The Rich versus Everybody Else in Obama's America - 4 views
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John West on 30 Sep 12While I think the ideology behind this article would be hard to debate productively on a forum like Diigo, a conversation about the portrayal of each candidate as a champion of "class warfare" might be a little more fruitful. Class is definitely an issue that any comment, by Romney or by Obama, could incite claims like these. The issue I have with this article is the wordplay it involves: while taking minor quotes from Obama (or just referencing what he's saying) makes him sound like this class-warfare champion, I would be interested to see this author write the same article about Romney. For every spending figure the author cites, I believe a similar one could be drummed up to paint Romney as a villain. The wildly controversial video of Romney, in which he basically divides the country into two halves, those who are dependent and those who are not, strikes me as the very definition of class warfare. If the author wants Obama held accountable for his words, the same can be done with Romney (I don't think it's a coincidence that this article was published shortly after the video leaked). I generally have a problem with using ideology to paint one candidate as hero and another as villain: I would rather take on faith that each candidate truly and honestly thinks his plan will work, and find which one I agree with. The idea that, next month, we will permanently decide the "vision of America" seems like a distraction to me.
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Eli Melrod on 01 Oct 12This article is full of generalizations that are not true. First off, Chris Christie is not some hero that created jobs (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/christie-talks-of-a-comeback-but-jobs-data-may-say-otherwise/?ref=christopherjchristie). New Jersey has the fourth highest unemployment rate of any state in the country. His entire "New Jersey Comeback" is essentially not true. A plethora of top scholars have pointed out that New Jersey is in fact not doing that well. In that vain, it is quite telling that Christie didn't once mention the "New Jersey Comeback" in his speech at the convention, because it is frankly just rhetoric. Second off, the claims that this author makes about Democrats are pure generalization based upon ideological rhetoric that doesn't provide for a fruitful debate at all. This statement: "Single women, a major Democrat voting bloc, like the anti-rich message for several reasons. They are more likely to be poor and use government aid. Idealistic young women enjoy feeling kind -- how enjoyable it is to feel virtuous by being generous with other people's money" is offensive. There is no statistical analysis, just a generalization about women. Also, where is this anti-rich message? Not once did the author of the article provide any basis for his idea that Democrats are anti-rich. In fact, Democrats have time and time again clarified that they are not anti-rich; they just want policies that will allow all the chance to succeed and eventually become rich. Another absurd claim the author makes is, "Our minorities who receive preferential treatment in jobs and education are happy to think the system is still unfair fifty years after the Civil Rights movement, and that they deserve more privileges and more money." The system is still unfair! There are m
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Cameron G on 01 Oct 12Eli, I understand your concern with details of this article, but the point I was more concerned with is the representation of the upper class in modern America. I tried to get an article I read in Fortune, but it was not online, so this was the best I could do. I do think that the rich are often portrayed as the villains. Why should people be concerned with "spreading the wealth" and not with learning how to get more themselves. It is true that less well off individuals tend to favor the Democrat candidate. I just think that everybody needs to stop accusing the rich and learn from them.
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mabel taylor on 02 Oct 12I agree with a lot of what John and Eli said, not only because of the inaccuracy of the comments made in this article but also as a liberal "idealistic young [woman]," I didn't know before that I only like Obama because of some misguided desire to be nice to people! Otherwise, Cameron, I think that you are delegitimizing this article further by pointing out that the details are irrelevant. The details are only irrelevant because they are so broad-sweeping and false that they end up outlandish and almost humorous. In actuality, they represent the ignorance that defines this article and the lack of respect for real people in the United States who might not be as privileged as the upper class Americans you also referenced. This is something that I often see as flawed in Republican values, very few poor people have the resources to simply "learn" from the rich and completely pull themselves out of their situations which are exasperated by entire social systems inherently working against them.