Our electeds should be talking about addressing the obscene concentration of this nation's wealth in the hands of the few.
We are an extremely wealthy nation. Why are a vast majority of us struggling? It is NOT a mystery. We are in vicious cycle driven by the fact that capital -- investments, property, business ownership -- grows faster than the overall economy, which inevitably leads to a growing portion of our national wealth being moved from the many and being concentrated with the few.
No democracy can function with this level of wealth inequality. It MUST be addressed with progressive tax on wealth and on inheritance. It must be addressed with a tax on capital gains that is Higher than taxes on wages.
And the proceeds of those tax changes can be, and I believe absolutely should be, used to level the playing field by funding "inheritance for all." Every American, upon reaching the age of 24 receives $130,000. This democratizes capital by giving people from less wealthy backgrounds the means to start businesses, buy property, and have a cushion that gives them the power to negotiate for higher income or seek better paying jobs.
Let's stop calling for taxing wealth for some vague public good. Call for taxing wealth to give EVERY American an inheritance. (Including the children of the wealthy.)
Advocating loud and proud for TRANSFORMATIONAL REFORM like that can actually wake people up to the notion that the Dems ARE NOT just protecting the status quo.
BTW, Inheritance for All is one from Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the 21st Century.
One thing about it that could appeal to Americans is that any accusation of socialism is laughable. It is 100% capitalism with a more level playing field. It makes the notion that "anyone can make it here" more of a reality. And it is a big kick in the face to the prosperity gospel (that evil notion the poor must be bad and deserve to be poor and wealthy people are wealthy because they are being rewarded by God). Inheritance for all is in line with the Christian value that true wealth is shared wealth.
Furthermore, it is up to us to push our elected and candidates to start TALKING about what is right, regardless of how "feasible" they think it is. YOU Do Not Build Political Will by being silent. You build political will by making the case, over, and over, and over. Political Will does NOT magically build itself. And it is time for our leaders to STOP with the "can't talk about X because it is impractical."
As Jon Stewart points out, we have watched decades of malpractice -- people claiming to "lead" who do little except negotiate against themselves with "Can't Win, Won't Fight." (I don't agree about the "how" he proposes. I think what he is missing is that what we need is for Dems to be willing to take the lead in building the political will for change and reshaping the political landscape instead of "moderating" to fit with the current landscape.)
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