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Originally Posted by aceventura3
I agree. This is another weakness in our sysytem. The only thing a person can do is to always do their best and make the most of their opportunities. At least in this country the children of the most impoverished can rise to the ranks of CEO
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....and that ace, is the "cake".....that the peasants of pre-revolutionary France were told to "eat", and the "bread and circuses" that the Roman emporers provided to the masses.
shakran explained it here:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...32&postcount=3
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Originally Posted by shakran
I'll take the liberty of quoting 1776 (the musical) here. They talk about exactly why people were so accepting of the status quo even though it meant brutal oppression by King George.
We see all these displays of wealth around us and dream of one day having it for ourselves. <b>The American Dream myth lives on. We've convinced the country that the only reason they're not filthy rich is that they don't work hard enough. Well for a select few hard work has indeed made them rich.</b> But for many more hard cheating and dishonesty is what gave them their fortune. We admire Bill Gates for being the richest man on earth, but he got there by lying, cheating, and stealing from Xerox.
It's funny - Les Mis is my all time favorite musical. I saw it for the umpteenth time a few months ago but this time I saw it in a totally different light. Folks, those students and poor people in the French revolution aren't much different from us. The Revolution started in part because the gap between the rich and the poor widened to absurd proportions. We've got the same thing happening here right now, and eventually we'll get to the point where the poor have had enough and will start an uprising. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to matter to the wealthy in power because they're too busy counting their money.
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The trouble is, ace...it's a bullshit myth intended to control the "have not" masses. In the inner cities, the dream of playing in the NBA helps keep a lid on the logical consequences of the economic and opportunity inequity that you seem so satisfied with.
It also keeps "most people" from using the power of the sheer numerical superiority of their votes to effect what that numerical advantage should give them.....a progressive income tax and checks and balances on the potenital of the wealthiest one percent to buy the political representation out from under the rest of us (and the courts.....the local zoning boards....regulatory agencies....etc...etc....etc.....etc.....etc....)!