This sentence both confused and delighted me:
Many people, including me, have decided that the overclass poses the most serious threat today to the middle class in the United States because it markets the assertion that the underclass is the source of all our problems.
The author is Nancy Folbre, the source is the NY Times Economix blog.
I ran it through various translators and the best I could come up with was, I hate rich people and you should too.
Anyone else? Bueller?
2 comments:
It sounds to me like she thinks the "overclass" is fomenting (in old timey Marxist terms) a False Consciousness among the middle class and manipulating them to act against their own self-interest by not supporting punitive marginal tax rates, ever-higher levels of government spending, a dictatorship of the proletariat, etc.
Jeff seems to be on the ball with her intended meaning (artificial creating of in-fighting among middle class, etc.)
My guess is her gut is saying "People shouldn't have to take responsibility for their mistakes. There are more of us (middle class) than them (1%), so let's use this Democracy thing to minimize the pain we have to feel."
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