Modern American politics is dominated by the doctrine that government Krugman goes on to illustrate his point with the story of how Toyota It seems clear to the Dowbrigade that the ability of the rich and poor The estrangement between the rich and the poor seems to be coming mostly They are abandoning the concept of the common good in favor of desperately In their clubs, and private schools and vacation resorts, the rich have To a certain degree, this has always been true. The founding fathers But during the first century and a half of our history, the United States The key to any country or culture to ascend to a position of dominance This is the basic reason that a culture that systematically prohibits Every culture that has risen to dominate its era has had some increased The Chinese developed an exam system that allowed smart and studious And for a while there, America had it down better than anyone else on Of course, even in an open, egalitarian society, the rich have certain Presidents as dissimilar as Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy epitomized This was the true Spirit of America. It is a spirit that is clearly A great mass of the poor now no longer see the rich as admirable models Unless we can recapture the sense of being embarked together on a national Paul Krugman quote from the Early this morning we read a very interesting Op-ed article by Paul Krugman which opened with the following rather stark and striking paragraph: Modern American politics is dominated by the doctrine that government is the problem, not the solution. In … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/\nririch.gif\")
Early this morning we read a very interesting Op-ed article by Paul
\n Krugman<\/a> which opened with the following rather stark and striking paragraph:<\/p>\n\n
\n is the problem, not the solution. In practice, this doctrine translates
\n into policies that make low taxes on the rich the highest priority, even
\n if lack of revenue undermines basic public services. You don’t have to
\n be a liberal to realize that this is wrong-headed. Corporate leaders
\n understand quite well that good public services are also good for business.
\n But the political environment is so polarized these days that top executives
\n are often afraid to speak up against conservative dogma.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n decided to locate a new Rav4 assembly plant in Ontario, because Canada’s
\n national health system frees them from providing an expensive benefit
\n to its workers. The Dowbrigade, however, has spent the day pondering
\n the questions posited in that provocative opening paragraph.<\/p>\n
\n to see each other as partners in a national enterprise, the end objective
\n of which is the advancement of the interests of all of the participants,
\n is a necessary condition for a healthy society and economy. It also seems
\n clear that the fabric of this melding of interests has been fraying for
\n some time now, to the detriment of the common good and America’s competitiveness
\n in the world economy.<\/p>\n
\n from the side of the rich, who, in the flight to the suburbs, the retreat
\n to gated communities, the reliance on the enclosed, self-contained environments
\n of SUV’s and the economic stratification of everything from restaurants
\n to sporting events to airline seating, seem to want to isolate themselves
\n from the common classes as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\n protecting their privileges in what they see as dangerous and uncertain
\n times. They, and large segments of the poor, have lost the sense
\n that we are all in this together.<\/p>\n
\n succeeded in isolating themselves, and managed to rationalize that while
\n immigration was fine for their own ancestors, times have changed and
\n we need to let in a better class of people now.<\/p>\n
\n were members of the elite, such as it was back in the day, and Washington
\n and Jefferson both owned slaves. But, as the song says, those were
\n different times, and we’ve gotta give our man Thomas J his props, just
\n for writing those five words, "All men are created equal."<\/p>\n
\n was a highly stratified society, and the opportunities for the poor to
\n mingle with the rich, or ascend to their lofty status, was limited in
\n the extreme. But forces were at work which would allow the US to realize
\n the potential that was lurking in their polyglot population of rebels
\n and refugees.<\/p>\n
\n in their era is the ability to take advantage of the human resources
\n inherent in their population. Talented, capable, intelligent, creative
\n people are salted throughout the population without regard to region,
\n sex, or social class. Systems that allow these individuals to rise to
\n positions where they can contribute to the national enterprise will have
\n an advantage over those that do not.<\/p>\n
\n or discourages half of their population (for example, women) from developing
\n their abilities or performing certain functions cannot in the long run
\n compete
\n with one
\n that encourages them to participate.<\/p>\n
\n vertical mobility or mechanism for identifying or importing talent which
\n gave it an advantage over its contemporaries. The Egyptians took
\n conquered people into slavery, but then allowed them to rise to important
\n positions even in the heart of the executive administration of the empire
\n (Moses raised by the Pharaoh). The Romans also allowed slaves and foreigners
\n to become citizens, fighters to win their freedom (Gladiator) and commoners
\n to become rich merchants and traders. Why Nero even appointed a
\n HORSE to the Senate – hard to beat that for an example of vertical mobility.<\/p>\n
\n types from throughout the empire to join the bureaucracy, regardless
\n of family connections or formal education, and their civilization has
\n outlasted
\n any and all competitors. The ability to identify and nurture talent is
\n certainly a civilizational survival skill.<\/p>\n
\n the planet. Going back to Horace Mann and the institution of universal
\n public education, through the New Deal and the creation of a social safety
\n net, through the massive educational revolution of the GI bill, and the
\n huge waves of immigration at the beginning and end of the past century,
\n the United States managed to attract and integrate a greater range of
\n human talent and effort than anyone else in the world. As a result we
\n went from being a third rate nation with a developing economy to the
\n most powerful empire in the history of the planet.<\/p>\n
\n prerogatives which allow them to retain a hold on power and pass it on
\n to succeeding generations of rich kids. Talent is not the only
\n ingredient in success, even in a meritocracy. Education, opportunity,
\n and character are also indispensable in rising to the highest levels,
\n and
\n character is expensive. Kids growing up hard-scrabble on the street,
\n between gangs, drugs and a sex-fueled materialism have a harder time
\n learning the virtuous chacteristics of discipline, accountability and
\n trustworthiness. Obviously,
\n it is not impossible, but extremely difficult.<\/p>\n
\n the "we’re all in this together" ethos. Politicians really
\n strived to bring people together and find common ground, rather than
\n mine differences and resentments to transitory political benefit. There
\n was still rich and poor, as there always will be, but the poor didn’t
\n see
\n the rich
\n as
\n the
\n enemy,
\n but rather as the ideal to which they aspired, and the rich didn’t fear
\n the poor – rather they saw them as a resource on which their common good
\n was assured.<\/p>\n
\n scarce in these trying and troubled times. We are no longer all in it
\n together – the affluent have abandoned an entire segment of society as
\n too dirty, dangerous,or dissolute to be saved – a lost cause better off
\n institutionalized, either in prison, or, if they are lucky, in the Army,
\n than running around
\n loose in the streets.<\/p>\n
\n of a lifestyle to which they aspire. Rather, they see them as
\n avaricious, duplicitous, underhanded and determined to keep them, the
\n poor, down on the floor. Jobs that allow the possibility of escape from
\n the underclass are fleeing offshore. College has become so unreasonably
\n expensive as to be less a dream than a joke
\n to
\n millions
\n of
\n Americans.<\/p>\n
\n voyage to a better land for all of us, our fortunes and position in the
\n world are sure to continue to decline.<\/p>\n
\n New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"