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Martha Ture's avatar

The welfare of a state depends upon the character of its citizenship.--Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

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Keith Firestone's avatar

Dan, we just celebrated July 4th, who do you think orchestrated the American revolution: the oligarchs.

Whom do you think orchestrated the constitution:?the oligarchs.

The harsh reality: whether it is democratic socialism; democratic capitalism; proletariat communism or authoritarian fascism or any other form of government societies are run by elites.

The difference is that one form of government provides a better life for the masses than the others and that is democratic capitalism.

And how do we know that:

People want to come to democratic capitalistic countries and very, very few leave. Hence the migrant crisis.

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Barry Jacobson's avatar

Keith, you seem to have missed the author's point entirely. Dan Perry is no admirer of centrally manipulated anti-capitalist economies or the political systems that go with them. The VERY simple point being made here is that, on this extraordinary occasion in American history when the millionaires who are the main actors in the government go so far overboard with gaming the system, in order to directly transfer trillions of dollars worth of necessary well-being from the laboring classes directly to the billionaires, CAPITALISM ITSELF SUFFERS, AND WE RISK A SERIOUS NET LOSS OF FREEDOM AS A RESULT.

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Keith Firestone's avatar

Martha, do you think by my definition you are an elite?

I don’t know you. This is not a personal!

What I am saying is that in every society there are people at the top who make decisions: whether it is a monarchy, a communist, a capitalist society: Democrat or Republican Administration.

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Keith Firestone's avatar

Barry, who benefited from the Inflation Reduction Act? Check out

the solar industry. First Solar wrote the section on tax credits!

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Keith Firestone's avatar

I get his point. My only point is that all of these political systems reward the elites including the American revolution.

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Martha Ture's avatar

I would like a definition of "the elites." Is one an elite if one has a 4-year college degree? Is one an elite if one has inherited some wealth from a parent? Is one an elite if one works as a civil servant in a government job? Is "elite" the new pejorative, like "commie" or "scab" or "enemy of the people?"

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Keith Firestone's avatar

No, an “elite” is an individual who has access to or operates the levers of power in a society.

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Martha Ture's avatar

So, could you unpack that a little more, please? I worked for EPA in the office of policy analysis. I wrote a report to Congress on the effects of the Superfund law on states’ taxes. Does that equal having access to or operating the levers of power? I worked for the California Public Utilities Commission as a regulatory analyst, bringing lawsuits against utilities that ripped off the public. Does that make me an elite? If it does, do you disparage my work and me?

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