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According to the "Usual" Authorities
NMB, Florida January 4, 2002 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
ACCORDING TO THE "USUAL" AUTHORITIES
Paul Krugman in the OP-ED section of this morning's NY Times had an
interesting take on why the rich don't have the votes to get our Legislative
Geniuses to vote them a tax reduction. He says we have to think about "the
general power of money to shape political debate." This isn't the whole of
it.
Why do people support a President who supports programs that will enrich
the richer and leave them behind as usual? The present popularity of the
President is because of circumstances surrounding an attack on all of us.
He answered forthrightly and elected to spend billions in tracking down the
attacker. We support that and do not understand that we may be striking
just the right note to begin an East-West war or an Allah/Jehovah war.
But that is not what I want to talk about. What I want you to think about
is the way people with no resources believe with absolute purity that they,
too, can one day be rich. Their ship may just come in - you cannot say not.
They might also win a lottery. There are so many lotteries. All you need
to do is be lucky and hit one right combination and - presto - you are a
millionaire. It is only one more instance of belief in magic. This, however,
in these days of gadzillions will not make the winner happy. "I could have
been a better winner" he bleats.
The envy of the rich does not have to result in building barriers in the
byways and throwing paving stones at the "authorities". It is interesting to
note also that the authorities in this instance, the police, are recruited
not from the rich but usually near the bottom of the prosperity pole.
Upward mobility does not mean getting more money in the low ranked job you
hold. "Upward" means getting closer to the top rank of "authority". Moving
up the ladder means, in Platonic terms, becoming more and more like the
Philosopher Kings. But in non-Platonic terms the kings on top have not only
uncommon wisdom but uncommon pots and pots of wealth.
All of this is just to say that we allow the rich to get richer because
that is what we would like to be. Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
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