This was a comment to a recent Paul Krugman blog post, and I thought it worth sharing. (Multiple Google searches did not bring me to any version of it. I'd welcome any further information!)
Here is ancient wisdom about the rich from China...
"When flies attach themselves to the tail of a galloping horse, they move at high speed. But it is difficult for them to efface the shame of being an appendage. When vines entwine themselves around a tall pine, they reach an awesome height. But they cannot erase the disgrace of being a dependent."
The problem seems to be that the rich see themselves as the horse, when in fact they are the flies.
The problem seems to be that the rich see themselves as the pine, when in fact they are the vine.
The People of a country are the horse and pine.
Tax the rich... they think their wealth was earned by them... when in fact it was earned by the work of people.
LVTfan here: This doesn't suggest any understanding of the mechanisms by which the rich become rich illegitimately (though legally) through privilege. I invite the curious to explore this blog, and its sibling website wealthandwant.
None of this is to say that bright people who come up with ways to meet human needs and wants should not be able to become wealthy. But to the extent that our rich owe their position to privileges, specialness, we naively grant to some, we need to be examining and eliminating those privileges, or collect from those granted them the value of those privileges, month in and month out. Doing this would level our playing field AND provide a healthy and growing revenue to fund our common spending without depressing our economy.
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