Are there too many conservatives on GaG who cannot or will not recognize wealth inequality for the danger it is?

[msc545]

Let's just be clear about what these assholes are really saying when they say "socialism." They're saying the rich deserve every advantage and working people can starve in the street. They don't know what tumbrels are. The French elites learned this lesson the hard way.

[exitseven]

yes there is wealth inequality. When somebody can make a billion dollars a year there is a problem. however the guy that makes a billion dollars a year had bought and paid for all the politicians that enable him to do that. He will get away with it and people who make a good salary and especially small business owners end up being on the hook. thatism the psrt that is not fair but nobody wants to acknowlege that that is exactly what happens.

My father worked for a guy that maybe made 5 times what my father did. He drove a Cadillac and could go to Florida for a couple of weeks in the winter. He lived a comfortable life. Now these guys make 500X what their employees make. That is the part that is not right. Boards of Directors are handpicked to give obscene bonuses to CEOs just before the company files for Ch 11, What does this guy do that would warrant that kind of money?

[ChiTown33]

Well said man. Oliver Stone who made the movie "Wall Street" said the movie failed it's intended message because America didn't look at Gordon Gecko as a villain. We are a CAPITALISTIC society. It's ingrained in us. Greed isn't bad. Greed is what built this country. Unbridled Greed is bad! Lack of morals is bad! I believe gov't exists for one reason. To "promote the general welfare" as it says in the Constitution. NOT to "provide welfare". Gov't should be be small. And should only come into play when the free market cannibalizes the very market that gave it it's opportunity for success.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[RealMarek]

Yes, as a conservative I agree with this. It is a huge impediment to fighting globalist neoliberalism, which pervades the establishment elites that control both political parties. The concentration of wealth in such few hands gives the increasingly authoritarian elites incredible power. A growing number of conservatives support expropriation without compensation from the current elites, breaking up large corporate and ag land holdings, as well as nationalization of the giant asset management firms that are the dominant shareholders in all large corporations. However, this would not be to impose socialism (government ownership of the means of production), but to circulate corrupt elites out of power.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, this is one reason why I can't vote republican, because they won't hesitate to give tax breaks to corperations and the top 2 percent of earners but then do something to help poor, working class or middleclass and somehow it's the worse thing imaginable.

[Anonymous]

Red states rely on the federal dollars to stay afloat while claiming to dislike socialism. Hypocritical?

[msc545]

Very hypocritical but unsurprising.

[U4ea0]

Women rely on federal tax dollars more than anyone. In fact, women technically don't pay taxes.

[Anonymous]

We are heading back to the way things were during the gilded age, all the money funnelled up to the elites. What we need is not redistribution of wealth or more welfare scraps but more opportunities. Wasn't that long ago that a factory worker could support a family on a single wage, buy a home and run two cars.

[Jamie05rhs]

Those factory workers still have the same earning ability. It's just that their purchasing power doesn't go as far. Because of the housing shortage. (The housing supply hasn't kept up with population growth.)

[Opinion Owner]

@Jamie05rhs there is no housing shortage. The wealthy buy the houses up to rent them. The price of houses are artificially inflated to keep the expensive and ordinary people from buying them. Minimum wage is not the same earning ability.

[Jamie05rhs]

Oh, really... Interesting... I have heard about that aspect. (The AirBnB phenomenon). I didn't know it was so widespread to make that much of a difference.

[Jamie05rhs]

And what you said about the minimum wage would have been true about 5 years ago, but it isn't true anymore. Many states have passed laws raising the minimum wage significantly.

[Opinion Owner]

@Jamie05rhs the rise in minimum wage has put people out if work and given rise to inflation

[Jamie05rhs]

Okay, but you're the one who was complaining about the minimum wage. Lol

[Jamie05rhs]

I agree with you, for the record.

[Opinion Owner]

@Jamie05rhs thankfully I'm not on minimum wage. Seemed like when they raised minimum wage the cost of living goes up to match it

[Jamie05rhs]

That is true! #itsatrap

[lightbulb27]

Not sure. I’m center right and I see it. It is the big problem. It’s made worse by the govt printing press it the govt and left as well as the right often see govt as the cure. This tine has been played in history before… we know how it ends. Ray Dalio for one talks about this issue. We’re not blind. How to raise good quality humans is the question…

[CALIGVLA]

And to express their gratitude, those rich people give toooooooons of money to the same woke shitlibs which conseevatives claim to fight against. Kinda odd of them that they refuse to go after the financial sponsors of all the political divisionism in oyr country.

It almost looks like this "based conservative vs woke liberal" is a theater intended to entertain people...

[msc545]

This might serve to mitigate or at least assuage their guilt - not that I care about them.

[CALIGVLA]

I doubt economic predators do anything that isn't intended to bring them more money and power. They're not naïve, if they give money to some cause, it's because this cause is profitable for them.

[msc545]

I think you are right. A lot of this is done to avoid taxes.

[Dazed0N0Confused]

Couldn't agree with you more.

"Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" actually means "do the impossible" because without help from your fellow man, no one will go anywhere.

[Sandeeppingping]

Capitalism is the shit, only lazy people who think they're rebels lying in their bed talk about wanting socialis, that's coming from a guy who isn't rich and who's been poor

[Juxtapose]

At this point I firmly believe wealth inequality is here to stay unless you rewrite the human genome so we're not greedy fucks.

[Anonymous]

There's not many conservatives on this site, but there's lots of fascist MAGAots.

[Jamie05rhs]

I don't agree with economic inequality, but I also don't believe in socialism.

[joeldalton]

Lmao. Yeah the Venezuelans are thriving with socialism.

[msc545]

They might be were it not for sanctions from the US

[Friendlybro79]

Problem is no one can agree what socialism really looks like because if leaders of a country are nefarious then you have Venezuela... Or you have Norway when it's done with integrity towards it's citizens.

[Friendlybro79]

And trust me it's starting to happen when we have corruption politicians in capitalism as well.

[joeldalton]

@Friendlybro79 lmao, the typical “It’s not rea socialism”.

[Friendlybro79]

Norway is a positive model for example. Socialism can't work if there are bad actors at the entire leadership side of a country. Neither can capitalism. We're just lucky that corporations slowly bled the avg American out of wage growth over the last 50 something years. Greedy maggot power hungry politicians are to blame for citizens suffering in places like Venezuela. They have oil just like Norway. Norway has a huge surplus, universal healthcare, education is included, they make more than us, live better on average than us, and are healthier than us. I'm not sure what you're referencing in your last reply.

[Friendlybro79]

Difference is Norwegian leaders are actually looking to better the lives of citizens for all the hard work they put in.

[joeldalton]

@Friendlybro79 It’s a myth that Scandinavian countries are socialist. They’re often more freer than the US. They also pay 50-75% taxes. You willing to do that? Because I’m not.

[joeldalton]

@Friendlybro79 they also rely on the US taxpayer to subsidize their security.

[Friendlybro79]

After federal, state local, sales tax on everything I buy, property tax, student loan debt. I'm already paying about 50%... Add it up like I did. Have some discipline, document every dollar you've paid in some type of tax and figure that out. Then I still pay a portion of my healthcare and education. You're shortsighted. Norway is a socialist democracy technically so I do agree partly with what you've said. Regardless their system is better than ours.

We have zero in surplus and trillions in debt. They have a trillion in debt and we don't defend them regarding their defense budget because we're just nice lol. We don't do anything just because it's nice. Wake up pal we're not winning.

Oh the day you get your first social security check and receive medicare you can remember how dumb it is to receive benefits that you paid into.

If we pay in to a system like Norway you get it back.

So whatever you want to call their system it isn't like ours 100% and they have more social programs that benefit everyone. Go there and make friends with people and you'll notice it's better there.

That doesn't mean we are totally bad but corporations rule this country and buy politicians with corporate donations. No wonder why they get all the tax breaks.

Tell me you don't think the trickle down actually worked? Lol what a joke.

[Friendlybro79]

I meant Norway has a trillion in surplus *

[joeldalton]

@Friendlybro79 um. The government confiscating your income and distributing it is ‘trickle down’. Right, you pay 50% in taxes and it’s laundered through Ukraine back to our politicians or to study why lesbians are fat. This isn’t because of capitalism.

[Friendlybro79]

Trickle down economics was about corporations getting tax breaks thus saving them money that was supposed to trickle down to everyone else. Not the government. That's what I'm referring to. Trickle down economics in America never worked. They kept their profits, ceo pay is astronomical, and workers haven't had a raise basically in 50 years. You're also all over the place with the govt giving our taxes to Ukraine.

Hey you can keep thinking capitalism as it stands today, which has been referred to recently as zombie capitalism, is working for you. If you're super rich then this makes more sense. If you're like 95-97% of us then you're delusional lol. Go ahead and reply if you need to get the last word in. I'm ok with that and have nothing to add as we're not really on topic anymore.

[MrTaboo]

Socialism has never worked anywhere on earth. Not even once. It only works on paper

[msc545]

Uh-huh. Do you have some evidence or is this just your opinion?

[MrTaboo]

Yes, history.

[msc545]

Cite some historical examples that support your views.

[MrTaboo]

Soviet union
Jamestown
Cuba
East Germany
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Just to name a few

[msc545]

Those are just the names of countries. I too have a map. Can you please explain exactly what is it or was about socialism in these countries that you feel was a problem, and cite independent examples? Thanks!

[goaded]

"Socialism has never worked anywhere on earth. Not even once. It only works on paper"
Here's the problem. Do you mean real socialism, where the people own the means of production, or Republican "socialism", which means any system that helps the people in general (like social security, universal health care, etc.)? The latter works just fine in many, many countries.

[Friendlybro79]

@goaded Norway works.

[MrTaboo]

Extreme high taxes

[msc545]

Yes, but they get things of value for their taxes. Here, we get a bloated incompetent military.

[Friendlybro79]

Unless you're Donald Trump or a big corporation we're all paying taxes on everything just not at once. Federal income tax, state income tax, sales tax on everything, property tax, etc. If you also take into consideration retirement savings you should be putting away because there's barely a pension left for most people, then you're left with less than half your gross income. Do the math one year and keep a spreadsheet of everything that goes to tax that you've paid and you'll see I'm right. The avg person is clueless that were probably paying the same or more than a Norway. They also make more more than us on avg although their cost of living is higher that offsets having to pay more. Nothing is free of course but their system allows everyone to live better. They live longer than us too by a large margin. Keep kidding yourself.