Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Real Criminal Class





The Psychology department at U of CA at Berkeley has added a big exclamation point to the long held poetic suspicion that the rich are rotten to the core and the poor are inherently more virtuous, more compassionate and more giving.  I must add that I have seen evidence of this sort of behavior and now this data merely confirms what we've all, folk wisdom people and poets and playwrights, always known. Now comes the latest and very conclusive results that the richer they are the more likely they are to steal candy from a baby.

Literally,

Steal candy from a baby.

Remember this is based on a thorough research study for nearly a decade.  But as far as I can tell, this experiment is far from the first study to show sad and dramatic differences in the ethical and moral differences between rich and poor.

And as far as I am concerned, there is the same difference between Republican and Progressive.  If you have a hard time with my findings you can set up your own experiments.  I have set up and completed my own research.  One cannot help but notice that Republicans are far more likely to lie, to cheat, and to bully, than Progressives.  Not that all Progressives are perfect models of virtue all the time, but the likelihood of a conservative evincing rude behavior among his or her perceived inferiors, whether they were actually inferior or not is huge.  This set of observations runs side by side with Lord Acton's famous dictum that "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." 

Strange.  You would think it was just the reverse.  That those with plenty would be more liberal and more virtuous while the poor would wish to conserve more stringently and not help out their neighbor.  But the American Taliban, the Evangelical Christians many of whom make up significant portion of the Tea Party, are the least virtuous, most hypocritical and un-Christlike, bigoted, slanderous and judgmental of any group in America. In other words --- rich conservatives are human trash.

And that is not to say that all Republicans are appalling snobs.  Mostly it seems to be the richest and the loudest.  The leadership.  The broadcast voices: The Rushes.  The Michael Savages.  The Lars Larsens.

Big Voices, tiny men --- moral midgets, really.

And by wealthy we are speaking of relatively modest income, such as one hundred fifty to two hundred thousand dollars a year.  A pittance compared to Wall Street banksters who pull down 20, 40 60, million a business quarter.

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We cannot forget that we have a list of men of immense wealth, billionaires, who have chosen to act as a force for good at the very least in their community, if not the entire planet.  But  and really, though those who do add their names to the list of great generosity, the studies show they tend to live longer and to be healthier, and get a better night's sleep, and generally report happier lives, than their stingier colleagues, the rich are, nevertheless, rather slow to add their names.  





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