Wealth Re-Distribution

Ever since the late stages of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, conservatives of all shapes and sizes have worked tirelessly to tar him with the label of "socialist" and to suggest that he's secretly in favour of wealth re-distribution. This tactic has, in addition to further boosting sales of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, worked to stir up all kinds of fears in the American public. To which I say: What the Hell do you think has been going on up 'til now? Wealth's been getting re-distributed at an alarming rate for at least the past decade. It's just all been going the other way!

One symptom of the re-distribution is the widening of the gap between the upper and lower income classes in the U.S. as well as the shrinking of the middle class. That sort of thing speaks volumes about where the money has been going, and here's a clue: it ain't been trickling down!

Next, consider the large volumes of money that disappeared out of millions of Americans' 401(k) plans over the past six months. None of that cash actually evaporated, as much as it may have seemed that way to the account holders. Instead, it went to the executives of the corporations, investment banks, legal firms and other entities that made out like bandits with their multi-million dollar bonus plans of every variety imaginable (including my favourite: the practice of giving incredibly generous payouts to CEOs of failing organizations in order to get them out of there!). In general, it went to the people who Jon Stewart called out last week as being on the inside track of the "other kind of market" that exists alongside the long-term, simplistic view that the rest of us have always held: invest your money wisely, leave it there for years, reap a reasonable return over time and retire on it. While we've been doing that, blissfully ignorant of the real game, a small portion of the population has been lined up at the trough, gorging themselves on huge salaries, perks and bonuses every chance they get. Now that's wealth re-distribution!

In fact, I'd hazard a guess that more money is currently in the hands of fewer people than ever before, in America (and elsewhere). When President Obama says he plans to increase taxes (by letting Bush's tax cuts expire) on families that make more than $250,000, he's talking about a very small percentage of the country. But those at the very top of the pyramid are richer than ever, and the rest of us are all proportionately poorer. If Obama's plan is to reverse that trend, even in the smallest way, then why in the world would the lower 95% of the population do anything but celebrate? Why would Republicans intoning "wealth re-distribution" sound bites be anything other than a long-overdue, welcome breath of fresh air to those who've been pushed further and further down in order to provide bigger and bigger payouts to the few at the top? That's what I don't get. When are people going to wise up and realize that wealth has been getting re-distributed for ages, and so maybe it's time to send a little bit of it in the opposite direction for a change?