Ted Rall for February 12, 2014
Transcript:
Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? because capitalism encourages monopolies and concentrates wealth into fewer hands. (Man: I made my money the old-fashioned way: we bought our smartest competitors and shut them down.) Inequality isn' a flaw. It's a feature. The existence of poverty terrorizes workers into accepting low wages and motivates them to strive hard. (Woman: There but for the grace of-except, I'm a good person.) Still, too much inequality is bad. If shoppers are broke, the economy stalls. If the poor give up hope, they revolt. (Man 2: I dislike this scenario) Whenever inequality gets out of hand, the ruling class tweaks capitalism. They make the tax code more progressive. They enact social programs. (Barack Obama: Children are starving! Incremental change- stat!) After inequality returns to slightly less unequal levels, they restore regressive taxes and roll back the safety net. Best system ever. (Woman 2: So simple and straightforward. OMG the stock market is crashing again ACK!)