BY: Todd Smekens
Blog – The old story about taking candy from a kid who went trick or treating and giving it the kid who stayed home as a symbolic representation of “socialism” has always been flawed. When a privileged 1%’er uses the faulty logic openly on Twitter, it fails epically.
Donald J. Trump Jr. posted the following on Halloween night:
I’m going to take half of Chloe’s candy tonight & give it to some kid who sat at home. It’s never to early to teach her about socialism. pic.twitter.com/3ie9C0jv2G
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 31, 2017
Many of the replies were brilliant, but none more on target than J.K. Rowling’s:
Fill her bucket with old candy left by her great-grandfather, then explain that she has more because she’s smarter than all the other kids. https://t.co/0lbhHYyFe4
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 1, 2017
Not just “smarter than all the other kids” but “more deserving.” When you come from a sense of entitlement like Trump and his kids, instead of being grateful for what was bestowed upon them, they believe they earned it and deserved it. What’s more, they also think if others don’t have what they have, it’s because they’re lazy or ignorant.
Instead of using their status and power to help those who didn’t inherit millions, they shame the less fortunate and cut programs meant to help the elderly, sick and working poor. Paying taxes which fund government services is “socialism” to the entitled 1%. You’ll never convince them otherwise. What floors me are conservative working class people who defend the greed of the 1%. The defenders of greed also feel the lazy and less fortunate are taking from them while ignoring the trillions stolen from them by the greedy 1%.
Every single measure of income and wealth demonstrates gross inequality. None of this is by accident. It’s a direct result of the rich owning a more significant share of both political parties in this country.
In both income and wealth. If we focused only on the period after the Great Recession in 2008, all the gains have gone to the one-tenth of one percent (.001%). As I mentioned in my last article about the budget cuts and tax plan, it’s Robin Hood in reverse. Trump’s administration and the GOP controlled congress are slashing government programs for the poor and elderly and giving the savings to the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
Don’t worry, Junior’s Tweet did sound sweet to many of the Trumpian followers who still believe if you’re poor then you’re lazy. If you don’t have enough in retirement, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough.
The problem with this belief is it lacks any evidence. Workers have never been more productive, but guess who is reaping all the gains? Shareholders and CEOs.
Because of the greed in this country, socialism is looking more appealing, but we’ll most likely see Democratic Socialism as espoused by Senator Bernie Sanders. It leaves capitalism intact but shifts the focus toward the working class vs. the Financial Oligarchy. According to Noam Chomsky, Sander’s and most U.S. progressives are New Deal Democrats in line with FDR’s reform policies.
The Billionaire Class have been working hard since the 1930’s to reverse the New Deal. Their efforts have been dubbed “Neoliberalism.”
