The Triumph of Hope Over Self-Interest

[JBrown72073 at cs.com]

>>>>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
>>>
>>>Despair?
>>
>>You got an antidote?
>>
>>Doug
>
>No.
>
>Brad DeLong

I do--we should write surveys that ask, for example:

Should our government 
(a) tax multi-millionaires 
(b) borrow from multi-millionaires and use your taxes to pay them back at 
high interest rates

Which is more important 
(a) that your child's school have toilet paper
(b) that Ken Lay's 20th bathroom have Italian marble

Do you prefer meat that has
(a) high shit content
(b) low shit content

Which health insurance system do you prefer?
(a) one which pays profiteering middlemen 30 cents on the dollar, and depends 
on your job
(b) one which doesn't

For the same pay, would you prefer to work
(a) 30 hours a week
(b) 60 hours a week

Strategically, I think the international comparisons you're talking about are 
helpful, they certainly have been with health care.  Also, the rich only seem 
deserving as long as people don't see that it's their unpaid wages that are 
buying all that luxury and power.  Battering that myth should be a priority.

Which is more of a bite on your paycheck?
(a) the 20% you pay in taxes
(b) the 60% your employer pockets before paying you

Jenny Brown