Why the top 1% should worry

[Ban my account ffs!]

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105

Excellent article detailing the rising inequality in this country, the hidden effects of it, and why the top 1%, who now make 25% of the nation's income and control 40% of the wealth, should worry about what this self perpetuating trend will do to their own portfolios down the road.

[opebo]

They don't worry, Snowguy, because only relative well being matters in the ape-society, not absolute.

Even if they would be 'better off' in a humane Keynesian/redistributionist social democracy, they wouldn't be able to grind it in the face of their inferiors like they can now.  So they want it Hard Core.

[patrick1]

the ape-society

Haha, I would like to read a 100 page paper on this.

[opebo]

the ape-society

Haha, I would like to read a 100 page paper on this.

How about a novel?

The point is of course that human society is a primate society, where relative power is all that matters to the apes, not absolute well being.

[patrick1]

the ape-society

Haha, I would like to read a 100 page paper on this.

How about a novel?

The point is of course that human society is a primate society, where relative power is all that matters to the apes, not absolute well being.

TBH, I prefer your brand of sneering condescension.  Now get your opposable thumbs on a keyboard and start banging out some research.

[The Dowager Mod]

Russia around 1905.

[opebo]

Russia around 1905.

Probably more like 1860s, even thinking incredibly optimistically.

[Hatman 🍁]

Indeed, it'll be quite some time before "the revolution", but if things keep going the way they are, it will happen.  And if those tea party folks are still around, it will be a blood bath.

[opebo]

Indeed, it'll be quite some time before "the revolution", but if things keep going the way they are, it will happen.  And if those tea party folks are still around, it will be a blood bath.

Strangely enough, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the Marxist slaughtering the exploiters coming from the ranks of these teasaps.  Often the violent, radical fringe of various movements overlaps with movements quite the opposite - they're just angry, and with good reason, though at the moment it is very amusing they're supporting their own slavery.

[Jake]

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I'm not sure this premise is true, at least as "other 99 percent" refers to the bottom bunch of Americans.

A hypothetical world where, in 25 years, conditions for the bottom 99% have deteriorated, even significantly, but the remainder of the world rises in prosperity would be a perfectly acceptable place for the top 1% to live. Viewing this from a perspective only focused on the United States ignores that the rich are increasingly a transnational class. They're not wedded to the United States to market products, create products, and find innovations and employees. There is no genuine reason why they, as a block, cannot make their lives elsewhere.

[Badger]

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I'm not sure this premise is true, at least as "other 99 percent" refers to the bottom bunch of Americans.

A hypothetical world where, in 25 years, conditions for the bottom 99% have deteriorated, even significantly, but the remainder of the world rises in prosperity would be a perfectly acceptable place for the top 1% to live. Viewing this from a perspective only focused on the United States ignores that the rich are increasingly a transnational class. They're not wedded to the United States to market products, create products, and find innovations and employees. There is no genuine reason why they, as a block, cannot make their lives elsewhere.

Two major reasons: The only other major options for emigration are either a) Low tax third world expat communities like in Mexico or Costa Rica which, while suitable for some and still relatively luxurious, involve a huge sacrifice in terms of amenities, cultural diversions, selection of upscale amenities, and culture shock; or b) European or other industrialized countries where tax rates are no better, and often far worse.

There's an argument to be made about the ultra wealthy having some interstate mobility to avoid higher state taxes. State "residency" can be reasonably established with a second home (among a class of wealthy who generally own multiple homes already) and following a lawyer's simple advice on such things as voting and vehicle registration. A five star restaurant, symphony and exclusive cigar bar are essentially the same in Miami or Dallas as in Chicago or LA. But the legal barriers and lifestyle trade offs for officially relocating to the Grand Caymans are much different. Its obviously doable, but someone has to REALLY want it to the point that avoiding "high" American tax rates is one's overwhelming passion--if not obsession--in life.