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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: A Message From Us Rich Plutocrats To All You Little People A Message From Us Rich Plutocrats To All You Little People Nick Hanauer, Contributor | Nov. 9, 2012, 9:21 PM | 27,682 | 111 inShare29 Email More nick hanauer ted WatchExtraVideo via YouTube Nick Hanauer See Also Island MILLIONAIRE'S ISLAND: A Simple Example Of Why 'Rich People' Don't Create Jobs 60 minutes child homelessness truck Finally, A Rich American Destroys The Fiction That Rich People Create The Jobs henry blodget I Love It When People Say I Can't Understand Romney Because I've 'Never Started Or Run A Business'... This is a response to an excerpt from Chrystia Freelands Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, published in October by Penguin Press. Nick Hanauer is a successful entrepreneur and the author of Gardens Of Democracy: A New American Story Of Citizenship, the Economy, and The Role Of Government. Its great to be what you people are now calling a plutocrat. I know. I am one. We plutocrats live incredible lives, surrounded by luxury and insulated from risk and discomfort. Things have gone very well for us over the last several years. Since George Bush left office, the stock market has doubled, we got a (sweet!) $700 billion rescue of the financial system, and corporate profits are at a 50-year high. BOOYA! The growing economic distance between people like me and the little people like you hasnt been this great in a long, long time. You may call that inequality. We call it freedom. But if things are going to continue to go this well, you people need to get with the program. Here, Id like to have a frank discussion about that. It is something of a puzzle to many of you little people why we plutocrats, who have benefitted most from these trends, view President Obama with such intense disdain. Why, you might ask, given how good the economy has been to you plutocrats, are you so maniacally angry? Maybe, you say to yourself, I just dont understand economics. Ill let you in on a little secret. You understand economics just fine. What you dont understand is that this fight isnt about economics. Its about status, privileges and power. People like me dont hate Obama because hes going to raise our taxes, although we hate that plenty. We hate him because his views about the importance and primacy of the middle class diminish our status. The threat he represents isnt economic; its existential. Its not just our pocket books that are threatened, but, more importantly, our prestige and our influence on this country. Our manhood is at stake. Facts are for little people. We plutocrats have a long and proud history of controlling human societies, and the belief systems that we create about how the world works enable us to do that. Earth is the center of the solar system was a useful one for us in the past. Lowering taxes on the rich produces growth is one of our current favorites. You show me an orthodox belief, and Ill show you plutocrats who benefit from it. harbour island luxury yacht sales Ocean Independence Without me and my money, you wouldn't even have a job. We understand human nature well enough to know that people believe and accept ideas for all sorts of reasons, but rarely because of facts or evidence. Mostly, people believe what suits them, what makes them feel good. And what makes us feel good is a set of beliefs that reinforce our status, privileges and power. So its both annoying and hilarious that you people think youre going to be able to talk us out of being plutocrats with evidence or facts. Our current position and power is the only fact we care about. And we viscerally hate anyone who has the temerity to challenge it. When Jack or Mitt or I call ourselves Job Creators, it isnt because its true or that there is any evidence for it. Its because being a job creator puts us right at the center of the economic universe where we deserve to be. This belief system isnt just convenient to us, although it is. Its essential in order to justify our status and power. We used to call this divine right. Today we call it economics. You say democracy. We say plutocracy. You need to understand that as job creators, at the center of the economic universe, the better we do, the better it must be for you. In particular, the richer we get and the less constrained by law and regulation we are, the more jobs will trickle downward. Basically, the less we plutocrats contribute to society in tax, and the less constrained we are, the better it is for you and everyone else. And you thought we didnt care! Gulfstream G650 Private Jet Courtesy Gulfstream Maybe someday I'll give you a job serving me on my plane. You need to accept as fact the idea that all prosperity trickles down from the top. That means that, economically speaking, we plutocrats matter. It also means that you dont matter. Tax cuts for the rich create growth and jobs. Investments in the middle class and the poor balloon the deficit and will bankrupt this great country. National budget priorities that reflect this will be great for you and your family. Really. A bard once said that plutocrats hate regulation for the same reason that robbers hate cops. Thats a cheap shot, and underappreciates the sophistication of our argument. Since we are the job creators, any restraint on us necessarily decreases the jobs that trickle down to you. Thats why we deserve a free hand to run the country in whatever way suits us best. You show me a country with limited government and regulation, and Ill show you some happy plutocrats busily job-creating. Get With The Program! So whats puzzling you about why we hate Obama? Hes in our way. And thats a much bigger threat to us than higher tax rates. Our incredible sway over politics, the economy and culture is being challenged. Repeat after me. You sir, are a job creator and the richer you get, the better off my family will be. Regulation is bad, and the less of it we have, the better off my family will be. Never forget these things. And never forget that the rising inequality you see all around isnt a sign of decay. Its a sign of prosperity. Get with the program. Now. Or we will fire you. SEE ALSO: Finally, A Rich American Destroys The Fiction That Rich People Create Jobs Read more: www.businessinsider.com/a...ple-2012-11#ixzz2Bs4glPhf Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: tom007 (#0)
It must suck being ate up with white guilt. If he feels so bad he can always give his money away. There's a whole nation of sick, lame, and lazy ready to take it off of his hands.
Calling Ron Paul an isolationist is like calling your neighbor a hermit because he doesn't come over and break your window - unknown I WITHDRAW MY CONSENT! Classic! thanks.
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 You may know the author of the article is a Billionaire.
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