Big picture: Inequality in America is grotesque, immoral and obscene, and getting worse by the week. Just 20 people now own as much wealth as the bottom half of our entire population combined. Just the richest 1% alone now hold as much as the bottom 99% combined. That milestone was passed for the first time in 2016. It’s getting worse.
And, thanks to endless capitalist propaganda, most Americans don’t realize things are this bad. Most believe we have inequality rates similar to Sweden’s, according to blind surveys conducted recently. As in, when people are shown various breakdowns of wealth distribution here, they think ours are close to Sweden’s, and more than 90% choose Sweden’s as ideal. Of course, they don’t know they’re choosing Sweden’s. Those surveys are like blind taste-tests.
Obviously, when Americans believe things aren’t so bad, it’s difficult to get them to pay attention to any calls to correct this obscenity. Why should they? They don’t even realize Houston has a problem. And politicians, the media, our culture industry, especially Hollywood, constantly brainwash the people into believing, they too, can live like the rich and famous, if only they “work hard and play by the rules.” This nonsense is augmented by the perception that a lot of people live this way. In reality, barely more than 10% of Americans ever make it up to six figures in salary. The vast majority will never see 100K, much less become “rich.”
This incredibly condescending mishmash of propaganda has been so effective, the last several generations have thoroughly embraced these myths and have basically stopped fighting back. So when Trump comes out with his brazenly self-serving tax cut plan, most people likely think, “Well, I’m going to get a tax cut, so, kewl.” In reality, whenever the rich are included at all in a tax cut, inequality automatically increases. That’s just how the math and percentages work. There is no way around that. Even if the plan called for zeroing out all taxation for those making 200K or less, but gave millionaires and billionaires a 10% cut, inequality would still rise. Again, that’s just math.
The media, whenever they talk about taxes, rarely if ever talk about inequality. And they more often than not lie about things like the Estate Tax. Last night on CNN, for example, one pundit said that tax impacts a lot of people, and there was no fact-checking from the host to rebut this. In reality, the Estate Tax impacts just 0.2% of the population — just those individuals with estates of 5.49 million or more, and couples at the 11 million dollar level and beyond. But thanks to endless lies, often focusing on “family farms,” all too many people think that tax devastates millions of Americans, especially that traditional stand-in for the best of the heartland: farmers.
Another key lie that is now simply conventional wisdom: lower rates on corporations will spur growth. Um, no. In reality, much, much higher taxes do. Why? Because businesses are taxed only on profits, which means they can zero out their tax liabilities, if they choose, by reinvesting everything back into their company. There is no reason for a business to actually have to pay more than a tiny bit in taxation in any given year (on its rainy day surpluses, say), if it reinvests in hiring, better rank and file wages, production, etc. etc. If it acts, in essence, as a non-profit, it already has the ability to avoid the vast majority of taxes. And when those tax rates fall, it has even less incentive to reinvest. It can take that money and buy up assets and speculate instead.
The other key lie/CW is this: Tax cuts stimulate the economy. No. They never have and they never will. What stimulates the economy — and this is only temporary, and must be paid back — is matching those tax cuts with deficit spending. If the government ever cuts spending to offset tax cuts, there is no net increase in overall spending or stimulus. It’s a wash at best. It’s like, Mrs. Smith gets a raise of $1000 dollars, but Mr. Smith gets a pay cut of the same amount. The Smiths don’t gain a penny in additional buying power.
Bottom line: The propaganda surrounding all of this is overwhelming, and Americans simply can’t count on either party, the media or the culture industry to “fix it.” It’s going to take a mass movement to oppose the rapaciousness and corruption inherent in our economic system, and our economic system controls our political system.
