For the first, given the extremes of poverty and homelessnes people can see on the streets, it not that shocking that the reasonably well-off top 19% thought they might be in the top 1%-- on a global scale, they certainly are. That this large a number of folks already feel that privileged is not necessarily that daunting-- it means that with the right appeal, they may be willing to take on the tax burden to match their self-recognized (and even exaggerated) privilege.
It also points to an issue a number of progressive pundits have pointed to-- it is stupid wonkery (and I am as bad as many) in talking about the "top 1%" of taxpayers, since that's too hard for many folks to grasp and place themselves against. If you want to say that most of the benefits of Bush's tax plan go to the top 1%, just say that it goes to those making incomes over $300,000 per year. THEN, people will say, well that isn't me.
As for those aspiring to be wealthy, again part of it may be not recognizing how privileged the truly privileged are, but you can combine continual education on the lack of mobility to a politcs that emphasizes that those who take advantage of the American system to get wealthy also should pay for its upkeep. I don't actually think that's so impossible.
-- Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 1:39 PM Subject: Re: The Triumph of Hope Over Self-Interest
Michael Pollak wrote:
>[A conservative explains]
Ooops, sorry, hadn't noticed you'd done that already.
Brooks may be a conservative, but I'm afraid he's mostly right about this argument. That Time poll, which has 39% of Americans either thinking they're in the top 1% or will be someday, is just as revealing as Brooks claims. It uncovers a fundamental fantasy about American life. Even though we've got the most unequal distribution of income in the rich world, the highest poverty levels, the greatest persistence of low-wage pay, and only moderate levels of mobility - that all doesn't matter. Most Americans just don't care. You could recite the facts over & over and it won't make a dent in that fundamental fantasy. I'll be damned if I can think what to do about it.
Doug