Johann Wagener 9-27-13
The French tolerated this for a few centuries before dismantling it and establishing a republic. We, on the other hand, have gone in almost the opposite direction; transforming a republic based on democratic principles into a plutocracy consisting of 2 classes - the "haves" (about 1%) and the "have nots" (the other 99% give or take about 15% who are clinging to the ladder in hopes of climbing up to the top.
“Sometimes the wealthy talk as if they were characters in “Atlas Shrugged,” demanding nothing more from society than that the moochers leave them alone. But these men were speaking for, not against, redistribution — redistribution from the 99 percent to people like them. This isn’t libertarianism; it’s a demand for special treatment. It’s not Ayn Rand; it’s ancien régime,” Krugman wrote.
Yet, Krugman has a theory as to why the rich spend so much time complaining that they are being persecuted when in fact they got everything they could have hoped for following the financial crisis fallout - namely Wall Street was bailed out at the expense of the workers and homeowners:
“When you have that much money, what is it you’re trying to buy by making even more? … What you really want now is adulation; you want the world to bow before your success ... It is, of course, incredibly petty. But money brings power, and thanks to surging inequality, these petty people have a lot of money. So their whining, their anger that they don’t receive universal deference, can have real political consequences. Fear the wrath of the .01 percent!” he wrote.
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