tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post5286052820072024658..comments2023-09-21T06:15:03.099-07:00Comments on Conjugate Visits: More on How to Read the NewsJune Casagrandehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-27365451889168744902008-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:002008-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:00I just can't get over how it's considered "sociali...I just can't get over how it's considered "socialist" to help individuals but just fine to help big business. Especially when the business's leaders have affronted the entire capitalist system by demonstrating that the Invisible Hand of Self Interest, left unregulated, gives us Enrons.<BR/><BR/>It's exactly that Joe Sixpack phenomenon you mentioned. If only so many weren't so easily misled by PR tactic that is branding things as "socialist." Why must mindless smears work so well?June Casagrandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-9525110669263694842008-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:002008-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:00This reminds me of when the Republican Congress to...This reminds me of when the Republican Congress toughened the rules on consumer bankruptcy, essentially and transparently making it an option only for those <I>with</I> money (and, of course, for corporations as well). Another thing that gets me in all of this is that the folks who run these rackets usually end up escaping not only pain-free but often with absurd golden parachutes. That is, they not only avoid punishment; they're <B>rewarded</B> for their incompetence and/or callous indifference.<BR/><BR/>But, yaknow what, it's just like I said before (btw, I always wonder how to punctuate that, whether there should be an actual question mark in there; sometimes I split it into two sentences and sometimes I even lead the second sentence with lowercase, as an expression of my fundamental confusion; sometimes I set the "yaknow what?" off in dashes, which I way over use . . . oh, and then there are the issues I run into with my rambling parenthetical insertions, but that's another dysfunction for another day): start talking about restructuring the tax code and setting limits on executive pay and Joe Sixpack reflexively identifies you as a socialist.<BR/><BR/>I'm in one of those discussions on another blog and I'm completely at a loss for how to present the situation both truthfully and in a way that will get through.<BR/><BR/>Again on the news this morning, I heard a Republican congressman clearly saying (re the golden parachute and outrageous executive compensation in general) that a private board is entitled to pay its executives however it pleases. Frankly, I don't care if it does make me a socialist, the pay disparity and the lack of accountability are simply unjust and something needs to be done. The huge absurdity, as you say, is that we're all okay bailing these bums out; we're just not okay holding them accountable. Somehow the former still fits within the definition of "free market capitalism" but the latter is commie drivel.<BR/><BR/>I just wish we'd call it what it is, a plutocracy, and that we'd realize that there's no divine prohibition against tearing it down.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550742712966484303noreply@blogger.com