|||| WHO'S RICH?
DAVID BROOKS, ATLANTIC MONTHLY - During the most recent presidential election a Time magazine-CNN poll asked voters whether they were in the top 1 percent of income earners. Nineteen percent reported that they were, and another 20 percent said that they expected to be there one day.Around the time of Bush's first tax "rebate", my mom and I talked about economic politics. She sided with Bush, etc - because my parents were finally getting into higher tax brackets, so they didn't want to be taxed more heavily. Aside from Heinlein's observation about democracies - paraphrased: It'll work until they realize they can vote themselves bread and circuses - applying, the above poll provides some backing for a thought I've held for some time: A lot of people want to view themselves as being part of "the rich".
My parents have worked their way up - and done so quite well. But they're somewhere in the upper end of middle-class, not one of the richest 1% - or even 20%. And that's where I think quite a few people are going wrong. The left is often asked: "Where is the money coming from?", and they glibly answer: "From the rich," which is usually met by the right saying they're for tax cuts for the rich.
My parents - wrongly - think "the rich" means them. I hope - though I'm skeptical - that the economic exposes of the last year would highlight this as a corollary to Heinlein's observation.
Democracy will last not until the people can vote themselves bread and circuses - but until they can vote someone else bread and circuses... and still think it applies to them.
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