Not the Onion: "Give Back? Yes, It's Time For The 99% To Give Back To The 1%"

[WilliamPitt]

Give Back? Yes, It's Time For The 99% To Give Back To The 1%
By Harry Binswanger
Forbes

September 17 2013

It’s time to gore another collectivist sacred cow. This time it’s the popular idea that the successful are obliged to “give back to the community.” That oft-heard claim assumes that the wealth of high-earners is taken away from “the community.” And beneath that lies the perverted Marxist notion that wealth is accumulated by “exploiting” people, not by creating value–as if Henry Ford was not necessary for Fords to roll off the (non-existent) assembly lines and Steve Jobs was not necessary for iPhones and iPads to spring into existence.

Let’s begin by stripping away the collectivism. “The community” never gave anyone anything. The “community,” the “society,” the “nation” is just a number of interacting individuals, not a mystical entity floating in a cloud above them. And when some individual person–a parent, a teacher, a customer–”gives” something to someone else, it is not an act of charity, but a trade for value received in return.

(snip)

There is indeed a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity: the Internal Revenue Service. And, at a deeper level, it is the monstrous perversion of justice that makes the IRS possible: an envy-ridden moral code that damns success, profit, and earning money in voluntary exchange.

An end must be put to the inhuman practice of draining the productive to subsidize the unproductive. An end must be put to the primordial notion that one’s life belongs to the tribe, to “the community,” and that the superlative wealth-creators must do penance for the sin of creating value. And Ayn Rand is just the lady who can do it.

The rest: http://www.forbes.com/sites/harrybinswanger/2013/09/17/give-back-yes-its-time-for-the-99-to-give-back-to-the-1/

Four snipped paragraphs are not nearly enough to encompass the reality of this vomit-bag of an article. John Galt is quoted for three grueling paragraphs in the middle.

If you want to stare into the face of the enemy, in all of it's unabashedly greedy and hateful glory, I give you this.

The horror.

The horror.

The horror.

[The Magistrate]

1. Man Needs an Attitude Adjustment, Sir

Digging canals on two thin plates of soup a day in custody of people wholly unconcerned by whether he lives or dies ought to do the trick in a decade or so....

[hobbit709]

67. Or a short ride in a tumbrel.

[mojowork_n]

124. A short ride in a slow-moving, straw-filled tumbrel. What could be more fitting?

Aux armes, citoyens, To arms, citizens,
Formez vos bataillons, Form your battalions,
Marchons, marchons ! Let's march, let's march!
Qu'un sang impur Let an impure blood
Abreuve nos sillons ! Water our furrows!

[General Zod]

155. My thoughts exactly.

If the 1% keep stealing everything, there'll be a revolution that will make Danton and Robespierre's look like a picnic.

[Enthusiast]

93. Plus one.................nt

[NYC_SKP]

102. But wait, there's more: "Insider Trading Is A Right: Don't Shackle The Knowledge-Seekers"

The author, Harry Binswanger, has a number of these stunning ideas.

Two thin plates of soup seems generous, Sir.

[The Magistrate]

103. i Expect It Is, Sir....

[Benton D Struckcheon]

2. Ayn Rand again?

Just amazing. These fools who worship her need to grow up.

[keroro gunsou]

75. john rogers says....

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

[Benton D Struckcheon]

76. Seriously funny. n/t

[telclaven]

109. I love that!

Awesome

[Duer 157099]

3. Oh I've got plenty I'd like to "give back" to the 1%

Plenty. But I don't think they'd like it.

[warrant46]

83. With expanded backgound checks there will be fewer opportunities

[Tigress DEM]

90. They can have 8 years of *ushit that's been fermenting everywhere.

The stench of the putrid years should really be a big fat fish in the back of their limos.

[leftstreet]

4. These nutters hate 'the community' unless it's on a production line

...bringing the 'inventor' billions in profits

What a dipshit this guy is

[fasttense]

150. I love how the uber rich use the community for their benefit

Who educates them, who buys their crap, who protects their property, who cleans their toilets, who fights their wars?

But when it comes time for them to give back, it's all about how they don't need the community.

The uber rich think all the trappings of civilizations suddenly burst into life when they farted.

[Enrique]

5. and a new derogatory term is born

"you are nothing but a Harry Binswanger!"

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Amazing how Ford managed to build all those cars entirely by himself ...

for Jobs, of course, it's just what you'd expect.

Seriously ... does *anything* build itself just because the guy with the money said it should ?

[Mopar151]

18. Ford was saved by his engineers A LOT

One being the hardheaded Bill Sullivan, who has masterminded every good Ford engine from the flathead V-8 through the Cleveland V-8's

[Frank Cannon]

151. Henry Ford was a progressive hippie compared to these evil bastards.

For one thing, he believed in the value of making his employees happy, thereby winning their loyalty and longevity in their jobs. He also made his cars relatively inexpensive so that his own employees could afford to buy and drive them.

[Mopar151]

153. Henry was smart enough to help himself.

Far too many of these evil zombies will gladly tank their own business - or family - to be able to keep beating their dying slaves and dead horses.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. So I looked up this Binswanger fuckknuckle, and found out he was one of Ayn Rand's BFFs.

Harry Binswanger (born 1944) is an American philosopher and writer. He is an Objectivist and was a long-time associate of Ayn Rand, working with her on The Ayn Rand Lexicon. His doctoral dissertation, in the philosophy of biology, presented a new theory of the goal-directedness of living action, in opposition to the views of one of his dissertation advisers, Ernest Nagel. The dissertation was later published as The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts. He taught philosophy at CUNY's Hunter College from 1972 to 1979 and at other New York City schools as well as at the University of Texas, Austin for a semester in 2002. Since 1997, he has operated a fee-based email discussion group on Objectivism. Binswanger has spoken on Objectivist philosophy at over 30 universities, across the U.S., Canada, and abroad. His television appearances have included the Glenn Beck show, Geraldo at Large, C-SPAN panels, and CNBC's On the Money. He also appears in Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, the Academy Award nominated documentary by Michael Paxton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Binswanger

So, consider the source.

[JHB]

50. So he's an Objectivist who built his career at public colleges. Says it all.

[Fumesucker]

160. When Ayn went on Social Security Binswanger should have gotten a clue

That he didn't speaks volumes of his intellectual prowess.

[Taitertots]

8. The worst part of the myth of the immaculate entrepreneur is....

Henry Ford didn't invent cars, the assembly line, or the majority of the parts on the Model T.
The vast majority of "success" stories involve selling someone else's great invention.

I'm always confused how some people think the person creating value is the person whose sole contribution to the process is a stack of money.

I'm also confused why some people think cars wouldn't exist if Henry Ford didn't become 1,000,000 times richer than the average person. Or Ipads wouldn't exist if Steve Jobs was only rich enough to afford 200 ft. yacht.

[Skittles]

9. just another Ayn Rand whore

[CJCRANE]

10. He's come up with a new term: "mental energy".

"In proportion to the mental energy he spent, the man who creates a new invention receives but a small percentage of his value in terms of material payment, no matter what fortune he makes, no matter what millions he earns. But the man who works as a janitor in the factory producing that invention, receives an enormous payment in proportion to the mental effort that his job requires of him".

This article is amazingly repulsive. Thank you for bringing it to our attention Will, it's useful to know what nonsense the 1% apologists are spewing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Well, confession time, Ryand is an ok fiction writer

And part of the canon for American sci fi. Operative word is fiction. Philosophy of life or economy, not so much. The two should not be confused.

[The Magistrate]

15. No, Ma'am, She Is As Far From A Good Writer As It Gets

In a pinch, I would rather read Jacqueline Suzanne.

Rand is nothing but a benzedrine jag, complete with delusions of omnipotence and perverse sexual fantasies.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. I think she was a terrible writer.

Long-winded, tendentious crap; tedious monologues; ridiculous plots. I can tolerate mediocre writing if there's a good plot (I read a lot of paperback mysteries), but Rand's books are unreadable on all levels. Bad style, bad plots, bad characters. I still can't figure out why she didn't fade into well-deserved obscurity decades ago.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Patrons

And she is considered part of the canon. IMO her short work was pretty decent. Notice, I did not say good, just decent.

The problem is that somewhere along the way what should have remained fiction became an accepted philosophy of life. I blame her patrons for that as well.

Of course she talking social security...

[Gravitycollapse]

22. Well that makes the rather odd assertion that fiction is devoid of philosophy.

Which is almost entirely never the case.

[The Magistrate]

23. Especially Since, Sir, She Maintained fiction Must Expound The Author's Philosophy

And indeed should only be written and published for that purpose....

[Gravitycollapse]

25. There are forms of fiction devoid of philosophy.

But they are few and far between and generally not well regarded.

[The Magistrate]

28. I Agree, Sir, But Her View Was Fiction Should Be Written Solely To Communicate A Philosophy

To instruct, not to entertain.

[RoccoRyg]

79. I do the same in my books...

so I guess I'll have to agree with her for once.

[The Magistrate]

82. You May Forgive Me, Sir, for Sticking To The Non-Fiction Racks

At my age I have little use or patience for fiction: Nothing a human mind can contrive can even come close to approximating the true intricacy and chaos of the world around us and our interactions with it.

[RoccoRyg]

172. Fair enough, Sir...

But I tend to put a lot of reality in my books as well. One great thing about being a writer is you have to force yourself to research a lot of topics to make your book as interesting to your information-savy target audience as possible.

Or just be Stephanie Meyer and write about shirtless werewolves.

[nolabear]

115. So do I, but imo Rand writes like an elephant dances Swan Lake.

You can identify what she's doing, but it's stunningly graceless, and painful to watch the effect.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Also I forgot another detail

She wrote during the golden age of science fiction. If you do not like impossible plots, and tendentious characters, well that was standard fare for the penny press. Go find any Amazing Stories fare, or even Tales of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I have read many works of the era, and most are ok...a few are exceptional.

Of the writers of the age we remember a few, mostly the exceptional, Isaac Asimov started back then, Harry Harrison, Phillip K Dick, that guy who wrote Starship Troopers, a piece of revolutionary writing, if you understand the background.

Truth be told, none would be published today if they were starting out, that includes her.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. Asimov was a good writer. Rand was not.

Somehow her crap survived, and it shouldn't have.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. I gave you the explanation

It survived due to patrons. She had powerful people who funded her, and funded the creation of objectivism, which is not literature, it's philosophy. IMO it's bad philosophy. But if she did not have those patrons in the right, you would not have heard from her, except in a science fiction writing genre class. Most of the people read in those classes are rather obscure.

Why would she be read in such a class? Short fiction and pacing.

Also neither would be able to start out today in the traditional market. We have a very different media market where none invests in new writers.

Oh and I forgot, given how she speaks of takers and moochers it is rather ironic that she depended from among others John Birchers.

[shaayecanaan]

157. She didnt create objectivism...

she just cribbed and plagiarised from other philosophers. A bit like Howard Levey (aka Anton LaVey) "created" Satanism by cutting and pasting various bits and bobs of occultist writers.

She mainly plagiarised Comte and the positivists for the "philosophy" of objectivism and the libertarians for its political bent.

[nadinbrzezinski]

163. And she is given credit by philosophers

What do I know? In case you wonder she also used a tad of Aristotle.

But hell, so did Comte.

[shaayecanaan]

170. None that I know of...

I can't think of many tenured academicians that would give her the time of day. Most regard her little cult as something akin to a Scientology outfit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

171. I did not write it was good philosophy

At all. It is not. It is up there with nihilism.

What I said is that philosophers recognize it was her baby, as cultish and dangerous as is. Personally I wish the other half of this dangerous combo would be treated the same way, that is Milton Friedman's baby, the Chicago school of economics.

I don't, unlike most of you here, hate her to the point of being blinded to her contributions. Personally I wish she remained a somewhat obscure fiction, short fiction to be specific, used for the only good thing she did well, short fiction pacing.

Alas you have people assign Atlas Shrugged to HS students, and students read objectivism in some college courses. Outside of a history of extreme thought, it should not be assigned, especially to young impressionable young students. When combined with Friedman's economics it is down right dangerous.

But I guess it's best to hate, and be blinded. It befuddles me, but hey, nothing I can do about it. If people think in only black/white dichotomies she is indeed the worst think evah. I prefer to understand, you know why? Modern right wing libertarian thought has embraced both Friedman and her.

[shaayecanaan]

173. I certainly don't hate her...

in fact I admire her marketing abilities in taking a grab-bag of trite and previously thrashed-out concepts and then successfully pitching them to gullible rubes as heretofore unseen pearls of infinite wisdom.

I don't think that her ideas are dangerous. In fact I think that most people who buy these books would probably give up after about 5 pages of Rand's very leaden prose. Apart from the strange and very singular exception of Alan Greenspan, who apparently fell under her spell for a time, there is no record of anyone in any real position of authority attesting to any belief in her ideas. Like L Ron Hubbard, she is of significance to the people who believe in her little cult, and no one else.

[The Magistrate]

41. Mr. Vidal Nailed It Back When It Was New, Ma'am

This odd little woman is attempting to give a moral sanction to greed and self interest, and to pull it off she must at times indulge in purest Orwellian newspeak of the “freedom is slavery” sort. What interests me most about her is not the absurdity of her “philosophy,” but the size of her audience (in my campaign for the House she was the one writer people knew and talked about). She has a great attraction for simple people who are puzzled by organized society, who object to paying taxes, who dislike the “welfare” state, who feel guilt at the thought of the suffering of others but who would like to harden their hearts. For them, she has an enticing prescription: altruism is the root of all evil, self-interest is the only good, and if you’re dumb or incompetent that’s your lookout.

http://www.esquire.com/features/gore-vidal-archive/comment-0761

[Codeine]

35. "That guy who wrote Starship Troopers"

[The Magistrate]

39. Not That I Like Mr. Heinlein Much Better, Sir...

But still, one ought to have his name to tongue when on about 'the canon of science fiction'.

[zappaman]

40. One would think one would know the name HEINLEIN...

if one considered oneself an expert on science fiction.

Facepalm indeed.

[ChazInAz]

112. I suspect

The writer was expressing his opinion of the fellow who wrote "Starship Troopers". An opinion that I share.
Love the Implied Facepalm poster.

[zappaman]

113. No

The poster is facepalming because our science fiction expert says "That guy who wrote STARSHIP TROOPERS" because our expert obviously did not know it was Robert Heinlein.

But yes, Heinlein was a dick.

[dionysus]

120. ...time to add another area of expertise to the resume...

should it come before fencing... or after, you think?

[zappaman]

121. Before Climatologist and

after fencing.

[zappaman]

20. Awful, awful writer.

Makes Dan Brown read like Shakespeare.

[Rex]

57. Yes but she is a great writer when looked at by a mediocre writer

so it all makes sense if ya know what I mean.

[zappaman]

60. "mediocre"?

You're way too nice.

[Rex]

73. I've been told to bee-hive.

So I will refrain, some.

[Gravitycollapse]

21. She was actually a very mediocre writer.

I suspect many here could write better pieces of literature than Rand.

[The Magistrate]

37. Cursor Is Jumping Around Today

Misplaced this, and have put it up where I meant it to go....

[zappaman]

42. Great link!

The writer who wrote that puts Rand to shame.

[The Magistrate]

43. It Is Now In No. 41 Above, Sir

And a lot of fun to read.

[Codeine]

33. She was a mind-bogglingly shitty writer. Her prose is utterly painful.

That you think otherwise speaks volumes.

[Rex]

55. Of course to you she is.

[deutsey]

59. You mean Ayn Rand?

May be just a matter of taste, but I think she sucks as a philosopher and as a fiction of writer.

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. She sucks as a philosopher

But as a fiction writer she is ok, not in long form though.

Perhaps it is because I write and I read obscure and not so obscure people looking at how they put the pieces together. And she is read is short fiction courses for pacing, not plot. Most of her counterparts in the golden age are not read for plot either.

Philosophy, she sucks. I wish it was never taken seriously to be honest. But having rich patrons helps I s'pose.

[deutsey]

66. As I said, it's a matter of taste

As a published literary scholar and writer, I believe her fiction sucks and I could lay out my rationale for why I believe that, but I feel her fiction is so blah, it would be a waste of my time.

I recognize other tastes may vary and I respect that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

69. I recognize that as well

Jordan's wheel of time has sold oodles of copies. I have not been able to make it beyond chapter two of book one.

But he sold very, very well. I find it boring

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

78. Put down the crack pipe....

She was an abysmal novelist. Her novels were nothing more than poorly-written romance novels with a patina of sophomoric pseudo-philosophy. Flannery O'Connor, who knew a thing or two about fiction, remarked in a letter "The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail."

Part of the canon for American sci fi? I don't even know how to respond to that. Are you talking about some sort of parallel universe where Ayn Rand is even considered palatable as science fiction? In writing this response, I've looked though a half dozen lists of the most notable science fiction books, seminal works, clearly part of the canon.

Spoiler Alert: Rand doesn't appear on any of them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

81. Did you perhaps miss what I said about long form?

I recommend you try reading comprehension.

And yes, she is part of the canon. Whether you like her politics, I find them abysmal, abhorrent, et al, or not, is besides the point. She is part of the short form in the Golden Age of science fiction.

Oh and by the way, don't bother answering. Making allusions to drug use is a personal attack and worthy of the ignore button.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

105. Sorry I hurt your feelings

Not really.

But assuming you're high beats other assumptions that I could make on this subject. When it comes to appreciating the quality of Ayn Rand's fiction, you appear to be a Cult Of One.

I have no idea what you're talking about with regard to the "short form" in the Golden Age of science fiction, as Rand wrote only a handful of short stories, non of them science fiction and most of them unpublished until after her death (where they were greeted with squealing delight by Randians and a collective shrug by the rest of the world).

Going back to even more literary reference sources, I can't find Ayn Rand even making "honorable mention" anywhere. The best I can find is a one-volume compilation of "The Golden Age of Science Fiction" that includes Rand but doesn't include Arthur C. Clarke -- so take that one with a grain or two of salt.

[zappaman]

110. Thank you for the fact check.

[Brickbat]

84. She's a terrible writer, even if you don't consider her subject matter.

Even ignoring the fact that her writing is clearly influenced by her native Russian literary tendencies, she's still a straight-up shitty writer. Very adolescent.

[IronLionZion]

104. And she took social security

She chose to reap the benefits from socialism

[nadinbrzezinski]

119. That is the irony I love

And money from her patrons

[Egalitarian Thug]

166. Where do you come up with these? Is it a form of literary Tourette's Syndrome? n/t

[LiberalAndProud]

175. Did you mean to misspell her name?

Ryand

Used in video games such as Call of Duty. To be 'Ryand' means to be killed by a tomahawk, throwing knife or a similar projectile from very close range.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ryand

I thought it was both funny and oddly apropos.

[nadinbrzezinski]

176. Nope. I was tired and when tired I always misspell it

Happy coincidence I would say.

[surrealAmerican]

12. He lives in a world where iPads and iPhones "spring into existence"?

In the real world such items are constructed in factories, which use parts from other factories, by people who live in poverty. They are designed, engineered, and marketed by people who are not entrepreneurs.

[kestrel91316]

13. They have taken from us until we are almost in the poorhouse and they want MORE????????????????

[jmowreader]

30. Oh dear...you didn't read the whole article did you?

His thesis is we should thank the 1 percent for all their hard work by making everyone who receives over $1 million per year exempt from all taxation. I was going to call him a worthless douche bag but that would be wrong; douche bags have a function in this world, and the author of this article doesn't seem to.

Here's what Gordon Gekko has to say about those kinds of people:

The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I've still got a lot to teach you.

(The only problem with that speech is the numbers have radically changed - when Oliver Stone made Wall Street, the six heirs of Sam Walton didn't yet own forty percent of this country's wealth all by their lonesomes.)

[7962]

131. You're quoting a MOVIE. Those numbers are wrong; especially the "inherited wealth" part.

First and foremost, I DO NOT agree with what the writer says in his article. Hell no we shouldnt exempt anyone making over 1M from taxes!! What an ass.
But the majority of the 1% (about 60%) did not inherit their wealth, they got it from earnings, investments etc. The top 1% controls around 40% of the nations total wealth. but they also pay 40% of the income taxes too. They earn about 30% of the wages.

[jmowreader]

142. I'm quoting a movie that's 26 years old

Here's the quote again:

The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation.

Basically, one-third is what the IRS used to call "earned" income and the rest what they used to call "unearned" income. I think the numbers have changed somewhat; with derivatives and whatnot it's probably closer to 25/75 earned/unearned.

Thanks to shifts in the way business is done today, I could create a manufacturing company right now, if I had access to friends with shitloads of money, and run it up to $1 billion in sales within five years without creating one job. Think I'm kidding? You outsource your engineering, or buy things that have already been designed but aren't yet sold in the US. Offshore your manufacturing. Get third-party logistics providers to handle warehousing and transport. You hire accountancy firms and legal firms. And you go to advertising and marketing firms for the services they provide. I wouldn't call this "hard work" but speculation.

That part you entered about how the rich pay 40 percent of the income taxes but earn 30 percent of the wages is a common far-right meme..."oh, look at the poor little rich kids, they pay taxes far out of line with their income." Forget that, and look at one of the more embarrassing examples: Mitt Romney's tax returns. He made $21 million in 2011, and paid $3.226 million taxes on it. That's about 15.23 percent. On the other hand is me: I made $25,000 last year and paid $1954 on it, or about 7.6 percent. Romney made 817x the money I did and paid 2x the percentage of tax?

[7962]

145. Believe me, I'm not feeling sorry for the rich! They SHOULD pay more.

But looking at your manufacturing company example, it'd be pretty hard to actually do that and succeed. But even if you did, wouldn't you be supporting jobs with the acctg firms, legal firms, warehousing firms, etc? The only reason those jobs would exist would be to support that company and companies like it.
Regardless of all that, I think the tax problem is fixed by doing one of 2 things. Get rid of all deductions, exempt the first X of income, and everyone pays X % of whats left. Hell, even Russia has implemented a flat tax and they're getting more revenue from it. Or the second, the sales tax. Not exactly the "Fair tax" thats been proposed, but everyone gets a check monthly for what would be the amount they'd pay in taxes on a certain amount (could be the poverty income or some other level), then pay X pct at the register. The rich do spend a LOT of their money on stuff none of us even think about. But so many people pay little or no taxes because they work cash businesses. i.e. plumbers, electricians, construction, car sales, landscaping, the list is long. I know several who brag about it. Not to mention anyone making illegal income. All would start paying into the system that way.
And in either scenario, YOU would've paid 0 on your 25K!

[jmowreader]

147. I would be supporting jobs, but not necessarily creating new ones

If you try implementing a sales tax (a lot of European countries have national sales taxes), make sure it's levied on EVERYTHING. The FairTax will fail because it only taxes new items.

[Scuba]

14. The author is either very, very sick or writing satire. It has to be one of those two.

[Curmudgeoness]

51. Well, it isn't satire.

Sadly, this asshole is a Rand enthusiast, so he really means what he says. But it does seem too bizarre to NOT be satire.

[MuseRider]

16. Not gonna read it

not gonna read it. I am having a pretty good day so I am not gonna read it but thanks for putting it up so I know it is there. I live in Brownbackistan, I know these lines by heart.

[WilliamPitt]

24. Save for another day. It's worth reading.

It really is the distilled essence.

lfkvnw
'qeovblk
2mqlbm
W:LG b

^^^

Face into keyboard

On edit: seriously.

[MuseRider]

106. OK, I read it

I think. I know I read it because my brain and my heart both hurt but I don't think I could honestly tell you anymore about it than I could have told you about Atlas Shrugged that I attempted at least twice before I realized that it made so little sense to me that I retained none of it and put it away.

Distilled essence is the perfect description. There is no way to meet these people in the middle. Even giving them a few extra points (trying to be kind to the poor things) there is no way to meet them.

There is moral bankruptcy here. Their very own ideals separate them from everyone else. The lack of understanding the benefits of community, camaraderie, collectivism is stunning and sad. The teacher teaches only for value received? Has this "person" ever wondered what it would be like to live in a large country with nothing but uneducated people? Of course they do it for community as well as compensation. The compensation part should be enough to make this desolate moron understand that it is far more than for pay they do this. Jesus.

Beyond that my brain processed Ayn Rand, John Galt, we should be honored for being rich not taxed, until I hit this special paragraph...

"Imagine the effect on our culture, particularly on the young, if the kind of fame and adulation bathing Lady Gaga attached to the more notable achievements of say, Warren Buffett. Or if the moral praise showered on Mother Teresa went to someone like Lloyd Blankfein, who, in guiding Goldman Sachs toward billions in profits, has done infinitely more for mankind. (Since profit is the market value of the product minus the market value of factors used, profit represents the value created.)"

After that the only thing I remember is something about a vampire squid.

Thanks for this Will, no really. I am headed over to look at Lola. Lola will bring back my good feelings for humanity and Mother Teresa.

[RagAss]

26. Yeh...Here's somethin' to give back....right ovah here !

[WillyT]

29. What A Harry Binswanger...

He even has a disease named after him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binswanger's_disease

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. A type of dementia. That figures...

[jmowreader]

34. Maybe so, but that's not what he has

Harry Binswanger suffers from Objectivism-Induced Craniorectal Inversion, a condition in which the followers of Ayn Rand inevitably wind up with their heads shoved so far up their asses they can see yesterday's lunch. In mild cases you can treat this by simply prying with a crowbar. Since Binswanger actually knew Rand, the disease has progressed too far to cure and the best treatment is beheading.

[WillyT]

101. LOL !!! - Perfect !!!

[Jack Rabbit]

111. Is a Hairy Binswanger a relative of Yeti or Sasquash?

Just wondering.

[Ken Burch]

164. It sounds like something a kid would say on the playground:

"hey Janey, I heard Pastor Bob showed you his 'Harry Binswanger'!"

[MillennialDem]

38. Did these let them eat cake idiots ever read history?

You can only squeeze the masses so hard, as the rich french found out 225 years ago.

[JHB]

46. If they did, would I need this sig?:

[JHB]

44. You can't spell "The Capitalist Tool" without "Tool", capitalized.

[deutsey]

45. Greedy fucker.

[sakabatou]

47. Where's my clue-by-four?

[Brigid]

80. Here it is,

Right next to my torch and pitchfork.

[King_Klonopin]

148. Which is right behind my dope slap.

[frylock]

48. this guy should crawl back up his ass and go galt

[Autumn Colors]

49. Rose Wilder Lane

I was horrified when I found out recently that one of the so-called "Founding Mothers of American Libertarianism" - along with Ayn Rand - was Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter of author, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder. I never knew that before.

I used to love the "Little House" books when I was a kid. This sort of ruins that for me.

[OnionPatch]

129. And her family survived by taking free land from the government.

If only people could get free land today.

I still love the books. Rose didn't write them, anyway.

[Ken Burch]

139. It's interesting that you should mention the "Little House" books in this context

because Rose Wilder Lane(who was responsible for getting those books published)edited them to serve the right-wing ideology she was trying to promote.

In particular, Ms. Lane edited out the passages her mother had written in which the whole town came together in response to some sort of crisis(fire, animal attack, insane weather, etc)...leaving only those story lines in which the Ingalls family, all by itself, solved ALL of its problems, while never asking anybody else for any help at all.

And Ms. Lane did this during the worst of the Great Depression, a time in which it had become clear to the vast majority of Americans that only community, state, and federal intervention could guarantee that the American people survived the situation. The "Little House" books were released as anti-New Deal propaganda.

Ironically, when he did the television series based on the books(a series that painted a ridiculously romanticized portrait of life on the Minnesota prairie during the late 19th Century). Michael Landon, no liberal himself(and also a total flaming hypocrite on the "family values" issue, but that's another discussion) seems to have realized that Rose Wilder Lane's version of prairie life was, to at least some degree, total horse manure, and showed a lot of situations in which everybody in Walnut Grove worked together for the greater good.

[Autumn Colors]

162. Thank you

Thanks for adding this additional information. Hard to believe that Laura and Almanzo Wilder (at least the version of them I imagine from the books and TV show) could produce such spawn.

[laundry_queen]

159. Yep, I was pretty shocked when I read that

It was about a year ago or so.

All I could think when I found out was "Yep, sure sounds like an only child." Not saying all only children are self-centered, most turn out really great, but the ones I know that didn't turn out as nice, generous people are very much "I'm awesome and I did it all by myself, aren't I special?" libertarian types. Like my ex, lol.

I'll be sure to discuss this little part with my kids when I read the books to them (we just ordered them, my copies are long gone) and I'll be sure to mention, what was said down thread, about RWL editing out the parts where they had help. A good, teachable moment.

[Autumn Colors]

161. Maybe introduce them to the TV show, too

As that presented some the aspects the RWL edited out.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

52. It could be the Onion with that name. "Harry Binswanger" Didn't he star with Hugh Jass?

[Curmudgeoness]

53. So, apparently the 99% has no value

to this bastard? All we want to do is take take take.

I am very close to boycotting all the wealth whores. I will make every attempt to consume less products, and I am ramping up my "buy local from ordinary people" campaign. It is all I have the power to do.

[Rex]

54. My guess was the WSJ or Forbes before opening the thread.

I have something to give them.

[neverforget]

56. He quotes fiction and thinks it's real. 'nuff said.

[Major Nikon]

58. St. Petersburg in revolt gave us Vladimir Nabokov, Isaiah Berlin and Ayn Rand.

The first was a novelist, the second a philosopher. The third was neither but thought she was both.
-- Corey Robin

[The Magistrate]

61. Very Good, Major

I consider Mr. Berlin one of the high points of the human race.

[Major Nikon]

72. I consider Ayn Rand one of the low points

The reason Ayn Rand died alone was because she never found her John Galt. The reason why she never found her John Galt was because he only existed in her mind. The reason why so many believe in Ayn Rand is the same reason why so many believe in the bible. When someone tells you what you want to hear, it doesn't have to make sense.

[niyad]

62. this isn't even original. even without knowing he is a randian, I thought how very similar it

sounds to a monologue given by one of the main characters in "atlas shrugged" about the evil robin hood robbing from the productive and worthy rich and giving to the lazy, useless, undeserving poor.

[kentuck]

64. OWS had it right.

We need progressives in the White House and the House and Senate that will re-distribute some of the booty they have stolen over the last 30 years. And they should be willing and able to put few of their sorry asses in jail if they do not follow the law. Enough already!

[Enthusiast]

96. Therein lies the problem.

Elected Democrats have been unwilling to throw some sorry asses in jail in the face of overt criminality. Eric Holder even admitted as much.

[deutsey]

65. Of course, this is an expression of the new reality

They (the elites) have successfully rolled back the gains we (the 99%) achieved during the 20th century.

Their continued success depends on us and our elected officials doing nothing to counterbalance their efforts.

Which is why they've been so successful since 1980.

[yurbud]

68. you make a profit by buying things and labor for less than they are worth and selling for more

Then they're worth.

If that were not the case unions wouldn't be able to negotiate higher wages, and retailers could never have sales.

the very wealthy are in it for the money, and if their business does any good, it is a happy accident--but one that will be corrected if it starts to cut into the profit margin.

[A Little Weird]

70. Geeze

I have only read excerpts from Rand but it seems like such drivel. I can't believe anyone would really believe it. It makes me both angry at him and sad for him.

[mindwalker_i]

71. This is a very old theory

that people who are rich must somehow deserve it. In this case, the author is saying that those who are rich as adding value to stuff, more than anyone else. There is a tiny core of truth there: some people do actually develop a good product, sell it to people, and make more out of what was.

However, his piece ignores the fact that the wealthiest people are NOT adding value to anything. I'm talking about the stock market, which, these days, with high frequency trading and such, is just a way to skim money off of the actual, real work and effort that other people do. That iPhone dude came up with a good product, and the stock maket people took their cut from it. They aren't getting money to good projects any more, merely skimming as much as they can from the people who do the work. And that hurts people as well as the whole economy.

Then there's inheritance. Did the inheritors add value to anything? Will they in the future? That seems unlikely. Why work when one already has plenty?

At the bottom line is a moral argument that the masses should appreciate and love the rich, and shower them with even more money because it's just the right thing to do. Funny how the powerful always appeal to others to have morals, do the right thing, for the benefit of the rich. Do the rich have morals? I think history has shown te answer to that.

[Half-Century Man]

88. Shower them with money...

...can we use gold bricks, from the seventh floor? a truckload of loose nickles? A truckload of loose 15/16th combination wrenches? The truck itself? White marble blocks normally used to chip 7 foot statues out of?


Sounds too much like the "Divine Right of Kings" claptrap.
Okay it's a simple concept, repeat after me...All Men Are Created Equal...Not some are super special, not some are lesser beings, not all are sinners, not all are super wonderful because where they came into the world, not having worth determined which vagina (noble or commoner) they dropped out of...just regular people.

Just about everyone, given the same opportunities as the super wealthy would do just as well. Your assertion that the inheritors of someone else's effort (a parent or grandparent) are somehow special instead of lucky I believe is flawed.

[mindwalker_i]

89. And I didn't even touch on another very important part of this issue

A lot of money is made by people who really like finance which, arguably in many cases, doesn't "produce" anything. Sometimes is quite useful, like lending money to people to start a business. A lot of times it isn't useful - see above.

But what about us people who don't like finance? We're good at some things too. I'm an engineer and play at bein a physicist, and might actually contribute some interesting things to the world. But if I don't care about finance and, consequently, don't end up as a milionaire, does that mean I don't deserve the same deference as a stock broker? What about the dude who does an amazing job of fixing my roof? Does he not deserve the same treatment as this rich guy?

The truth is, the person who wrote that piece pulled his own dick off and stuck it up his own ass, just to be more full of himself. There are damn good reasons to be highly wary of how he came into money, and to make him pay more than what a poor person pays in taxes.

[The Magistrate]

99. Hear Hear, Sir!

[nyquil_man]

74. If the 99% moved at once in any direction, the 1% would topple to the ground.

"Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country." - William Jennings Bryan

[rurallib]

77. thus the strtegy of keeping hundreds of factions

always jealous and at each others throats.

[Triana]

85. The ONLY thing the 99% owe the 1% is payback

for all the HELL, pain, and DESTITUTION that has been been brought down on them (the 99%) by decades of the 1%'s unmitigated, unregulated, self-serving GREED.



This shit is more goddamned John Bircherism/Ayn Randism - extremist, greed-ridden psychopathic "I got mine fuck you" bullshit.

[PowerToThePeople]

86. Hey 1%. Come get your deserves.

[DonCoquixote]

87. What the rich do not realize

Is that they were nylon able to gain their fortune by making themselves useful to others, and by ensuring others had the means to buy their crap. Henry Ford priced his cars based on his worker's salary, because he knew that if his own workers could not afford them, he would not be able to sell them. All the Billionaires, the Jobs, the Gates, the Waltons, all of them are dependent on millions of people from all social strata being able to buy their crap. If rich only had rich to trade with, they would starve in a week, as they would all be trying to outsource each other and cheat each other.

[FourScore]

91. Oh. My. God. Unbelievable! n/t

[Ken Burch]

92. "a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity"?

What kind of drugs are the Randians taking these days?

[WinkyDink]

94. But....but..there is no "humanity"! "Just individuals," right?

[Ken Burch]

137. So it's a vampire squid wrapped around...nothing?

How does it hold on, then?

[WinkyDink]

95. Let me be blunt: This man should immediately die. He has no value.

[The Magistrate]

100. I Don't Know, Sir: Gutted, Skinned, And Salted Down, Maybe A Dollar A Pound....

"Sun-Kist don't want tuna with good taste, Charlie --- Sun-Kist wants tuna that tastes good.'

[TBF]

97. I always read the WSJ and Forbes -

to know what the creepy capitalists are up to.

[eridani]

98. Winners end the game n/t

[11 Bravo]

107. I would say un-fucking-believable, but sadly it's not even mildly surprising.

As for the close of your post, I'm beginning to think that Conrad had it right: "Exterminate ALL the brutes!"

[bread_and_roses]

108. I wish I could say it's unbelievable ...

that anyone would promulgate such a steaming pile or ordure ... but it's not.

These people are deranged ... worse, they are psychopathic. Toxic. Poisonous.

[highplainsdem]

114. Disgusting but predictable BS from a professional Ayn Rand worshipper.

Binswanger's entire career is built around promoting Ayn Rand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Binswanger

[tblue]

116. Is Mitt Romney more productive than my gardener?

No way in hell.

[MinM]

117. Funniest post in the history of the internet

Good reply here @ Cannonfire...

...Yes. Because Lloyd did so much for us back in 2008. Never mind the fact that Blankfein doesn't make anything, and never mind the fact that his profits stemmed from a monstrous series of lies and cons, selling derivatives backed by crap loans which received a triple-A stamp by bought-off rating services. Much as it pains me to quote a Kos contributor, I can't resist noting what this person added:

Oh God, please stop—it's too good. The only way to make it better would be to add a line like "and fuck you, cute puppies, and all you stand for."

I can't believe that our world continues to be impacted by the writings of athat obnoxious, unlovable lunatic cigarette hag. Ayn Rand began her public career by extolling the virtues of a brutal serial killer. She spent the rest of her life composing a pseudo-intellectual philosophy designed for the sole purpose of justifying her unfulfilled lifelong desire to be ravished by Conan the Barbarian...

http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2013/09/funniest-post-in-history-of-internet.html

[dionysus]

118. wow. taxes really give that asshole a sad...

[lumberjack_jeff]

122. "The thing about a piniata is you have to hit it with a stick."

[beerandjesus]

123. The only thing worse than Ayn Rand...

... is the asshats who follow her.

I hope this guy dies.

[Roland99]

125. Reads like a Sci-Fi novel from decades ago.

[lastlib]

126. So he doesn't want to "tax success"--What does he want to tax? Failure?!?!?

Good luck with that!

[FiveGoodMen]

127. It is a sin, an abomination, an emanation from hell itself, that our country allows Harry Binswanger

to live.

[erpowers]

128. Go To Somalia

Maybe you needed Henry Ford to create the assembly line and Steve Jobs to create the iPhone and iPads, but if this whole thing was all about ingenuity why have we not seen the next big thing come out of Somalia. So is this author trying to say, or does he think people in Somalia do not have ingenuity. If it was just about ingenuity why have so many of the big ideas that changed the world come out of America? I think the fact that so many new ideas come out of America also disproves the point of the author. If the IRS is such a vampire squid on the nation why have so many from this nation been able to come up with new ideas, new technology, and new products.

The iPhone and the iPad came many years after Steve Jobs became a billionaire. If the author is correct wouldn't Jobs have failed to create new things once he was a billionaire? In addition, Bill Gates' company Microsoft came up with the Xbox gaming system many years after Gates had become a billionaire. Once again, if the author of the article is correct wouldn't Gates' company have failed to create the Xbox gaming system.

Beyond the fact that individuals like Jobs and Gates have been able to continue to create new products after they were billionaires, before these individuals were billionaires with successful companies they received hundreds of millions of dollars from the government. that money helped their companies thrive.

Finally, there are many other ways that taxes have helped make this nation great and business owners succeed. From the G.I Bill to the interstate highway system taxes have help improved this nation. The 1% did not by itself educate many generations of Americans, or build the interstate highway system. American taxes and American workers did those things. It seems that Paul Krugman was right, some individuals who read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged at a young have trouble understanding the difference between fact and fiction.

[Quantess]

135. Or Liberia.

This is an hour long video. Well worth watching, fascinating, and horrifying.

[washnwmn]

130. Just sick n' wrong

Even Socrates, facing a death sentance and asked why he wouldn't escape into exile said, we owe something to the place that fed, sheltered and clothed us.
If that's not community, I don't know what is. Every religion, or belief in the world touts the "golden rule".


These people are so into hoarding money and against everything that could possibly take it away from them.

I recall seeing films from the crash of 1929 where the wealthy, banksters and Walls Street 1%ers were all jumping out of highrise windows, because they lost all their precious money in the crash. It generally comes back to bite them in the end.

[MFrohike]

132. The funniest part

Andrew Mellon, an actual capitalist unlike Ayn Rand, would have condemned his proposal as immoral because even the Republican's Republican believed that the work done by labor was of greater value than that done by capital. Not only that, Rand's heros were technicians, not rentiers, so I'm not sure she'd be thrilled by giving a government subsidy to Lloyd Blankfein, either. After all, compared to her heros, what does Lloyd actually create?

[Progressive dog]

133. What do we have to do to get these people to go Galt? nt

[Frank Cannon]

152. Surely there must be some abandoned island in the Pacific...

where they can go and construct their precious little utopia.

But no, that would take all the fun out of just sticking around and being complete assholes to all the rest of us.

[emsimon33]

134. We may be coming to a very bloody revolution that takes out the 1% to the 7th generation

The French Revolution is looking better and better as a solution although I would prefer a peaceful turn over of power and un-regulated wealth.

[Javaman]

136. I guess the stupid rich forgot what the "1%" stands for.

morons

[SomethingFishy]

138. There is a Wingnut radio host in Colorado

named Mike Rosen. He used to do this bit on how he never understood why America loved the "underdog". He would rant and rave about how it's the "overdogs" who get things done, and the underdogs were just losers hooping for a break.

This reminds me of that crap. Not surprised it's from Forbes.

[heaven05]

140. this an EVIL society now.

no shame, no conscience. Just greed and avarice of the 1%ers and the slipping into poverty and darkness by the 99%ers. American capitalism, what have you wrought? Painmiserygrief.

[Alkene]

141. Reading this made me need to go take a binswanger.

Don't worry; I'll light a match when I'm done.

[Faryn Balyncd]

143. "...should be exempt from all income taxes..should be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor."

"Here’s a modest proposal. Anyone who earns a million dollars or more should be exempt from all income taxes. Yes, it’s too little. And the real issue is not financial, but moral. So to augment the tax-exemption, in an annual public ceremony, the year’s top earner should be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/harrybinswanger/2013/09/17/give-back-yes-its-time-for-the-99-to-give-back-to-the-1/

Maybe Mr. Binswanger would like to nominate Ty Warner for a Congressional Medal of Honor Consolation Prize (if only he had made a little more).

[Initech]

144. They aint getting shit from me.

[RevStPatrick]

146. BINSWANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[King_Klonopin]

149. Malignant capitalism in America has become "terminal".

The true parasites have no awareness that they are the parasites.

Even the fascist Henry Ford realized that his venture would fail if
his workforce weren't paid enough to buy the same automobiles
that they built (that THEY built, not him.)

[sinkingfeeling]

154. Too bad I don't have the power to deport the scumbag! He doesn't believe

in the founding principles of the country. Why can't we get that hyped? If you don't believe in the concept of 'common good' or 'nation', you are a traitor.

[love_katz]

156. Seems like this guy should be named Bangs-his-wanger.

Well, that seems to be what he used to do his thinking with.

And, of course, the $$$ of the wealthy gives miraculous birth to all these great products and services without any help whatsoever from the people whom, uh, actually DO the work from them.

What a clueless cretin.

Clods like him never seem to understand that the workers are the feet that support the enterprise, the hands and backs that do the work which generates the profits the kleptocracy are so in lust for ( and dependent on).

Old Bangs-his-wanger is just another mouthpiece for toxic sewage sludge ideas.

[Walter-White]

158. Someone should send the fool that wrote that article to Belize. :P

[Ken Burch]

165. That would be the Ayn Rand who died thirty years ago

and, when she was still breathing, wrote FICTION-and lame fiction at that.

[TheLastHeathen]

167. Pure Poison

This is the same Harry Binswanger who has...

1. Written of the moral duty of pregnant woman who have advance knowledge that their child is disabled to have abortions so as to spare the rest of society the burden of someone who will always be 'unproductive'

2. Suggested an electoral system in which only the wealthy should be allowed to vote

3. Argued that the destitute should be placed in labour camps. He defends this on the basis that they will retain the right to die quietly in a ditch somewhere

4. Said that the only people who die due to lack of access to healthcare are those without sufficient value to society.

5. Described the NHS in the UK as a 'gross indulgence' which needlessly prolongs the lives of 'poverty stained wastrels' and expects 'wealth creators' to pay for it.

6. In another deranged attack on the poor has stated that anyone who is poor cannot be moral as to be in poverty is immoral.


There are plenty more, but the gist is this guy is pure poison. He prostrates himself at the feet of anyone with wealth (no matter how they made it) and has nothing but utter contempt for the poor.

[gopiscrap]

169. Welcome to DU

[Warren DeMontague]

168. "Lunch? Don't servants create lunch?"

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

174. What a major douchebag

There's no better way to put it.