[Vision2020] The Nation, 6/30/08

[Kai Eiselein, Editor]

I would venture to hypothesize this:
If wealth were distributed equally to every person, it would only be a 
matter of time before there would be the "haves" and "have nots" once again.
There will always be those who manage money well, see opportunity and make 
the most of it and gain wealth.
There will always be those who spend money as soon as they have it, with no 
eye to the future and are soon penniless.
I would say the odds would be good that most of the people would be in the 
same position they were before redistribution.

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From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:14 AM
To: "keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The Nation, 6/30/08

> Keely
> The free market system with all its faults is still the best system ewver 
> devised. As in your statement an unfettered free market leads to abuse. 
> The role of government to to apply such restraints that will keep things 
> fair and everyone has a chance to participate.
> Roger
> -----Original message-----
> From: keely emerinemix kjajmix1 at msn.com
> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:28:32 -0700
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] The Nation, 6/30/08
>
>>
>> Visionaires,
>>
>> I recently got ahold of The Nation and would commend the entire June 30 
>> issue to all of you who are concerned about this country's economy. 
>> Every article is devoted to wealth inequality, and of particular note is 
>> the article titled "The New Inequality," which introduces the idea of a 
>> "parallel universe" of haves and haves-not.  This, of course, is nothing 
>> new; most of us realize that wealth disparity and the bane of 
>> conservatives, "wealth distribution," is at record levels.  Consider 
>> this:
>>
>> -- The richest one percent of Americans currently hold wealth worth $16.8 
>> trillion dollars, nearly $2 trillion more than the bottom 90 percent.
>>
>> -- A worker earning ten bucks an hour would have to work for more than 
>> 10,000 years to earn what any of the 400 richest Americans pocketed in 
>> 2005.
>>
>> -- Household debt is at its highest level since 1933
>>
>> The article goes on to state that "wealth distribution," far from the 
>> scenario of taxing hardworking Americans to provide for social programs 
>> for the less well-off, is actually realized in the breaks given to 
>> corporations by conservatives who pretend that the market is working 
>> well, thanks, only when it shifts enormous resources to the wealthy.
>>
>> "Our top-heavy era has evolved from a heavily bankrolled effort by 
>> conservatives and corporations to instill blind faith in the market as 
>> the magic elixir that can solve any problem.  This three-decade war 
>> against common sense has preached that tax cuts for the rich help the 
>> poor, that labor unions keep workers from prospering, that regulations 
>> protecting consumers attack freedom.  Duly inspired, our elected 
>> officials have rewritten the rules that run our economy -- on taxes and 
>> trade, on wage policies and public spending -- to benefit wealthy asset 
>> owners and global corporations."  (Cavanaugh and Collins, The Nation, 
>> June 30, 2008)
>>
>> Then there's the Rod Stewart and $400-apiece crabs for lunch . . .
>>
>> In a world where justice reigns and has reigned since its inception, 
>> where all players have access to free markets and no one benefits from 
>> demographics and class and circumstances outside of the markets provence, 
>> the free market system is, in my mind, the most likely to enable 
>> prosperity.  But we don't live in that world.  Not by a long shot.  I 
>> read once where our socioeconomic system is much like a baseball game 
>> wherein one team leads 20-zip in the bottom of the ninth inning, and only 
>> then calls for "equality and justice," finally distributing bats, balls, 
>> and gloves to the other guys.  Until the playing field is truly level, 
>> until justice and equality are fully realized, an unfettered free market 
>> will only perpetuate the evils and divisions of the past.
>>
>> It's a fascinating article.  Get it!
>>
>> Oh, and, by the way -- since it seems important to our Everlasting 
>> Blogstalker that someone from the liberal side condemn John Edwards for 
>> having a mistress, if in fact he does (the National Enquirer would not 
>> seem to be my idea of a credible source, but that's just me), I'll say 
>> it:
>>
>> Cheating on your wife is wrong, and if Edwards did, shame on him.
>>
>> There, Dale -- are you satisfied?
>>
>> Keely
>>
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Stay in touch when you're away with Windows Live Messenger.
>> http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_messenger2_072008
>>
>
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Kai Eiselein
Editor, Latah Eagle