On Heather Cox Richardson this morning, one reader stated:
The only New Deal program that has stood the test of time is Social Security. The American people have since dismantled, of their own accord, much of the New Deal, in spite of whatever they learned in 'school.' He submitted stats to show FDR programs ... "were so ineffective that in 1939, after six years in office, the unemployment rate was 17%."
My response in part is that FDR and LBJ programs have been undermined since incception by idiologues who spread the misinformation (or disinformation). The people who will be screwed by the House budget include beneficiaries of farm subsidies, SNAP - the modern versions of food stamps, Black Lung benefits, etc. Statistics show that about 80% of the general population need a hand up and FDR initiated the safety net, which is necessary and is certainly better than the nothing that Republicans offer. Statistics also show a ripple effect into the general population. These folks need to spend and eventually their spending increases the GNP.
FDR had a tough time, and there was reaction and a fallback in 1937-1938 but but for FDR reforms this country may have become Communist. Membership levels remained below 20,000 until 1933 and then surged upward in the late 1930s, reaching 66,000 in 1939. We also had an internal fascist threat.
The Banking Act of 1935 and the Securities Act of 1933 were designed to prevent future bank failures and protect investors from fraudulent practices. The Wagner Act also created the National Labor Relations Board to oversee union activities and ensure fair labor practices. Projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) brought electricity and economic development to rural communities.
As to the 17% AI tells me that individuals employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were not included as employed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 1939. The BLS considered them separately, not as part of the overall civilian labor force.
At the WPA's peak in 1938, it employed 3.3 million workers.
During the Great Depression, the average annual income in the United States was about $1,368 per person. This was a significant drop from the pre-Depression era, as per capita income fell dramatically. For example, by 1933, average family income had fallen by 40% from 1929 levels. In 1929, before the Depression, disposable personal income per capita was $7,361 in chained 2012 dollars, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By 1939, it had fallen to $7,496 in chained 2012 dollars, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Average per capita income did not fully recover to pre-Depression levels by the end of the 1930s.
The Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, and initial taxes were collected in 1937. However, the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made in 1937, and the first regular monthly payments began in 1940.
Many families sought to cope by planting gardens, canning food, buying used bread, and using cardboard and cotton for shoe soles, etc. Millions of unemployed workers "hit the rods" travelling to find work. Families were torn apart. Entire populations had to relocate - in some cases due to climate chjange -- like the dust bowl -- but mostly due to poverty.
During the Great Depression, the US age-standardized suicide rate increased significantly, reaching its highest point in 1932 at 22.1 per 100,000. This was a notable increase from the rate of 18.0 per 100,000 in 1928. The overall suicide rate fluctuated between 10.4 and 22.1 over the 1928-2007 period.
I still think that most politics is cultural -- not entirely based on economics. Much of our law -- "common" law -- comes to us via concepts of morality -- a right v s wrong dichotomy.
We've been exposed to a number of arguments that have been completely discredited -- like trickle down theory -- and the need to balance the government budget -- which remain the basis of Republican policy.
AI. The enactment of Social Security in 1935, and subsequent amendments, while aiming to provide economic security, has been argued to have had a negative impact on family unity and traditional family structures. This argument suggests that Social Security's "pay-as-you-go" system has created a disincentive for parents to invest in their children's futures, as they believe the government will provide for them in old age.
I am 2 generations away from being a "worker," although I was a grunt for a year in southeast Asia. Most of my forebears were petit bourgois. Shop keepers. Hardware. Textiles. Lawyers. Doctors. However, I have the empathy gene and I am practical.
These days we mostly have a "gig" economy and. the industrial revolution is long gone.
I don't begrudge most rich people. I do resent demagogues, thieves, cons, and sadists.
We are better off when we don't have income disparities. Thom wrote "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class" and "The Hidden History of the American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class—and How to Rescue Our Future". Robert Reich has a free course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f2blKai7HA
The study of economics must be cultural. The facts are dispositive. The problem is that Congressional Republicans cut class or if they did atrtend, either didn't pay attention or have the elevator problem -- skips a few floors and doesnt make it to the roof.
Mr. Solomon you are correct about "trickle down theory" which is barely a theory, in the traditional sense. It was not much more than a catchy talking point in the popular, mass media. any serious economist saw through it, even those who avowed it most vehemently; especially among those. "the need to balance the government budget" was torn asunder best by Stephanie Kelton in her 2001 book THE DEFICIT MYTH. She points out that every time the U.S. government has made an attempt to
balance" the budget; a recession or depression follows as a consequence. The historical figures she points to are surprising and a little spooky.
That is what I have been saying. The media is deflecting, considering that the media is corporate and thus serves it's corporate masters, it has myopia and sees the political landscape in terms of economics (the price of eggs so to speak)
In reality it is the culture war first, maybe price of eggs second. All one needs to do is to look at the Trusk (Mump) regime and it's emphasis. All culture war (DEI and immigration)
I may be a a bit unschooled in understanding what you are saying in paragraph three: (The argument suggests that S.S.'s "pay-as-you-go" system has created a disincentive for parents to invest in their children's futures, as they believe the government will provide for them in old age.) In other words, the parents feel no need to invest in their children's future because the children will receive S.S. in old age?
That's the Republican position. Once upon a time I was invited to a right wing think tank that was devoted to upending SS. Later I worked for SSA, I've written publiched papers about it and I still hear stuff like that.
I don't know this as a fact but the sociology departments in "conservative" colleges and think tanks have even more sophisticated rationales for believing that the FDR and LBJ programs criple sociuaety and made people dependant.
Mr. Solomon, the record does indeed show that FDR's programs had only a "small" effect on the economy for many of his years in office. However, that "small" effect was beneficial for the common citizen. Of that, there is no doubt. It is also true that the big business leaders fought against his programs tooth and nail, thus minimizing their proper, intended effect. And FDR's policies were publicly labelled as communist. It is ironic that FDR SAVED capitalism from communism, to the benefit of the business community. He saved them and they foolishly hated him for it. FDR was a REFORMER not a RADICAL.
As for "unemployment" figures; that is a topic which has always been freighted with contested forces. Still is. When trying to create stratified, random samples for the research projects I was involved in during my younger years at two universities; we always had a difficult time creating a useable, valid, sample where that variable ["unemployment"] was concerned. Probably a true, let us say valid, or more accurate accounting of "unemployment" during FDR's years would reveal a much lower level of "unemployment" as compared to what is in the official records for years. There is no way I can offer dispositive proof here. But it is what I have always strongly suspected. FDR's programs were perhaps much more effective than we realize.
There is also no doubt at all that the spending on WWll gave the U.S.A. such a military/Keynesian pump on the economic well springs of our national finances that this is clearly what lifted us up out of the terrible Great Depression. Eisenhower must be given great credit for recognizing what a DOUBLE-EDGED sword FDR's military/Keynesianism was; as Ike made his farewell speech upon leaving the White House. Ike is a guy who never gets the recognition he should by the political left. He was more sagacious than is recognized.
Boiling this down to "wealth addicts" is exactly the way to go. Addiction of some kind has touched everyone; it's really easy to understand. We must repeat it during every political discussion we have. They are the rotten apples spoiling our future.
I think we also need to commend those that have seen the light. They want to give away most of their fortune before they die. Turns out some do NOT want to take it with them.
Sanford published a paper in 2017 about this: "The Myth of Millionaire Tax Flight-How Place Still Matters for the Rich". It seems they are most often attached to where they made the money and heavy taxes just don't scare them off. So let's make them pay their fair-share and let's reverse Citizen's United. We can turn those two words back into what they really mean.
Thanks Thom. We deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, especially the people doing all the work. The wealth addicts need some rehab. See you in the streets!
It’s amazing how these wealth addicts are able to turn (excuse their crimes) putting the blame elsewhere - deflect and obfuscate their methods. I see it of course in other matters so these liars and cowards are not alone. I try my best to confront the liars and cowards in my own life but they are slippery bastards and many enable them. I don’t know what to do as calling them on it doesn’t seem to have any impact.
Staying sane and grounded isn't easy when dealing with them, but I'm glad we are trying. Wish I understood these personality types when I was "young and dumb". They simply are who they are.
Billionaires are having an orgy now, with the freedom to loot the treasury, steal from the poor, strip all smaller businesses of their value, and even make up their own currency and sell it for actual currencies. They will break this planet for the momentary thrill of getting richer.
Since we're discussing pathologies, consider Antisocial Personality Disorder as well.
From the DSM -5 , among other criteria are lack of empathy: lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others; lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another. exploitation as a primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and coercion;
use of dominance or intimidation to control others; frequent use of subterfuge to influence or control others; use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve one's ends; Deceitfulness; dishonesty and fraudulence; misrepresentation of self; embellishment or
fabrication when relating events; lack of concern for feelings or problems of others; lack of guilt or remorse about the negative or harmful effects of one's actions on others; aggression; sadism; anger or irritability in respoynse to minor slights and nsults; mean, nasty, or vengeful behavior.
Sorry for the psychobabble so early on a Wednesday but the pathology is so much deeper than hoarding. I bet you can see similarities to a certain tangerine-colored buffoon sitting in the White House (if he's not out golfing or hanging out with his favorite dictators while dreaming of solid gold 747s and Trump Bibles (damn, I gave it away, didn't I)>
Wow! An excellent overview of the "Greed is good" sector of humanity.
Another way to look at billionaire wealth, besides the hoarding metaphor, is that it becomes a substitute for a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Few billionaires have any real friends. They have toys and sycophants who depend on them for their own wealth. I know this because I grew up around great wealth due to rich relatives.
The richer one gets, the higher the likelihood that people trying to befriend you are really motivated by the desire to exploit you – get a piece of your action. As Trump nicely points out in his daily behavior – all relationships become transactional and predatory. “If you marry me, I will be your trophy.” “If you are seen with me socially, it will increase your fame and book, ticket, fashion, or recording sales.” Trust in relationships becomes replaced with manipulation and dominance. You really have no true friends – just people in debt to you or in fear of you.
Both Trump and Diddy Combs seem to be examples of the dark side of great wealth. In time, your money owns you; not the other way around. As your wealth accumulates beyond that needed for a comfortable life, it becomes your identity. Do you really need 3 airplanes and 4 houses? Of course, to most of the proletariat, the behavior of the super-wealthy capitalists is just predatory. It makes sense that people like Trump, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc. mock billionaires like George Soros who give their wealth away to make life better for others because they create an unflattering contrast to the selfishness of predatory billionaires. Just ask Bill Gates.
Believe what you see. Most billionaires have nepos to "give it all away to." What are they/Bezos too waiting for? He does not need the money - but he sure is addicted to turning WAPO into the MAGA Post to filter the facts to manipulate the proletariat. Don'tcha think Musk could share some of his $400,000 million dollars? That would be taking the air out of his own ego. Bezos too.
Any would-be Democratic leader who fails to recognize, articulate, and attack the oligarchic destruction of America is a participant in the destruction. FDR has given us a perfect model of what real leadership can accomplish, and how. Beware corporate Democrats: they support perpetuation of the problem.
Wow! As a mental health therapist with good diagnostic skills I couldn't figure out why these billionaires like Elon Musk want more and more money than they and their descendents could ever spend and not caring that others are hardly scraping by. I can't believe it's as simple as a hoarding disorder. Thank you for laying it ourt so clearly....
Welcome to the third world. I never thought that we would be here but here we are. The fact that the morbidly rich forget about everyone else is astounding to me. How could a person be so callous? To me excess wealth would be a curse. Every rich person I have known is paranoid that others would steal his wealth. I guess accumulating wealth does nothing to make you altruistic. Like I said, a curse.
The sickness of riches comes naturally to the spiritual unfit. Nobody can handle money that is an energy correctly when a person is not fit to hold it. That energy controls people that are unable to keep it for its Godly purpose. The Bible tithes are 50% for the individuals that had wealth. The 1/7 portion was for the Temple tax and the poor were allowed to negotiate with the priest what was reasonable for them. Wealth needs to be taxed 50% at a minimum as the EU does. Companies need to be taxed the same when they reach a size and budget that makes them able to be functional on their own. This minimum tax changes behavior of in an economy by making money expensive rather than cheap that generates undesirable speculation in Wall Street. Democracy works best when the wealth of the nation is spread wide to the majority of workers that generate wealth. Social problem all stem from the failure to spread that wealth to the majority of workers and a failure to tax the rich at the rate to keep them from using it against the people and Democracy.
The sin is LOVE of money. Money in of itself is an inanimate object.
I am old enough to remember a 70% income tax. We used stuff like pour over trusts, key (wo)man life insurance and other tax shelters to avoid high tax rates.
The richest among us do not take a salary, do not pay ANY income taxes. They have assets with values that beat inflation and borrow from themselves. Check out Herr Thiel. Reports, drawing from IRS records, indicate that Peter Thiel's Roth IRA grew from less than $2,000 in 1999 to over $5 billion by 2021. This was achieved primarily through strategic investments in high-growth companies, including PayPal and Facebook, leveraging the tax advantages of a Roth IRA.
I knew folks who were land rich and cash poor and on paper had little if any income but had a higher life style than some of those billionaires.
The Saudis own our largest rfefineries, control some of our companies like Exxon. Treasury should recoup trillions. Instead Trump does "deals" where Trump resorts pop up, we lose the PGA, etc.
How much do the Gulf states pay in US income taxes? Excise?
I am of the opinion that it isn't hoarding as much as it is an addiction. The higher you climb the harder you fall, and these people have to be paranoid and nervous about losing status.
I am also pretty sure that the billionaires are quietly building underground bunkers, even small cities, the current TV series Paradise touches on it,
Billionaires are increasingly investing in luxury bunkers as a form of preparedness for potential societal or environmental disruptions. These bunkers, often described as "doomsday bunkers," can range from simple shelters to elaborate underground complexes with amenities like private golf courses, swimming pools, and helipads.
"Billionaire Bunker" A/K/A Indian Creek Island, Miami Beach, is home to many wealthy and famous residents, including Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Carl Icahn, and David Guetta. The island is known for its exclusivity and privacy, with a dedicated 24/7 law enforcement agency patrolling the area.
The majority started at third base and thought they hit a triple. Musk, Bezos and the late Paul Allen are obsessed with space....
These aren't survival bunkers, but private playgrounds. The survival bunkers are built into granite bedrock at elevation, away from rising sea levels., there is also a floating city in the works, and sea bed colonies.
Thom’s article and wonderfully expressed view, here, needs to be understood and absorbed throughly. Hoarding money is an illness, one of many that these super-wealthy people seem to share. Money not only represents power but controls power. This is our cultural sickness that so many aspire to. It is bred into us by thousands of years of deprivation suffered by populations and imprinted in our very genes.
We as a people are being herded and that seems plain. Some of us may truly make reasoned decisions based upon “ideology” but most, I believe, are way too immediately reactionary to get that deep.
The population as a whole are the commodity that is being used and controlled, being dumbed down, and systematically stripped of any personal say-so as to their future or control of their lives as a whole. But, unfortunately, the vast majority still dream of a life of seeming unlimited riches that will somehow buy them safety in this volatile world we all share. It’s entrenched in very system of economics and has been for a very long time. Taking from others in order to have what you need to live not only comfortably but beyond comfort.
Wealth, we believe, is finite and people are the ones that decide what is considered wealth, ultimately. And, certain people with the designated authority seem to dictate what constitutes wealth.
I offered to pay a home organizer to help my step-daughter, Vicki Black, with her overfilled living spaces so she would feel organized. The situation in the home affected her socially. I know they didn't invite people over very often, and my husband did not feel comfortable there. I can say I have packed a few things in closets that I have gotten rid of, and I feel better. Over the years, entertaining in our home twice a month for the Democrat Party and the First Friday of the month dinner didn't stop us from inviting people in. I am not certain how this hoarding of stuff is connected to the oligarchs' disease and wanting more money. Does it make them refrain from socializing? I don't think so as they are always in the media and they seem to hang with their own.
I’m pretty sure that this is about addiction. There really isn’t anything rational or pragmatic about the wealthiest insistence that they must always have more and more money. In fact, I’ve not been able to find any positive (for the wealthy or anyone else) end game in their behavior.
Everything about their behavior screams on easily and addiction
My theory is that when a person has so much money they can buy anything they desire, go anywhere, do pretty much anything they want (probably, in some cases, even getting away with murder), nothing is beyond their reach, what is left to motivate them to get up, to get going. What is their purpose? What is their reason for living?
I suspect that it quickly gets rather boring having anything and everything you want. What’s left to achieve, to anticipate?
Aside from visions of some of high tech billionaires’ visions of going to Mars (which in reality few people will want to go; not a very human friendly place) or conquering the galaxy and then the Universe (assuming they ever get their new-fangled space craft to launch without blowing up), I’m thinking most of these folks keep their charge going via a fixation with getting MORE. No matter how much they have, they believe they need and are deserving of MORE.
Money is their drug of choice, and they need a regular hit or they simply don’t know what to do with themselves.
It may be that the ongoing challenge of finding new schemes, new grifts, to squeeze even more out of their corporate investments helps keep the thrill going. Or perhaps it’s the clever planning of how to clean out other big $ players competing for the next big profit deal that keeps them excited and driven.
Whatever it is, it’s still not very rational, because they are wrecking havoc on our country and the people.
They may also fail to understand the degree to which their ongoing profiteering is dependent on masses - after, its is the employees value of labor that shareholder earnings is used to pay off shareholders and whose pay must be large enough for them to afford to purchase (according to Adam Smith, the revenue from sales of food and services produced by a corporation minus the costs of production except labor equals the total value of labor)
On Heather Cox Richardson this morning, one reader stated:
The only New Deal program that has stood the test of time is Social Security. The American people have since dismantled, of their own accord, much of the New Deal, in spite of whatever they learned in 'school.' He submitted stats to show FDR programs ... "were so ineffective that in 1939, after six years in office, the unemployment rate was 17%."
My response in part is that FDR and LBJ programs have been undermined since incception by idiologues who spread the misinformation (or disinformation). The people who will be screwed by the House budget include beneficiaries of farm subsidies, SNAP - the modern versions of food stamps, Black Lung benefits, etc. Statistics show that about 80% of the general population need a hand up and FDR initiated the safety net, which is necessary and is certainly better than the nothing that Republicans offer. Statistics also show a ripple effect into the general population. These folks need to spend and eventually their spending increases the GNP.
FDR had a tough time, and there was reaction and a fallback in 1937-1938 but but for FDR reforms this country may have become Communist. Membership levels remained below 20,000 until 1933 and then surged upward in the late 1930s, reaching 66,000 in 1939. We also had an internal fascist threat.
The Banking Act of 1935 and the Securities Act of 1933 were designed to prevent future bank failures and protect investors from fraudulent practices. The Wagner Act also created the National Labor Relations Board to oversee union activities and ensure fair labor practices. Projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) brought electricity and economic development to rural communities.
As to the 17% AI tells me that individuals employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were not included as employed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 1939. The BLS considered them separately, not as part of the overall civilian labor force.
At the WPA's peak in 1938, it employed 3.3 million workers.
At the height of the Depression in 1933, 24.9% of the total work force or 12,830,000 people was unemployed. Although farmers technically were not counted among the unemployed, drastic drops in farm commodity prices resulted in farmers losing their lands and homes to foreclosure. https://www.fdrlibrary.org/great-depression-facts#:~:text=How%20high%20was%20unemployment%20during,lands%20and%20homes%20to%20foreclosure.
During the Great Depression, the average annual income in the United States was about $1,368 per person. This was a significant drop from the pre-Depression era, as per capita income fell dramatically. For example, by 1933, average family income had fallen by 40% from 1929 levels. In 1929, before the Depression, disposable personal income per capita was $7,361 in chained 2012 dollars, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By 1939, it had fallen to $7,496 in chained 2012 dollars, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Average per capita income did not fully recover to pre-Depression levels by the end of the 1930s.
The Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, and initial taxes were collected in 1937. However, the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made in 1937, and the first regular monthly payments began in 1940.
Many families sought to cope by planting gardens, canning food, buying used bread, and using cardboard and cotton for shoe soles, etc. Millions of unemployed workers "hit the rods" travelling to find work. Families were torn apart. Entire populations had to relocate - in some cases due to climate chjange -- like the dust bowl -- but mostly due to poverty.
During the Great Depression, the US age-standardized suicide rate increased significantly, reaching its highest point in 1932 at 22.1 per 100,000. This was a notable increase from the rate of 18.0 per 100,000 in 1928. The overall suicide rate fluctuated between 10.4 and 22.1 over the 1928-2007 period.
I still think that most politics is cultural -- not entirely based on economics. Much of our law -- "common" law -- comes to us via concepts of morality -- a right v s wrong dichotomy.
We've been exposed to a number of arguments that have been completely discredited -- like trickle down theory -- and the need to balance the government budget -- which remain the basis of Republican policy.
AI. The enactment of Social Security in 1935, and subsequent amendments, while aiming to provide economic security, has been argued to have had a negative impact on family unity and traditional family structures. This argument suggests that Social Security's "pay-as-you-go" system has created a disincentive for parents to invest in their children's futures, as they believe the government will provide for them in old age.
I am 2 generations away from being a "worker," although I was a grunt for a year in southeast Asia. Most of my forebears were petit bourgois. Shop keepers. Hardware. Textiles. Lawyers. Doctors. However, I have the empathy gene and I am practical.
These days we mostly have a "gig" economy and. the industrial revolution is long gone.
I don't begrudge most rich people. I do resent demagogues, thieves, cons, and sadists.
We are better off when we don't have income disparities. Thom wrote "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class" and "The Hidden History of the American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class—and How to Rescue Our Future". Robert Reich has a free course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f2blKai7HA
The study of economics must be cultural. The facts are dispositive. The problem is that Congressional Republicans cut class or if they did atrtend, either didn't pay attention or have the elevator problem -- skips a few floors and doesnt make it to the roof.
Mr. Solomon you are correct about "trickle down theory" which is barely a theory, in the traditional sense. It was not much more than a catchy talking point in the popular, mass media. any serious economist saw through it, even those who avowed it most vehemently; especially among those. "the need to balance the government budget" was torn asunder best by Stephanie Kelton in her 2001 book THE DEFICIT MYTH. She points out that every time the U.S. government has made an attempt to
balance" the budget; a recession or depression follows as a consequence. The historical figures she points to are surprising and a little spooky.
That is what I have been saying. The media is deflecting, considering that the media is corporate and thus serves it's corporate masters, it has myopia and sees the political landscape in terms of economics (the price of eggs so to speak)
In reality it is the culture war first, maybe price of eggs second. All one needs to do is to look at the Trusk (Mump) regime and it's emphasis. All culture war (DEI and immigration)
I may be a a bit unschooled in understanding what you are saying in paragraph three: (The argument suggests that S.S.'s "pay-as-you-go" system has created a disincentive for parents to invest in their children's futures, as they believe the government will provide for them in old age.) In other words, the parents feel no need to invest in their children's future because the children will receive S.S. in old age?
That's the Republican position. Once upon a time I was invited to a right wing think tank that was devoted to upending SS. Later I worked for SSA, I've written publiched papers about it and I still hear stuff like that.
I don't know this as a fact but the sociology departments in "conservative" colleges and think tanks have even more sophisticated rationales for believing that the FDR and LBJ programs criple sociuaety and made people dependant.
Nevermind the stats.
It wasn't the people who dismantled the New Deal. The sheep were just following the lead of the Judas Goats on their way to the slaughter house.
I take the position it's idiological.
The sheep or the goat?
Mr. Solomon, the record does indeed show that FDR's programs had only a "small" effect on the economy for many of his years in office. However, that "small" effect was beneficial for the common citizen. Of that, there is no doubt. It is also true that the big business leaders fought against his programs tooth and nail, thus minimizing their proper, intended effect. And FDR's policies were publicly labelled as communist. It is ironic that FDR SAVED capitalism from communism, to the benefit of the business community. He saved them and they foolishly hated him for it. FDR was a REFORMER not a RADICAL.
As for "unemployment" figures; that is a topic which has always been freighted with contested forces. Still is. When trying to create stratified, random samples for the research projects I was involved in during my younger years at two universities; we always had a difficult time creating a useable, valid, sample where that variable ["unemployment"] was concerned. Probably a true, let us say valid, or more accurate accounting of "unemployment" during FDR's years would reveal a much lower level of "unemployment" as compared to what is in the official records for years. There is no way I can offer dispositive proof here. But it is what I have always strongly suspected. FDR's programs were perhaps much more effective than we realize.
There is also no doubt at all that the spending on WWll gave the U.S.A. such a military/Keynesian pump on the economic well springs of our national finances that this is clearly what lifted us up out of the terrible Great Depression. Eisenhower must be given great credit for recognizing what a DOUBLE-EDGED sword FDR's military/Keynesianism was; as Ike made his farewell speech upon leaving the White House. Ike is a guy who never gets the recognition he should by the political left. He was more sagacious than is recognized.
Boiling this down to "wealth addicts" is exactly the way to go. Addiction of some kind has touched everyone; it's really easy to understand. We must repeat it during every political discussion we have. They are the rotten apples spoiling our future.
I think we also need to commend those that have seen the light. They want to give away most of their fortune before they die. Turns out some do NOT want to take it with them.
Sanford published a paper in 2017 about this: "The Myth of Millionaire Tax Flight-How Place Still Matters for the Rich". It seems they are most often attached to where they made the money and heavy taxes just don't scare them off. So let's make them pay their fair-share and let's reverse Citizen's United. We can turn those two words back into what they really mean.
Thanks Thom. We deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, especially the people doing all the work. The wealth addicts need some rehab. See you in the streets!
It’s amazing how these wealth addicts are able to turn (excuse their crimes) putting the blame elsewhere - deflect and obfuscate their methods. I see it of course in other matters so these liars and cowards are not alone. I try my best to confront the liars and cowards in my own life but they are slippery bastards and many enable them. I don’t know what to do as calling them on it doesn’t seem to have any impact.
Staying sane and grounded isn't easy when dealing with them, but I'm glad we are trying. Wish I understood these personality types when I was "young and dumb". They simply are who they are.
Thank you for the uplifting words.
Yes. United Citizens!
Correction: Stanford University Press published that study by Cristobal Young.
Billionaires are having an orgy now, with the freedom to loot the treasury, steal from the poor, strip all smaller businesses of their value, and even make up their own currency and sell it for actual currencies. They will break this planet for the momentary thrill of getting richer.
Since we're discussing pathologies, consider Antisocial Personality Disorder as well.
From the DSM -5 , among other criteria are lack of empathy: lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others; lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another. exploitation as a primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and coercion;
use of dominance or intimidation to control others; frequent use of subterfuge to influence or control others; use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve one's ends; Deceitfulness; dishonesty and fraudulence; misrepresentation of self; embellishment or
fabrication when relating events; lack of concern for feelings or problems of others; lack of guilt or remorse about the negative or harmful effects of one's actions on others; aggression; sadism; anger or irritability in respoynse to minor slights and nsults; mean, nasty, or vengeful behavior.
Sorry for the psychobabble so early on a Wednesday but the pathology is so much deeper than hoarding. I bet you can see similarities to a certain tangerine-colored buffoon sitting in the White House (if he's not out golfing or hanging out with his favorite dictators while dreaming of solid gold 747s and Trump Bibles (damn, I gave it away, didn't I)>
At best these are co-dependants.
Trump is entirely transactional. These folks expect a quid pro quo.
Where are the forensic auditors? If (and when?) Trump steals the national treasury, who else (if anybody) benefits?
How can an investor replicate Trump?
Their reports will be labeled "fake news" by the propagandists.
Wow! An excellent overview of the "Greed is good" sector of humanity.
Another way to look at billionaire wealth, besides the hoarding metaphor, is that it becomes a substitute for a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Few billionaires have any real friends. They have toys and sycophants who depend on them for their own wealth. I know this because I grew up around great wealth due to rich relatives.
The richer one gets, the higher the likelihood that people trying to befriend you are really motivated by the desire to exploit you – get a piece of your action. As Trump nicely points out in his daily behavior – all relationships become transactional and predatory. “If you marry me, I will be your trophy.” “If you are seen with me socially, it will increase your fame and book, ticket, fashion, or recording sales.” Trust in relationships becomes replaced with manipulation and dominance. You really have no true friends – just people in debt to you or in fear of you.
Both Trump and Diddy Combs seem to be examples of the dark side of great wealth. In time, your money owns you; not the other way around. As your wealth accumulates beyond that needed for a comfortable life, it becomes your identity. Do you really need 3 airplanes and 4 houses? Of course, to most of the proletariat, the behavior of the super-wealthy capitalists is just predatory. It makes sense that people like Trump, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc. mock billionaires like George Soros who give their wealth away to make life better for others because they create an unflattering contrast to the selfishness of predatory billionaires. Just ask Bill Gates.
I don't know whether all of that is accurate. I know several who tell me they take orders from God (or a god).
BTW, Bezos says he's giving it all away. To whom is the question.
Believe what you see. Most billionaires have nepos to "give it all away to." What are they/Bezos too waiting for? He does not need the money - but he sure is addicted to turning WAPO into the MAGA Post to filter the facts to manipulate the proletariat. Don'tcha think Musk could share some of his $400,000 million dollars? That would be taking the air out of his own ego. Bezos too.
When? To who? Which organizations?
Any would-be Democratic leader who fails to recognize, articulate, and attack the oligarchic destruction of America is a participant in the destruction. FDR has given us a perfect model of what real leadership can accomplish, and how. Beware corporate Democrats: they support perpetuation of the problem.
Wish every American would read this. And certainly all our robberbarans. I'M CERTAINLY SHARING!!!
If the barons read this they'll either sue the site or buy it outright.
Wow! As a mental health therapist with good diagnostic skills I couldn't figure out why these billionaires like Elon Musk want more and more money than they and their descendents could ever spend and not caring that others are hardly scraping by. I can't believe it's as simple as a hoarding disorder. Thank you for laying it ourt so clearly....
Wow, fascinating analysis. Thank you. Every American Citizen needs to read this!
At least this who still read.
Welcome to the third world. I never thought that we would be here but here we are. The fact that the morbidly rich forget about everyone else is astounding to me. How could a person be so callous? To me excess wealth would be a curse. Every rich person I have known is paranoid that others would steal his wealth. I guess accumulating wealth does nothing to make you altruistic. Like I said, a curse.
The sickness of riches comes naturally to the spiritual unfit. Nobody can handle money that is an energy correctly when a person is not fit to hold it. That energy controls people that are unable to keep it for its Godly purpose. The Bible tithes are 50% for the individuals that had wealth. The 1/7 portion was for the Temple tax and the poor were allowed to negotiate with the priest what was reasonable for them. Wealth needs to be taxed 50% at a minimum as the EU does. Companies need to be taxed the same when they reach a size and budget that makes them able to be functional on their own. This minimum tax changes behavior of in an economy by making money expensive rather than cheap that generates undesirable speculation in Wall Street. Democracy works best when the wealth of the nation is spread wide to the majority of workers that generate wealth. Social problem all stem from the failure to spread that wealth to the majority of workers and a failure to tax the rich at the rate to keep them from using it against the people and Democracy.
The sin is LOVE of money. Money in of itself is an inanimate object.
I am old enough to remember a 70% income tax. We used stuff like pour over trusts, key (wo)man life insurance and other tax shelters to avoid high tax rates.
The richest among us do not take a salary, do not pay ANY income taxes. They have assets with values that beat inflation and borrow from themselves. Check out Herr Thiel. Reports, drawing from IRS records, indicate that Peter Thiel's Roth IRA grew from less than $2,000 in 1999 to over $5 billion by 2021. This was achieved primarily through strategic investments in high-growth companies, including PayPal and Facebook, leveraging the tax advantages of a Roth IRA.
I knew folks who were land rich and cash poor and on paper had little if any income but had a higher life style than some of those billionaires.
Life ain't fair.
I recall that as well. That's when the nation could do wonderful things for our society.
We also have been scammed since 1973 by OPEC that has undermined our economy. This used to be a bipartisan issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Oil_Producing_and_Exporting_Cartels_Act
The Saudis own our largest rfefineries, control some of our companies like Exxon. Treasury should recoup trillions. Instead Trump does "deals" where Trump resorts pop up, we lose the PGA, etc.
How much do the Gulf states pay in US income taxes? Excise?
Lest we forget, ARAMCO is the acronym for Arabian American Oil Company. the Saudis didn't buy out the Americans until 1988./
I am of the opinion that it isn't hoarding as much as it is an addiction. The higher you climb the harder you fall, and these people have to be paranoid and nervous about losing status.
I am also pretty sure that the billionaires are quietly building underground bunkers, even small cities, the current TV series Paradise touches on it,
Billionaires are increasingly investing in luxury bunkers as a form of preparedness for potential societal or environmental disruptions. These bunkers, often described as "doomsday bunkers," can range from simple shelters to elaborate underground complexes with amenities like private golf courses, swimming pools, and helipads.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
"Billionaire Bunker" A/K/A Indian Creek Island, Miami Beach, is home to many wealthy and famous residents, including Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Carl Icahn, and David Guetta. The island is known for its exclusivity and privacy, with a dedicated 24/7 law enforcement agency patrolling the area.
The majority started at third base and thought they hit a triple. Musk, Bezos and the late Paul Allen are obsessed with space....
Here, residents of Indian Creek
These aren't survival bunkers, but private playgrounds. The survival bunkers are built into granite bedrock at elevation, away from rising sea levels., there is also a floating city in the works, and sea bed colonies.
I grew up near caves and mines that have been converted....
In the 50's boucoups houses had bomb shelters...
Middle class preppers bunkers are one thing, but the ones that the likes of Musk, Thiel etc are building are in a different league.
Medium.com has some interesting articles on these billionaire bunkers, alas it is behind a paywall ($50)
Obssessed with space... as on land or outer space?
WOW! Just WOW!
Sharing widely & wildly.
MaryPat Sercu
MSU '74
Thom’s article and wonderfully expressed view, here, needs to be understood and absorbed throughly. Hoarding money is an illness, one of many that these super-wealthy people seem to share. Money not only represents power but controls power. This is our cultural sickness that so many aspire to. It is bred into us by thousands of years of deprivation suffered by populations and imprinted in our very genes.
We as a people are being herded and that seems plain. Some of us may truly make reasoned decisions based upon “ideology” but most, I believe, are way too immediately reactionary to get that deep.
The population as a whole are the commodity that is being used and controlled, being dumbed down, and systematically stripped of any personal say-so as to their future or control of their lives as a whole. But, unfortunately, the vast majority still dream of a life of seeming unlimited riches that will somehow buy them safety in this volatile world we all share. It’s entrenched in very system of economics and has been for a very long time. Taking from others in order to have what you need to live not only comfortably but beyond comfort.
Wealth, we believe, is finite and people are the ones that decide what is considered wealth, ultimately. And, certain people with the designated authority seem to dictate what constitutes wealth.
Hoarding is both a symptom and a result of our society as a whole and our culture.
I offered to pay a home organizer to help my step-daughter, Vicki Black, with her overfilled living spaces so she would feel organized. The situation in the home affected her socially. I know they didn't invite people over very often, and my husband did not feel comfortable there. I can say I have packed a few things in closets that I have gotten rid of, and I feel better. Over the years, entertaining in our home twice a month for the Democrat Party and the First Friday of the month dinner didn't stop us from inviting people in. I am not certain how this hoarding of stuff is connected to the oligarchs' disease and wanting more money. Does it make them refrain from socializing? I don't think so as they are always in the media and they seem to hang with their own.
I’m pretty sure that this is about addiction. There really isn’t anything rational or pragmatic about the wealthiest insistence that they must always have more and more money. In fact, I’ve not been able to find any positive (for the wealthy or anyone else) end game in their behavior.
Everything about their behavior screams on easily and addiction
My theory is that when a person has so much money they can buy anything they desire, go anywhere, do pretty much anything they want (probably, in some cases, even getting away with murder), nothing is beyond their reach, what is left to motivate them to get up, to get going. What is their purpose? What is their reason for living?
I suspect that it quickly gets rather boring having anything and everything you want. What’s left to achieve, to anticipate?
Aside from visions of some of high tech billionaires’ visions of going to Mars (which in reality few people will want to go; not a very human friendly place) or conquering the galaxy and then the Universe (assuming they ever get their new-fangled space craft to launch without blowing up), I’m thinking most of these folks keep their charge going via a fixation with getting MORE. No matter how much they have, they believe they need and are deserving of MORE.
Money is their drug of choice, and they need a regular hit or they simply don’t know what to do with themselves.
It may be that the ongoing challenge of finding new schemes, new grifts, to squeeze even more out of their corporate investments helps keep the thrill going. Or perhaps it’s the clever planning of how to clean out other big $ players competing for the next big profit deal that keeps them excited and driven.
Whatever it is, it’s still not very rational, because they are wrecking havoc on our country and the people.
They may also fail to understand the degree to which their ongoing profiteering is dependent on masses - after, its is the employees value of labor that shareholder earnings is used to pay off shareholders and whose pay must be large enough for them to afford to purchase (according to Adam Smith, the revenue from sales of food and services produced by a corporation minus the costs of production except labor equals the total value of labor)