Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
It's the Stupidity, Stupid
Redistributionist—as epithets go, the moniker is so
mild, so...2008. Today, we're hammered by screeds against Democrats' alleged
socialism and President Obama's supposed Marxism. The class war is clearly
on—the paranoids and royalists of the world have united, seizing the means of
propaganda production in these waning days of this year's election campaign.
The onslaught, of course, is predictable. After all, this is an election season—which inevitably evokes redbaiting crusades by the plutocrats. Less predictable is this crusade's traction. As Wall Street executives make bank off bailouts, as millions of Americans see paychecks slashed and as our economic Darwinism sends more wealth up the income ladder—it's surprising that appeals to capitalist piggery carry more electoral agency than ever.
What could cause this intensifying politics of free-market fundamentalism at the very historical moment that proves the failure of such an ideology? Two new academic studies suggest all roads lead to ignorance.
The first, by Harvard's Michael Norton and Duke's Dan Ariely, finds that Americans grossly underestimate how much inequality our economy produces. Among the survey respondents, the vast majority said they believe the richest 20% own 59% of the wealth, when, in fact, that quintile owns 84%of the wealth. In other words, in spite of the data, many believe our system produces the moderate equality we desire, which means many see efforts to better spread wealth as a confiscatory overreach.
That, however, is not the full story of 2010. Because this now-ascendant economic view relies on misperceptions about inequality, we are still left to wonder: What accounts for those misperceptions?
Some of it undoubtedly stems from debt's illusions. In a country of overused MasterCards, we are surrounded by luxury cars, McMansions and flat-screen TVs purchased on credit. Such ubiquitous bling feigns a widespread prosperity that doesn't really exist.
Some of it is also televisual iconography. In the media's fun-house mirror we see a news world populated exclusively by six- and seven-figure salaried journalists—as if that wealth is a societal norm. Meanwhile, on the entertainment side, our beloved sitcom families trick us into thinking our nation is less stratified than it is: We were led to believe the super-rich Huxtables epitomized the middle-class just like we are now asked to regard Modern Family's affluence in the same way.
But, as insidious as artificial aesthetics are, the most powerful factor in our economic illiteracy is found in the other new academic report—the one examining our innate denial reflex.
As Northwestern University's David Gal and Derek Rucker recently documented in a paper titled "When in Doubt, Shout!", many Americans respond to convention-challenging facts not by reevaluating their worldview. Shaken by an assault on their assumptions, many become more adamant in defense of wrongheaded ideas.
So, for instance, we may be aware that our broken economy is creating destructive inequality; we may know the neighbor's opulence is underwritten by loans; we may understand that Brian Williams' multi-million-dollar NBC salary is uncommon; and we may appreciate that seemingly average 30 Rock characters make above-average salaries. We may get all this, and we may even see the connection between our personal financial struggles and Census figures showing inequality at a record high. But many of us nonetheless react by more passionately insisting our economic system sows equality—and worse, by embracing a free-market-worshiping politics aimed at halting systemic change.
This means the current crisis is deeper than we imagine. In a past recession, we could all at least concede that the challenge was "the economy, stupid." Now, though, we can't even agree on that truism. Our problem is the stupidity, stupid—and solving that will take far more than an election.
David Sirota is the author of the best-selling books "Hostile Takeover" and "The Uprising." He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs at OpenLeft.com. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com or follow him on Twitter @davidsirota.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
The onslaught, of course, is predictable. After all, this is an election season—which inevitably evokes redbaiting crusades by the plutocrats. Less predictable is this crusade's traction. As Wall Street executives make bank off bailouts, as millions of Americans see paychecks slashed and as our economic Darwinism sends more wealth up the income ladder—it's surprising that appeals to capitalist piggery carry more electoral agency than ever.
What could cause this intensifying politics of free-market fundamentalism at the very historical moment that proves the failure of such an ideology? Two new academic studies suggest all roads lead to ignorance.
The first, by Harvard's Michael Norton and Duke's Dan Ariely, finds that Americans grossly underestimate how much inequality our economy produces. Among the survey respondents, the vast majority said they believe the richest 20% own 59% of the wealth, when, in fact, that quintile owns 84%of the wealth. In other words, in spite of the data, many believe our system produces the moderate equality we desire, which means many see efforts to better spread wealth as a confiscatory overreach.
That, however, is not the full story of 2010. Because this now-ascendant economic view relies on misperceptions about inequality, we are still left to wonder: What accounts for those misperceptions?
Some of it undoubtedly stems from debt's illusions. In a country of overused MasterCards, we are surrounded by luxury cars, McMansions and flat-screen TVs purchased on credit. Such ubiquitous bling feigns a widespread prosperity that doesn't really exist.
Some of it is also televisual iconography. In the media's fun-house mirror we see a news world populated exclusively by six- and seven-figure salaried journalists—as if that wealth is a societal norm. Meanwhile, on the entertainment side, our beloved sitcom families trick us into thinking our nation is less stratified than it is: We were led to believe the super-rich Huxtables epitomized the middle-class just like we are now asked to regard Modern Family's affluence in the same way.
But, as insidious as artificial aesthetics are, the most powerful factor in our economic illiteracy is found in the other new academic report—the one examining our innate denial reflex.
As Northwestern University's David Gal and Derek Rucker recently documented in a paper titled "When in Doubt, Shout!", many Americans respond to convention-challenging facts not by reevaluating their worldview. Shaken by an assault on their assumptions, many become more adamant in defense of wrongheaded ideas.
So, for instance, we may be aware that our broken economy is creating destructive inequality; we may know the neighbor's opulence is underwritten by loans; we may understand that Brian Williams' multi-million-dollar NBC salary is uncommon; and we may appreciate that seemingly average 30 Rock characters make above-average salaries. We may get all this, and we may even see the connection between our personal financial struggles and Census figures showing inequality at a record high. But many of us nonetheless react by more passionately insisting our economic system sows equality—and worse, by embracing a free-market-worshiping politics aimed at halting systemic change.
This means the current crisis is deeper than we imagine. In a past recession, we could all at least concede that the challenge was "the economy, stupid." Now, though, we can't even agree on that truism. Our problem is the stupidity, stupid—and solving that will take far more than an election.
David Sirota is the author of the best-selling books "Hostile Takeover" and "The Uprising." He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs at OpenLeft.com. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com or follow him on Twitter @davidsirota.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
Top 20% having 84% of the wealth? Doing the math, that means 80% of us are left fighting over that remaining 16% of the wealth!
I've read somewhere that the top 1% have 23% of the wealth, and the last time it was that high was 1929 just before the crash. The Great Depression's "market correction", followed by the patriotic deficit spending of WWII brought it back down to top 1% having only 8%, even as recent as 1970. -- Now I read here that top 1/5th have 84% of the wealth (thanks to Reagan-Bush tax cuts on the wealthy).
My guess is that most of this 84% is "on paper" money, shored up by all those derivatives and hedge funds, not real "in my hands" property. Now that the US mortgage & Wall Street credit engine has run out of steam, it is only natural for the holders of that fake money to see how much of that can be taken out as hard cash (to invest somewhere else). Like the crash of 1929, we will effectively wipe out those on-paper balances, and let the market continue with the property in hand.
This "redistribution" is really the only way out. so let's get it over with quickly, and get back to Main Street business. Hit the "Reset" on your Nintendo! Take what you have learned in playing the new game from scratch.
On "Meet The Press" this morning, they pointed out the traditional battle-ground states of Florida, Ohio, and Colorado, but noted that Wisconsin is the one to watch. They tied that in with Milwaukee's rating as #4 most poverty stricken area. I will put that in with Waukesha having been called the 4th most Republican county in the country. We have one of the biggest divisions of wealth and thinking here, so we are definitely one to watch, to see how we can resolve this propaganda-driven class war. We do not have the manufacturing export tradition of Ohio, do not have the tourist destination appeal of Florida or Colorado, and no military base or government office pork to take in out-of-state money with. How do we take the limited funds we working and middle class have left, and carry on?
The angry voters need to understand that the ideas being pushed will actually reward the international businesses and those top 1-20% (that don't even live in Wisconsin) more than the small businesses and PACUR's that are here. If Ron Johnson's PACUR got rich, it's being spent here, he can buy a Harley or Manitowoc-built yacht. If Exxon or BP gets rich, it is not being spent here, they aren't buying any Wisconsin products (but we still buy theirs). It's as simple as that. That's why the real puppetmasters are secretly bankrolling our local races and negative issue ads. They know that anti-regulation, anti-government policies will help them more than us.
Tea Party folk should also understand that the people they put into Washington are not going to end regulations and entitlements and return us back to Separate But Equal (sorry about the race card, but this is southeast Wisconsin), instead we will get a secret socialism of the 80% of us that have only 16% of the wealth. That is the effect of no tax or rules on the rich.
I don't understand any of those stats. All I know is if I try harder than the next guy, I ususally come out ahead. Take Waukesha County, you typical average American county. For the most part it looks like people are living pretty good. So what if the richest 1% have 84%? Who cares, we are all living pretty well.
Sure there are inequalities in our economy but thats only because people don't work equally as hard. The wealthy people I know are working their minds at a higher level that those without means.
Wages in this country are already too high and we have complaints? We have GM and Harley workers pulling down $80 an hour. We have school teacher making $100k a year. We need to get wages down so other countries want to expand here and take advantage of our cheap labor. We need to cut the taxes of the highest earners and eliminate all corporarate taxes in Wisconsin. This will attract businesses to want to operate here. Jobs will follow. Most likely the unemployed here won't get them but qualified people from out of state will move in and it will stimulate our housing market.
WaukeshaGuy:
You're a darn smart rascal!!!!!