politics, polemics, poisonous English journalists

[fpb]

Few things disgust me as intensely as people praising the rich as a class. There is no clearer evidence of a slave mind. Of course, rich people who actually have done something to deserve their wealth do deserve admiration - like anyone who works at something and succeeds. But is there anyone stupid enough to believe that they are the totality, or even the majority, of rich people? And yet there are morons around who have convinced themselves that to be concerned about the large and increasing slice of wealth and power going to a tiny and statistically irrelevant section of society means to practice "the politics of envy". Let us be clear: there is such a thing as the politics of envy. It can be found in any demagogue who tells people they have been abused and places all the blame on the dreadful word "they". But to be concerned about the increasing power of a tiny, deracinated, irresponsible, and cohesive new aristocracy in a society that ought to be egalitarian and democratic - whose founding statement is that all men are created equal - that is not "the politics of envy", it is common sense.

It would be absurd to ask, what is the cause of natural inequality, seeing the bare definition of natural inequality answers the question: it would be more absurd still to enquire, if there might not be some essential connection between the two species of inequality, as it would be asking, in other words, if those who command are necessarily better men than those who obey; and if strength of body or of mind, wisdom or virtue are always to be found in individuals, in the same proportion with power, or riches: a question, fit perhaps to be discussed by slaves in the hearing of their masters, but unbecoming free and reasonable beings in quest of truth.

Comments

[fishlivejournal.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that, my computer just crashed.

I've no doubt that the USA is growing increasingly corrupt again, but that isn't the end of the world. What will happen is what happens every other time corruption grows out of control - healthier economies will expand at the expense of the US.
Not paying their share of taxes? Then businesses will find themselves outdone by companies in countries that are able to spend tax dollars on infrastructure.
Sure, companies will keep trying to squeeze their workers, but that backfires sooner or later. One local example: the board of directors of a computing firm decided to award themselves a pay rise while cutting back on their actual programmers. Their primary client promptly recruited the entire programming staff, including those who'd been laid off, as that was cheaper than employing the company. Nobody bothered to tell the directors that they no longer had a company.

And last point on your political series:
The only contraceptives with a success rate as low as 99% are condoms: at a measly 80%, they really count as disease control with a minor contraceptive side effect.
And success rate is measured by couples, not by each sexual encounter. Once a contraceptive starts working, it will keep working unless interfered with by other medications (more common than people think). The major problem with contraceptives is the opposite effect - they have a habit of working long after women have stopped using them, to the frustration of would-be mothers.

However, something you may not have noticed: suggest (or get another guy to suggest) that men need access to a reliable contraceptive. It's disturbing how many women explode. The excuse is that "well I wouldn't trust a man, I'm the one who'll get pregnant" as if somehow the man using a contraceptive would force them to stop using their own. As near as I can tell, the idea that men can decide whether or not they will become fathers is deeply repugnant to many women. Probably because it implies that fathers might have some rights regarding their children, as well as responsibilities. :(