A certain freedom and a certain equality passed out of human life when men ceased to wander. Men paid in liberty and paid in toil, for safety, shelter and regular meals. By imperceptibe degrees, the common man found the patch he cultivated was not his own; it belonged to the god and he had to pay a fraction of his produce to the god. Or the god had given it to the king, who exacted his rent and tax. Or the king had given it to an official, who was the lord of the common man. And sometime the god or the king or the noble had work to be done and then the common man had to leave his patch and work for his master.Historically, as soon as populations grow to a certain size, they stratify. An elite class forms. The entire society creates a myth to maintain the stability of the elite. The Egyptians created the myth that their Pharaoh was a divine being. The Hindus created the caste system supported by the myth of rebirth merit to justify the extreme privilege of the Brahmins. The European nobility created the myth of their inherent genetic bloodline superiority. The North Americans created the myth that those who had wealth or who were children of those of wealth were superior people, harder working and more intelligent.
~ H. G. Wells (1866-09-21 1946-08-13 age:79) The Outline of History page 228.
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recommend book⇒The Theory of The Leisure Class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| by | Thorstein Veblen | 978-0-14-018795-3 | paperback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| birth | 1857-07-30 1929-08-03 age:72 | 978-0-8488-1659-9 | hardcover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| publisher | Penguin | 978-0-942563-00-9 | audio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| published | 1994-02-01 | B00A73AIMA | kindle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is one of the most amusing books I ever read. It is funny by being so on. He coined the terms conspicuous consumption and conspicous waste to explain modern status displays. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oddly, you find the non-elites equally enthusiastically supporting the privilege of the elites. For example, in the USA, the majority of ordinary Americans voted Republican in 2004, thus endorsing a tax holiday for the wealthy. Most Britons are happy to fund the pomp of Queen Elizabeth.
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recommend book⇒Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class — And What We Can Do about It | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| by | Thom Hartmann | 978-1-57675-463-4 | paperback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| birth | 1951-05-07 age:66 | 978-1-57675-414-6 | hardcover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| publisher | Berrett-Koehler Publishers | 978-1-60509-869-2 | eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| published | 2007-04-28 | 978-1-4332-1514-8 | audio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B001AFF25M | kindle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This book is simple and somewhat repetitive. It argues five main points.
Hartmann argues that historically the wealthy elite have always worked to eliminate the middle class and hence stomp out democracy. They can then run things for their own ultimate financial benefit. We are going through a period now where the middle class is collapsing as a result of the corporatocracy and wealth of the tiny elite at the top is exploding. Since they control the media, they spread all manner of myths that make people vote against their own self interest in favour of those of the elites. The book also discusses how the war business hijacks government to provide it with endless streams of money for perpetual unnecessary war. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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recommend book⇒The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| by | Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson Hartmann | 978-1-60819-341-7 | paperback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| publisher | Bloomsbury | 978-1-60819-036-2 | hardcover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| published | 2009-12-22 | 978-1-4526-5505-5 | audio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B002XHNNKW | kindle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The book explains the research that shows that equality, even more than economic growth, determines wellbeing. Equality improves health, lawfulness, civil participation and trust. The wealthiest citizen of the most equal countries are better off than the wealthiest citizens in the unequal countries like Britain and the USA. Further, inequality fosters consumerism and ecological destruction. At the time of writing this book has still not been published. I learned about it from a speech by Ed Broadbent, former leader of the NDP at the NDP convention in Halifax. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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According to Neil Brooks, the author of The Trouble With Millionaires in Canada, in theory there is a progressive tax system so that the richer you are, the higher the tax rate. However, there are so many loopholes, everyone pays almost the same rate, with the poorest paying a slightly higher rate.
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recommend book⇒The Trouble with Billionaires | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| by | Linda McQuaig | 978-0-14-317454-7 | paperback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| birth | 1951 age:66 | 978-0-670-06419-9 | hardcover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| publisher | Viking Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| published | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The glittering lives of billionaires may seem like a harmless source of entertainment. But such concentrated economic power reverberates throughout society, threatening the quality of life and the very functioning of democracy. It’s no accident that the United States claims the most billionaires — but suffers among the highest rates of infant mortality and crime, the shortest life expectancy, as well as the lowest rates of social mobility and electoral political participation in the developed world. Our society tends to regard large fortunes as evidence of great talent or accomplishment. Yet the vast new wealth isn’t due to an increase in talent or effort at the top, but rather to changing social attitudes legitimizing greed and government policy changes that favour the new elite. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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