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Think of socialism and fascism as the red herrings of this moment or, if you're an old time movie fan, as Hitchcockian MacGuffins -- in other words, riveting distractions. Conservatives and tea partiers fear invasive government regulation and excessive taxation, while railing against government takeovers -- even as corporate lobbyists write our public healthcare bills to favor private interests. Similarly, progressives rail against an emergent proto-fascist corps of private guns-for-hire, warrantless wiretapping, and the potential government-approved assassination of U.S. citizens, all sanctioned by a perpetual, and apparently open-ended, state of war.

Yet, if this is socialism, why are private health insurers the government's go-to guys for healthcare coverage? If this is fascism, why haven't the secret police rounded up tea partiers and progressive critics as well and sent them to the lager or the gulag?

Consider this: America is not now, nor has it often been, a hotbed of political radicalism. We have no substantial socialist or workers' party. (Unless you're deluded, please don't count the corporate-friendly "Democrat" party here.) We have no substantial fascist party. (Unless you're deluded, please don't count the cartoonish "tea partiers" here; these predominantly white, graying, and fairly affluent Americans seem most worried that the jackbooted thugs will be coming for them.)
...


From Each According to His Gullibility -- To Each According to His Greed

Never has the old adage my father used to repeat to me -- "the rich get richer and the poor poorer" -- seemed fresher or truer. If you want confirmation of just where we are today, for instance, consider this passage from a recent piece by Tony Judt:

In 2005, 21.2 percent of U.S. national income accrued to just 1 percent of earners. Contrast 1968, when the CEO of General Motors took home, in pay and benefits, about sixty-six times the amount paid to a typical GM worker. Today the CEO of Wal-Mart earns nine hundred times the wages of his average employee.

Indeed, the wealth of the Wal-Mart founder's family in 2005 was estimated at about the same ($90 billion) as that of the bottom 40 percent of the U.S. population: 120 million people.


Copyright 2010 William J. Astore


William J. Astore is a TomDispatch regular; he teaes History at the Pennsylvania College of Technology and served in the Air Force for 20 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He may be reached at wjastore@gmail.com.


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kalm wrote:Interesting centrist opinion......

AZGrizFan wrote:Is making money illegal?

D1B wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:Is making money illegal?

No. But it sucks that in order for some people to make their money, others must be in a permanent state of poverty.

Baldy wrote:

kalm wrote:Interesting centrist opinion......

Um...
When the author writes for The Nation, HuffPoop, commondreams.org, tomdispatch.org, truthout, Mother Jones, and countless other radical left-wing blogs and rags, there ain't nothing "centrist" about his opinion at all.

Baldy wrote:

kalm wrote:Interesting centrist opinion......

Um...
When the author writes for The Nation, HuffPoop, commondreams.org, tomdispatch.org, truthout, Mother Jones, and countless other radical left-wing blogs and rags, there ain't nothing "centrist" about his opinion at all.

AZGrizFan wrote:

Baldy wrote:
Um...
When the author writes for The Nation, HuffPoop, commondreams.org, tomdispatch.org, truthout, Mother Jones, and countless other radical left-wing blogs and rags, there ain't nothing "centrist" about his opinion at all.

Centrist to Kalm <> Centrist to the rest of the world.

AZGrizFan wrote:Is making money illegal?

GannonFan wrote:The rich will always get richer - it's not rocket science. They have more, so when they make the same percentage as those who have less, the gap between the two will continue to grow. Heck, the only time the gap shrinks is when the country goes into a major Depression, and that's not really something to aspire for. But while the gap grows, things do get better for everyone - there's no doubt that being poor or in poverty today is a far better situation than it's ever been in the history of this country, or even before this country. It's far from the lifestyle that Bill Gates or the Walton family lives, but it's far better than it was 20, 30, 50, or 100 years ago.

Chizzang wrote:

GannonFan wrote:The rich will always get richer - it's not rocket science. They have more, so when they make the same percentage as those who have less, the gap between the two will continue to grow. Heck, the only time the gap shrinks is when the country goes into a major Depression, and that's not really something to aspire for. But while the gap grows, things do get better for everyone - there's no doubt that being poor or in poverty today is a far better situation than it's ever been in the history of this country, or even before this country. It's far from the lifestyle that Bill Gates or the Walton family lives, but it's far better than it was 20, 30, 50, or 100 years ago.

Yes... that is all true - I agree with you post completely
But I think another point might be this: In 2010 in an enlightened world where information is so easily and readily available wouldn't you think that the Walton family would try to do what Allen and Gates have done and make Wal-Mart an amazing place to work. Ultimately caring for their employees in a way that makes the 90 billion dollars they have more meaningful..?

There's a laundry list of shameful practices (frankly embarrassing practices) by Wal-mart that would be so easily corrected... some people have no interest (at all) in making the world a better place - it's interesting that you chose Gates and Allen's company as well as Walton's company

They strive for different employee environments and the ownership spends their time and money very differently

GannonFan wrote:

Chizzang wrote:
Yes... that is all true - I agree with you post completely
But I think another point might be this: In 2010 in an enlightened world where information is so easily and readily available wouldn't you think that the Walton family would try to do what Allen and Gates have done and make Wal-Mart an amazing place to work. Ultimately caring for their employees in a way that makes the 90 billion dollars they have more meaningful..?

There's a laundry list of shameful practices (frankly embarrassing practices) by Wal-mart that would be so easily corrected... some people have no interest (at all) in making the world a better place - it's interesting that you chose Gates and Allen's company as well as Walton's company

They strive for different employee environments and the ownership spends their time and money very differently

Well, in an elightened world, you can't really compare a discount shopping chain with a state of the art, cutting edge software design company. Microsoft can and does sell their products at an incredibly marked up price because they can get the huge margins they do for their products. Wal Mart has to sell on volume with razor thin margins to make the same kind of money. Neither could run their businesses like the other and still have the same results. Not defending all of Wal Mart's practices, but pointing out that the two can't ever be expected to operate similarly.

D1B wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:Is making money illegal?

No. But it sucks that in order for some people to make their money, others must be in a permanent state of poverty.

GannonFan wrote:

Chizzang wrote:
Yes... that is all true - I agree with you post completely
But I think another point might be this: In 2010 in an enlightened world where information is so easily and readily available wouldn't you think that the Walton family would try to do what Allen and Gates have done and make Wal-Mart an amazing place to work. Ultimately caring for their employees in a way that makes the 90 billion dollars they have more meaningful..?

There's a laundry list of shameful practices (frankly embarrassing practices) by Wal-mart that would be so easily corrected... some people have no interest (at all) in making the world a better place - it's interesting that you chose Gates and Allen's company as well as Walton's company

They strive for different employee environments and the ownership spends their time and money very differently

Well, in an elightened world, you can't really compare a discount shopping chain with a state of the art, cutting edge software design company. Microsoft can and does sell their products at an incredibly marked up price because they can get the huge margins they do for their products. Wal Mart has to sell on volume with razor thin margins to make the same kind of money. Neither could run their businesses like the other and still have the same results. Not defending all of Wal Mart's practices, but pointing out that the two can't ever be expected to operate similarly.

Chizzang wrote:Wal-mart makes almost no effort to enrich their employee's work experience (zero)

houndawg wrote: Their family has 90 billion dollars and they treat their employees like shit.

How can one family have so much and still treat their employees the way they do?

bobbythekidd wrote:

Chizzang wrote:Wal-mart makes almost no effort to enrich their employee's work experience (zero)

That's just not true. Wal mart can't afford to offer doggy spas and mid day naps, but they do offer them better insurance than ALL other large retail chains.

houndawg wrote:
Their family has 90 billion dollars and they treat their employees like ****.

How can one family have so much and still treat their employees the way they do?

kalm wrote:So success in the U.S. is now defined by the wealthiest family marketing foreign manufactured goods mostly to the working class who they also happen to largely employ.

Wal Mart - America's Company Store.

Boy did you guys miss the point on this one.