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Editorial
See other Editorial Articles

Title: Disdain for Workers
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/o ... -disdain-for-workers.html?_r=1
Published: Sep 21, 2012
Author: PAUL KRUGMAN
Post Date: 2012-09-21 09:35:54 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 217
Comments: 16

Disdain for Workers By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: September 20, 2012 323 Comments

By now everyone knows how Mitt Romney, speaking to donors in Boca Raton, washed his hands of almost half the country — the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes — declaring, “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” By now, also, many people are aware that the great bulk of the 47 percent are hardly moochers; most are working families who pay payroll taxes, and elderly or disabled Americans make up a majority of the rest. Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Paul Krugman Go to Columnist Page » Blog: The Conscience of a Liberal Related in Opinion

Campaign Stops: I Know Why the Caged Bird Shrieks (September 19, 2012) Times Topic: Economy

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But here’s the question: Should we imagine that Mr. Romney and his party would think better of the 47 percent on learning that the great majority of them actually are or were hard workers, who very much have taken personal responsibility for their lives? And the answer is no.

For the fact is that the modern Republican Party just doesn’t have much respect for people who work for other people, no matter how faithfully and well they do their jobs. All the party’s affection is reserved for “job creators,” a k a employers and investors. Leading figures in the party find it hard even to pretend to have any regard for ordinary working families — who, it goes without saying, make up the vast majority of Americans.

Am I exaggerating? Consider the Twitter message sent out by Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader, on Labor Day — a holiday that specifically celebrates America’s workers. Here’s what it said, in its entirety: “Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.” Yes, on a day set aside to honor workers, all Mr. Cantor could bring himself to do was praise their bosses.

Lest you think that this was just a personal slip, consider Mr. Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. What did he have to say about American workers? Actually, nothing: the words “worker” or “workers” never passed his lips. This was in strong contrast to President Obama’s convention speech a week later, which put a lot of emphasis on workers — especially, of course, but not only, workers who benefited from the auto bailout.

And when Mr. Romney waxed rhapsodic about the opportunities America offered to immigrants, he declared that they came in pursuit of “freedom to build a business.” What about those who came here not to found businesses, but simply to make an honest living? Not worth mentioning.

Needless to say, the G.O.P.’s disdain for workers goes deeper than rhetoric. It’s deeply embedded in the party’s policy priorities. Mr. Romney’s remarks spoke to a widespread belief on the right that taxes on working Americans are, if anything, too low. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal famously described low-income workers whose wages fall below the income-tax threshold as “lucky duckies.”

What really needs cutting, the right believes, are taxes on corporate profits, capital gains, dividends, and very high salaries — that is, taxes that fall on investors and executives, not ordinary workers. This despite the fact that people who derive their income from investments, not wages — people like, say, Willard Mitt Romney — already pay remarkably little in taxes.

Where does this disdain for workers come from? Some of it, obviously, reflects the influence of money in politics: big-money donors, like the ones Mr. Romney was speaking to when he went off on half the nation, don’t live paycheck to paycheck. But it also reflects the extent to which the G.O.P. has been taken over by an Ayn Rand-type vision of society, in which a handful of heroic businessmen are responsible for all economic good, while the rest of us are just along for the ride.

In the eyes of those who share this vision, the wealthy deserve special treatment, and not just in the form of low taxes. They must also receive respect, indeed deference, at all times. That’s why even the slightest hint from the president that the rich might not be all that — that, say, some bankers may have behaved badly, or that even “job creators” depend on government-built infrastructure — elicits frantic cries that Mr. Obama is a socialist.

Now, such sentiments aren’t new; “Atlas Shrugged” was, after all, published in 1957. In the past, however, even Republican politicians who privately shared the elite’s contempt for the masses knew enough to keep it to themselves and managed to fake some appreciation for ordinary workers. At this point, however, the party’s contempt for the working class is apparently too complete, too pervasive to hide.

The point is that what people are now calling the Boca Moment wasn’t some trivial gaffe. It was a window into the true attitudes of what has become a party of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy, a party that considers the rest of us unworthy of even a pretense of respect. A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 21, 2012, on page A29 of the New York edition with the headline: Disdain For Workers.

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#1. To: tom007 (#0)

No disagreement on this one.

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken

Lod  posted on  2012-09-21   9:47:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: All (#0)

Yes, on a day set aside to honor workers, all Mr. Cantor could bring himself to do was praise their bosses.

Out of all the fascist goofballs in the GOP Cantor does stand out as the worst person of the criminal lineup.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2012-09-21   9:58:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: tom007 (#0)

Where does this disdain for workers come from? Some of it, obviously, reflects the influence of money in politics: big-money donors, like the ones Mr. Romney was speaking to when he went off on half the nation, don’t live paycheck to paycheck. But it also reflects the extent to which the G.O.P. has been taken over by an Ayn Rand-type vision of society, in which a handful of heroic businessmen are responsible for all economic good, while the rest of us are just along for the ride.

Alisa Rosenbaum (Rand) was the arch-typical Jew con artist.

Rosenbaum despised anyone that bent their back and or sweated for a living.

RAND said what the capitalists wanted to hear, "THE MASSES WERE LICE" therefore their welfare was of no concern to the elite.

Before the grim reaper finally relieved us of that blood sucker, she befell hard times, and under her married name filed for Social Security and Medicare.

There are many "lice" that to this day extol Rand and her ravings.

Cynicom  posted on  2012-09-21   10:01:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Cynicom (#3)

There are many "lice" that to this day extol Rand and her ravings.

Well, I understand that many could be swayed by her writings.

But her ideas are really child like.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2012-09-21   10:03:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: tom007 (#4)

IN the distant past, I read an interesting critique of one of Rands public diatribes.

The panel took her raving totally apart word by word and their opinion was that Rand had...SAID NOTHING...

Their finding was that Rand was good at convincing people that...INDEED SHE WAS SPEAKING WELL ABOVE their INTELLECTUAL LEVEL, therefore, agree and not look like a fool.

The perfect example of this is available on the internet, as a guest on the Johnny Carson show, she made Carson look like a brainless mental midget. He swallowed her gibberish hook, line and pole.

Cynicom  posted on  2012-09-21   10:14:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: Cynicom (#5)

The panel took her raving totally apart word by word and their opinion was that Rand had...SAID NOTHING...

"Full of sound and fury signifying nothing"

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2012-09-21   10:19:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Cynicom (#3)

Alisa Rosenbaum (Rand) was the arch-typical Jew con artist.

So is Paul Krugman.

I sense a disturbance in the farce. Much gnashing will ensue.

Turtle  posted on  2012-09-21   11:22:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Turtle, tom007, Phant2000 (#7)

Hitler quote...

" When talking with Dietrich Eckart, the Führer once said: “What you once wrote is probably true. One can only understand the Jew when one knows what his final goal is: To control the world in order to destroy the world.....

He believes he must dominate all of humanity to, as he claims, establish paradise on earth. Only he can do that, he imagines. But even in the means he chooses, one can see that it will lead him to a different end. Although claiming to lead humanity to the heights, he torments it into a state of desperation, into insanity, into collapse.

If he is not stopped, he destroys them. He is driven to that, although he dimly realizes it will mean his own destruction. He can do nothing else; he is forced into it....... The chief cause of his hatred, I think, is his realization that he depends on the existence of his victim...... He has to destroy someone, while realizing that that inevitably means his own destruction. You might call it: The tragedy of Lucifer.”

Cynicom  posted on  2012-09-21   12:23:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Turtle (#7)

Krugman is a bought and paid for shill for the Empire of Lies.

Lysander_Spooner  posted on  2012-09-21   12:37:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: tom007 (#0)

For the fact is that the modern Republican Party just doesn’t have much respect for people who work for other people, no matter how faithfully and well they do their jobs. All the party’s affection is reserved for “job creators,” a k a employers and investors. Leading figures in the party find it hard even to pretend to have any regard for ordinary working families — who, it goes without saying, make up the vast majority of Americans.

If all the Republicans Party's affection is just reserved for job creators and investors, where do the hell do they think their profit line is generated from? Are they gonna go out there and do the work themselves or pay somebody else to do the work? These Republicans are just as damn stupid and lazy as the Democrats which is why I laugh at both parties. Nobody wants to work anymore. And then those like Romney snub and scoff at the American laborer.

Let me give some wisdom here to all those Romney know it all types who think their shit doesn't stink and that American workers should respect these job creators and investors. Job Creators and investors are successful not just because of the risk involved in putting up the financial capital to create jobs and invest in starting up companies but the success is also made by those who contribute to its profit just by their solid work effort everyday. That means the cook,prep cooks, maintenance/janitor, dishwasher, waitresses/waiters/maitre de's, street maintenance, telephone operators, entry level salesperson,etc.

Of course, you can never say this to some Republican Party who has never had to work in their lives and despises workers. And when I mention American workers, I'm not talking about illegal aliens working in the United States. I'm talking about the hard working American born workers who do honest labor. What disturbs me the most about these Republicans (and Democrats) Parties, is that they snub the hard-working American workers by referring to them as "slaves". And then these "Job creators" and "Investors" wonder why they get bitch-slapped with hostile working condition lawsuits. They deserve to get sued.

Frankly, I am very disgusted with Mit Romney. The first time I saw this guy, I knew he was a genuine phoney son of a bitch. I never never liked him. He is a real phoney.

What we need are better selection of candidates cause I don't see any candidates that are worthy of my high esteem and respect for the Oval Office. I'm not voting for anybody.

purplerose  posted on  2012-09-21   14:33:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: tom007 (#0)

Mit Romney does not create jobs. He refuses to get his hands dirty on anything that requires actual work. What he actually does is buy and sell companies and factories and and exports them overseas and then says he is creating jobs. This is the same tactic that white coller corporate farmers do. They don't farm at all. They buy up and sell land and hire laborers to till the soil and grow food and produce for the purpose of the public good to transport the food to groceries and restaurants. Some may even claim this is the new strategy to succeed with Eminent Domain. The idea of farming from the old standpoint is outdated. It's why farming from the old way is soon to be extinct because those farmers cannot afford to pay their property taxes. Many are discouraged from growing pigs and other livestock unless it is to serve the public good. Meanwhile those like Romney get tax breaks and God knows what else they are doing on their taxes.

People like Mit Romney do not get elected to serve the public interest at all. Those ilk like Romney are self-serving elitists who have great disdain for anybody who sweats and labors for honest work.

What this really is about is not about American laborers trying to better themselves but a caste system where there is strife between the classes. It is about the elite class trying to beat down the middle-class society. The elite truly despise competition with lower classed people. The elite believe it is in their bloodlines to beat down and defeat the lower classes and working classes so that those lower types will actually believe they are takers and useless eaters.

America means nothing to those like Romney. To them, America is a dollar sign where everything has a price on it and is for sell. As for the American flag, he and hosts of others like him wipe their filthy asses with it.

purplerose  posted on  2012-09-21   15:39:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: purplerose (#11)

Romney...

" Before joining college, Romney had received a deferment from the draft as a Mormon 'minister of religion' for the duration of his missionary work in France, which lasted two and a half years. At the time, there was an agreement of sorts between the church and the Selective Service allowing exemptions from the draft for missionaries. Before and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years of deferments for his academic studies."

Cynicom  posted on  2012-09-21   16:01:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Cynicom (#12)

And a draft dodger too! Isn't that just lovely. But if a regular service man or woman goes to sue the government invoking their religious grounds that serving in combat violates the law of God, the government will throw out the complaint and compel them to serve their time in military service as continuous active duty combat.

It's things like this draft dodging that makes one go hmmmm. He sure is a real cold piece.

purplerose  posted on  2012-09-22   3:15:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: purplerose (#13)

He sure is a real cold piece.

As commander in chief, Oromney, like the rest, would have no moral problem with sending others off to bleed and die.

FDR as one of the elite was "EXEMPT" from service in WW1, but in WW2 as President and CIC, he had no moral problem with dragging sixteen million Americans off to war.

I recall well the late 1930s, FDR saying he "would never send American boys off to fight foreign wars".

He was lying.

Cynicom  posted on  2012-09-22   5:56:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: tom007 (#0)

the democrat elite are no different in deed, only in rhetoric.

christine  posted on  2012-09-22   10:43:36 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: Cynicom (#14) (Edited)

Sending our men and women to war is just a money racketeering scheme concocted up by the bankers and intelligencia. It's about depopulating the lower classes so that the elite can populate the earth with big families. Did you notice how big the Bush family is? Same with Romney. And by the way, Obama is related to the Bush family and Cheney. That's how one becomes president. Bloodlines pave the way for you to rule the Oval Office. kristof.blogs.nytimes.com...ama-and-bush-are-cousins/

purplerose  posted on  2012-09-22   15:46:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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