Re: Attention Experienced Professionals

From: Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 19:05:00 -0700
Message-ID: <1097719587.200523@yasure>

Laconic2 wrote:

> "ats" <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu> wrote in message
> news:1097550355.850993_at_yasure...
>
>

>>>I think there's been a fundamental cultural shift, at least in the US,

>
> away
>

>>>from the "protestant world ethic"  and towards the "victim entitlement".
>>
>>That's a fine bit of political puditry but without much reality. Sure
>>there's sense of victim entitlement. There is also a sense of corporate
>>entitlement. And a sense of entitlement by the super-wealthy. Did you
>>know that here in the Puget Sound region Bill Gates, richest man on the
>>planet now or ever objected to his property tax bill and claimed he
>>couldn't afford it. What a pathetic excuse for a responsible human
>>being.
>>
>>Don't just blame it on victims ... it is society wide.

>
>
> Exactly!
>
> When I mentioned a shift from "work ethic" to "victim entitlement" (should
> have been "victim mentality") I was talking about the entire society, not
> one particular economic subgroup. Go to the country club, and listen.
> You'll hear a bunch of whining "victims". Go to a gathering of Democrats.
> You'll hear a bunch of whining "victims". Go to a gathering of Republicans.
> You'll hear a bunch of whining "victims".
>
> "I'm a victim, you're a victim, everybody's a victim." That's part of the
> problem, not part of the solution. And it is the more powerful of the
> "victims" that feel entitled to rip everybody else off. Me, I don't care
> whether it's welfare fraud or pumping and dumping Enron stock. It's all the
> same thing.

There is little I enjoy so much as sitting on a friend's 50 foot yacht, after arriving at the marina in their Benz from their 7500 sq. ft. house and listening to them complain about how tight things are and how the government is taxing them into poverty.

If they think things are bad now ... they'll find out what bad really is when they have finally shifted the entire tax burden to those least able to actually pay it. Corporate taxes in America are the lowest they have ever been. Corporate profits are high. And yet I am getting a tax break. Go figure.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

Received on Wed Oct 13 2004 - 21:05:00 CDT