Paul Krugman: The Angry Rich

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/opinion/20krugman.html?ref=paulkrugman

Anger is sweeping America. True, this white-hot rage is a minority phenomenon, not something that characterizes most of our fellow citizens. But the angry minority is angry indeed, consisting of people who feel that things to which they are entitled are being taken away. And they’re out for revenge.

No, I’m not talking about the Tea Partiers. I’m talking about the rich.

These are terrible times for many people in this country. Poverty, especially acute poverty, has soared in the economic slump; millions of people have lost their homes. Young people can’t find jobs; laid-off 50-somethings fear that they’ll never work again.

Yet if you want to find real political rage — the kind of rage that makes people compare President Obama to Hitler, or accuse him of treason — you won’t find it among these suffering Americans. You’ll find it instead among the very privileged, people who don’t have to worry about losing their jobs, their homes, or their health insurance, but who are outraged, outraged, at the thought of paying modestly higher taxes.

(snip)
And when the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, they’ll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices.

But when they say “we,” they mean “you.” Sacrifice is for the little people.

[Demeter]

1. One might ask what the Obscenely Wealthy Have to Be Angry About

That the earth's resources are finite?

That Death awaits them?

That all that money ISN'T making them happy?

That underneath it all, they are just awful people?

In any event, taxes won't make them any worse off. They might actually get a buzz from knowing that pennies from their hoards are making a difference for someone else.

[CrawlingChaos]

19. It will never be enough for them

It's a key feature of their pathology.

As I heard Michael Parenti say (not sure if it's his line or if he was quoting): "the rich have only ever wanted one thing, and that's everything".

[FiveGoodMen]

28. They're angry that we don't worship them as the gods that they think they are.

[MajorChode]

43. It's pretty simple really

People who got wealthy in the past two decades did so because the tax code allowed them to keep the vast majority of their profits. If they had to pay 30-50% of their income to taxes all those years (as many working people do) they might be well off, but they wouldn't be ridiculously wealthy. With the equity markets down, they have lost much of their wealth, and if the tax code, which favored them heavily all those years, get's modified, their chances of getting back to where they were is slim.

[liberation]

53. Bingo.

The biggest fear for a lot of these people, and I know a few, is to contemplate the possibility of actually having to work to earn their wealth.

After years of telling others to pull themselves by their boot straps, it turns out that these morons can't even tie their own shoes... which is troubling once it is clear that some of them, like the proverbial emperor with that nifty "invisible clothing," have no clothes. It is troubling because capitalism/investment/credit is a game of confidence, and once that confidence is gone the gig is up.

[AlbertCat]

44. In any event, taxes won't make them any worse off.

Actually, they do a little better! Isn't there some graph, around recently, showing this?

It was on Rachel's show....

I can't find it anywhere...sorry....

[happygoluckytoyou]

51. PLEASE DONATE TO DEBUTANTE AID.... any jar of cavier or fresh quail eggs accepted... save the rich!!

[kentuck]

2. The revolt of the elites?

Wasn't that the title of a book?

[Demeter]

3. The Elite are Revolting

edited for accuracy

[DJ13]

5. Bonfire of the Vanities?

[hatrack]

24. Correct - by Christopher Lasch, I believe - former Managing Editor of . . . Harpers?

I think that was his gig . . .

[unkachuck]

4. 'But when they say "we," they mean "you." Sacrifice is for the little people.'

....and when's this shit going to end?

[HughBeaumont]

9. I'm guessing 3 or 4 CEOs taken hostage or something like that.

"There's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose."

Multiply that by thousands, and shit's going to go off.

[iamtechus]

12. The french once used the guillotine to handle a problem like this.

But most of us still have bread to eat.

[HillbillyBob]

22. Im so sick of the wealthy entitled (as they see it) a holes.

The many have no clue how hard it is it try to live on 800 a month.
Having to scrimp to just get throuogh the month ..its already the 20th and I have more month than money.

[eleny]

6. Barbara Bush so embodies that attitude, imo

She always comes to mind.

It's nauseating how they want to own the concept of "entitlement".

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. She came to my mind almost immediately too

remember her statement about the people of Katrina? REVOLTING.

[eleny]

14. That's the glaring example

[xchrom]

7. Why is Bloomberg cross crossing the country

Throwing his weight and access to donors behind both dems and repukes he deems
'moderate'?

It's all part of a developing pattern
In a new reality.

[chill_wind]

8. K & R

Although I'm not sure he is accurately gauging the the real extent of the anger of the much larger sinking underclass. Still, this is the second times in a few weeks he's focused on and insisted this very point, though, and he has a lot more access to what the wealthy are saying and the real depth of their present anger than I ever will.

[bluestateguy]

11. I'd like to think that most rich folks are not angry

Remember that Obama carried voters making over $200,000 with 52% of the vote.

Yet wealthy folks who are mad have the ability to have their voices heard disproportionately loudly.

[shireen]

13. wow ... this is disgusting and depressing.

some choice quotes:

they may well get their way

This is especially nauseating:
You see, the rich are different from you and me: they have more influence. It’s partly a matter of campaign contributions, but it’s also a matter of social pressure, since politicians spend a lot of time hanging out with the wealthy. So when the rich face the prospect of paying an extra 3 or 4 percent of their income in taxes, politicians feel their pain — feel it much more acutely, it’s clear, than they feel the pain of families who are losing their jobs, their houses, and their hopes.

so our politicians feel deep empathy for suffering rich people. horrible. just horrible.

[The Magistrate]

15. The Recession Hurt The Rich Worst Of All, Sir, According To Mitch McConnell....

[breadandwine]

21. Gone are the days of solid gold golf tees. How the rich now SUFFER !!!!!!!!!!!!

...

[awoke_in_2003]

61. Wasn't it the CEO of TYCO...

that had gold shower curtain rings? Fuck all of them.

[Supersedeas]

47. we pay their taxes, man their armies, fight their wars for oil, and they want more

[jsmithsen]

16. This is literally thomas friedmans house

http://wonkette.com/413811/this-is-literally-thomas-friedmans-house

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12friedman.html?src=me&ref=general

[Hannah Bell]

17. my god, it's a robber baron house. looks like about 15 normal houses in there + olympic pool.

[mnhtnbb]

56. Thomas Friedman's wife was heir to a shopping mall fortune

until the market crashed a couple of years ago. Whether she's angry or not, I don't know.
But I imagine she's depressed at the thought that she will no longer inherit billions.

"In the past year, the couple—who live in an 11,400-square-foot mansion in Bethesda, Maryland—have watched helplessly as General Growth stock has fallen 99 percent, from a high of $51 to a recent 35 cents a share. The assorted Bucksbaum family trusts, once worth a combined $3.6 billion, are now worth less than $25 million."

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2008/11/thomas-friedmans-world-is-flat-broke.html

[Lifelong Protester]

27. What does that have to do with an editorial by Krugman?

[mainer]

30. He must not consider himself rich

Or he's a rich man who also has a conscience. They're not all robber barons. As far as I know, Krugman made his money with his writing.

[laughingliberal]

36. I hope we're all clear that Krugman & Freidman are not the same person...

:shrug:

[mainer]

39. oh, thanks for pointing that out!

I assumed we were sticking to the OP, but now I see the house wasn't Krugman's.

[valerief]

41. Only one? Poor dear. nt

[liberation]

54. ... that is a lot of square Friedman's units of real estate! but that has what to do with Krugman

what exactly?

[southmost]

18. and they'll keep winning their class warfare

as long as they have their idiot tea-pawns fighting it for them.

[spinbaby]

20. They aren't even being subtle about it

Did you catch Ben Stein on TV yesterday whining about how he's being "punished?"

[vssmith]

45. I'd like to be punished like Ben

[Mopar151]

57. Finally, karmic justice....

On my mental list of "People who need to be beaten with a shovel" - perhaps the original. Another Arthur Godfrey......

[wellst0nev0ter]

23. When Will These S**theels Finally Go Galt And Leave Us Alone?

I'm sure the rest of us can manage without their "talents."

[Blue_Tires]

42. +1000

[City Lights]

25. K&R. nt

[FraDon]

26. … he would spend half his $60 million fortune to save the other half …

It has always been a Class War.

The core of this shadow-government bunch come from the very same families, businesses, and law firms (sic) who have been playing this ruthless hardball-baby for centuries. The subject quote comes from Major General (ret.) Smedley Butler's testimony outing their coup plotting against FDR in 1933:

The businessmen also promised that money was no object: Clark told Butler that he would spend half his $60 million fortune to save the other half.

•

[leeroysphitz]

29. The wealthy in this country really ought to study history a little more closely.

Tables do turn.

[liberation]

55. I think they have studied history very well...

... I read long ago that there were some specific wealth distribution ratios which through history triggered social unrest and revolution/revolt. The USA passed that threshold over two decades ago.

Did you even hear a peep? No. So yes, the wealthy in this country know history very well, and their propaganda and brainwashing has worked very well. To the extent, that if we ever see revolution in this country... I am afraid it will be the poor rising up to defend the rights of the super wealthy.


Now, if only 90% of this country actually knew anything about history...

[davidwparker]

31. My response to the rich: "The Terror"

France is still reaping the benefit of that to this day.

[jtuck004]

33. Viva la enragés

'course, that doesn't get us any jobs either...

[grantcart]

32. It really is kind of a psychosis for atleast a large subset of the rich.

[Greyhound]

34. ..

[McCamy Taylor]

35. People who have low self esteem turn to money to buy happiness.

They have been taught that wealth will make them admirable. When folks stop loving them for their wealth, they are hurt and they get mad.

Wealth is an addiction for some, juts like gambling and booze.

[AnArmyVeteran]

37. To those selfish few I say bring back the 90% tax rate!!!

Fillet their riches from their greedy, selfish hands.

[AnArmyVeteran]

38. To those selfish few I say bring back the 90% tax rate!!!

Fillet their riches from their greedy, selfish hands.

[abelenkpe]

46. I happily second that! nt

[Dr.Phool]

50. Fuck 'em

Make it 91% just to piss them off a little more.

[Chisox08]

59. I say make it 95%

Say it is for national Security reasons. We are fighting for thier intrest overseas they can at least pay for it.

[valerief]

40. WAH! I want ANOTHER palace and jet! WAH, WAH, WAH!

:nopity:

[Faygo Kid]

48. Nails it.

Just a great column.

[Starry Messenger]

49. I guess we need to update this:

[Dappleganger]

52. Eat the rich.

[larwdem]

64. Feed the poor

[senseandsensibility]

58. k and r

Krugman is the the man.

[Chisox08]

60. What do they have to be angry about?

[lordsummerisle]

62. K&R n/t

[TomCADem]

63. Excellent Column - K&R!

K&R!

[Swede Atlanta]

65. This gets at the heart of things........

American law goes out of its way to help businesses to not only succeed but prosper and make their owners rich.

It starts with the limitations on liability we give every corporation, limited liability company and partnership on down. Then come the tax deductions and for many, subsidies in the form of direct cash or tax allowances. Then we give businesses the option to go through Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize but, unlike individuals, is not limited to every 7 years. They get to screw their employees, credits, etc. every other day if they want.

And these fuck asses want more? It is so totally immoral and confirmation that our society has lost its moral compass but not solely because of single mother households, teenage pregnancy, my God gays marrying, etc. but it is because American businesses have absolutely no sense of obligation to the social contract that allows them their perverse profits.

I say...let the revolution come sooner rather than later and see the heads of these corporations twirling on a pike on the National Mall.

[onlyadream]

66. That's exactly what I see

I live in a white republican area and all I hear is how the new healthcare will cost them more to subsidize the "crack heads". They just don't get it.