Sunday, September 13, 2015

Sam Harris and Capitalism

I stumbled across Sam Harris' interesting article about the wealth gap in which he suggests a one time tax on truly massive fortunes to fund infrastructure and energy independence. Reading it I kept thinking "weak sauce, Sam". His heart is in the right place, but truly this suggestion is a bit like using chewing gum to repair a massive hole in a large dam. It's just too little by far to make any serious difference.  That being said, I was shocked to see the sort of response his suggestion brought.

This nation is fully brainwashed. We as a people are so heavily invested in supporting the the wealthy and powerful against our own self interest that we will rise up in anger at the mere suggestion that the plutocrats be asked to give lend even a hand to the betterment of society.

I should not be surprised. Capital has used its tools (Religion, the media, public policy) and it has warped our national ideals to the point that we as a people cannot see clear to act in our own self interest anymore.

We need a new media dedicated to telling the truth and to actually educating the people about economic principles. We need something to fight back against the Koch Cabal, and FOX News and the rest. We need it before it is too late.

and also