up their prerogatives. In the end, they ended up giving up their heads.

America today has inherited a large debt caused by an endless cycle of wars in southwest Asia and widespread military commitments around the globe. We spend almost a trillion dollars a year on war preparations, actual war, and on the debt service for previous wars. Meanwhile our wealthiest citizens are able to avoid most of their tax obligations through a complex maze of tax preferences and exemptions. The same can be said for a number of obviously profitable Churches as well. Our modern "nobility" is fighting tooth and claw to avoid changes to the tax system, and still insists this grows the economy despite 30 years of evidence to the contrary. Mr. Georgescu claims to understand this, although his solution includes additional tax preferences to incent business leaders to start raising wages.

Snip

[erronis]

1. Thanks for a couple of new books to read (like I need more...)

This excerpt from DailyKos seems to mirror what I feel is happening. Nice to know that some of the rich people are also worried. It ain't going to be pleasant for anybody when this comes crashing down.

[blackspade]

2. They should be afraid.

A storm is coming....

[roguevalley]

3. an economist tried to figure out the income disparity that caused the fall of the Roman empire

he placed it at 16%. We passed 34% some time ago. Thus fuckers are even worse to me now. They're afraid? Then fucking fix it. They know they live in big houses and when we come for them, they will be easiest to find.