Can we just preemptively revive the American term Tory, for when this war of the roses ends and one family can declare king?

Think about what; the ultra rich controlling politics? I'd challenge one to find any point in history where that was not the case. From tribal warlords to Roman patricians to noble houses to magnates of industry with power comes wealth and wealth comes power.

I get criticized for lacking a more harsh indictment upon the ultra rich but I just approach macro-politics in a nihilistic way. There is nothing I can do to change it on the large scale but that doesn't mean I can't take actions within my own life to improve it. The same applies to everyone.

Pretty generally people don't wake up in the morning planning to do evil. People are self-interested and the billionaires are people. You just have to rely on the human spirit to occasionally do good by those that are able and lift up the rest.

Thinking that we can have some great people's revolution that would change the paradigm need only note Venezuela's richest person (@ $4.2 billion) being María Gabriela Chávez. Too bad the jobs for Socialist dictator's daughter are in short supply.

I don't know anything about María Gabriela Chávez, but that seems to be vapor-news at this point.

So basically: democracy, why bother?

Well, to channel WC; it is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

Water Closets?

Churchill. but the man was also a drunk, so the other WC is likely apropos.

I would not be nihilistic about it: not all inequality is, uh, equal. The numbers don't lie: the last few decades has seen a movement of wealth out of the working class and lower middle classes, to the 1%, or maybe the top 10%.

At an extreme, we can take for example Russia during the 19th century, under the Tsar, compared to England under Victoria. Both countries ruled by rich dynasties. Sure. Politics controlled by rich and the nobility, ditto. No question which country I'd want to live in during that time though, if I was only middling well off. Russia was wretched for the 99%, for England, it was perhaps the lowest 10% that were under equivalent circumstances.

Yes, if you look closely at the data, that reduction is almost entirely due to people living in China ... who stopped being peasants and moved to the cities. While their income has increased, their standard of living may not have, since what was once free they now have to pay for, and they've just exchanged dirt for smog.

I was restricting this to developed countries however, I've seen similar data for the US and the UK where the middle class and working poor have seen stagnant wages and lower job security over decades.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc. In fact, you're citing what probably limited that improvement the most as though it somehow contributed to it. That's like attributing the outcome of a vote to the people who voted against the outcome.

I believe a rising tide lifts all boats and the data shows it.

HAHA... really?

80% of Americans own an unbelievably small portion of the country's wealth

and the data shows it.

Chart that shows what you just said was bull



For you edification Wealth Inequality in America

I agree that people mostly don't wake up planning to do evil - but I don't think the 'wealth' of these very wealthy individuals/families behaves like a person any more and hasn't done for some time. It's not constrained or guided by an individuals basic ethical operating parameters. The money (and the commensurate power and influence) is administered by groups of specialists - even by algorithms - with no central controlling figure in charge of everything and able to apply a consistent moral code.

Increase taxes to publicly fund the research and infrastucture the next generation of capitalists can then use to generate more "progress". Thats the kind of system we used to have.

Going back to the marvel that was the patronage system is backwards. A faith based society where we cut funding for the police, because government is corrupt, confident that the next Batman is just one mugging away.

Norok thinks public infrastructure springs from the ether fully formed. He's made a number of comments praising capitalist endeavours that were fully reliant on public infrastructures and our tax dollars.

The private has no expectation, within and from the public to not be a proper dick. Its understood its constrained by the government. I also don't think anyone is advocating "handing it all over to the government". Nationalization of all industries?

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo11040582.html

Take a read. You used to be able to buy a navy rank. You used to be able to buy a great deal of public offices. So much of the government was steeped in nepotism, and bare faced mercenary action. Because we lacked information tools. When we acquired information technology to remove the fog of war all major empires switched to a formalized government, we invented proper bureaucrats because to do without them was to be at a disadvantage. Because no one was waiting for angels to run the nation, we just needed the right sort of bastards we could trick to stay in line. With proper tech we didn't need them, because we created metrics and tools to gauge performance. To instill accountability. Which meant we could hire people who were good instead of people just looking to make money.

Its no different now. The efficiency we can realize with modern tech is only hamstringed by private interest looking to avoid public oversight. Decades of whittling and grifting, the desires of private enterprise moving government hands, picking money from public pockets to add to personal fortunes.

Tax's need to be increased. Thankfully we won't have to operate in the dark, since its a circumstance we have already been in with great success. There are also many other first world nations doing so and to great benefit. Unlike life in the early part of the age of sail i don't have to be a blood relation for you to trust me. I don't have to be part of your tribe. Because there are measurable metrics.

Tell that to my landlord.

The Mercers are backing off and away from what will be the implosion of the Trump Whitehouse. Have been for a couple of months.

The polls have been all over the place in the Alabama election tomorrow. One having Moore up 9 and the other having Jones up 10 ..on the same day.
this may account for at least part of that.


Automated polls are prohibited by law from calling voters on cellphones.
Automated polls get lower response rates and therefore may have less representative samples.
Automated polls may have fewer problems with “shy” voters who are reluctant to disclose their true voting intentions.
Automated pollsters (in part to compensate for issues No. 1 and 2 above) generally make more assumptions when modeling turnout, whereas traditional pollsters prefer to let the voters “speak for themselves” and take the results they obtain more at face value.


What The Hell Is Happening With These Alabama Polls?

Polling has been pretty much worthless for the last few election cycles, but it stays in the budget, and still gets covered as reality.

Most state election polls are bad but this one...wow, Secret voters on both sides. People who will vote for Moore but don't want to let anybody know they are supporting a pedo and those rock ribbed Republicans who don't want their neighbors to know they voted for a Democrat.

It will cool and dry a good day to go vote. My guess is we can tell by turnout numbers and exit polls in the cities.

To be crass it is a win for Democrats either way.Way one Jones get elected show the people of Alabama that nothing bad will happen with a Democrat in office and he could be the deciding vote on that tax swindle they are trying to pull of.
OR he wins the GOP has to spend years explain if the believe that belief in evolution is what is causing drive by shooting and will God send his wrath down us because there are married gay people living in sin in our cities.

You know how bad my crystal ball has been but I see it 2 points Jones.

The best part of that will be watching Trump's head explode and then watch Ryan set his hair on fir to get this tax ripoff passed before Jones can be seated on Jan1