How to Respond to the Kansas "Cruise Ship" Judge Judys
Ever since the 1980s politicians of all stripes have been building their careers on the backs of punishing the poor for laziness, inappropriate spending, general bad character. The collective sins of society find catharsis in the discipline of the poor. Whenever there is a whiff of revolution in the air, politicians distract everyone by yelling, "Hey, look over there - there's a poor person for you to judge!"
What can we do about this before the bar of who the poor and the judged is raised enough to get to YOU?
I have an idea.
Is there an academic or an investigative journalist of good will out there who might be willing to put together a little study that correlates corporate welfare and indirect tax transfers to the rich with what the 1% spends the transferred taxpayers money on?
For instance, instead of just saying that the average taxpayer gives corporations $6000/year in corporate welfare (while giving social services for poor PEOPLE only pennies), could we offer the opportunity for some Judge Judy scrutinizing of whether this money goes into particular pockets...and then how those people spend that money? Perhaps taxpayer money IS going toward lobster and cruises and horse racing...but not for the benefit of people eligible for Assistance for Needy Families but rather for people who could have afforded such luxuries on their own damned earnings - but got graft from taxpayers on top of that.
It seems like people can't resist the urge to judge other people for "getting away with" doing something human: choosing to vary their diets with some treat, attempting some escapism from a horrific state of life (especially if they can't afford a traditional "vacation"
, or exercising choices about what to buy that might give them a little boost in life (investing in getting nails done at a salon before a job interview). But if the taxpayer rejects subsidizing these things for the poor in their effort to normalize their lives and uplift their condition, then the taxpayer should *all the more* reject subsidizing these same things and more for people who had other options to pay for them.
The 1% should be scrutinized as much as the poor are: follow them with a microscope, subject them to "fraud investigators", set them up as constant examples for public shame for how they spent their tax-payer subsidized gains.
I believe some studies like this are one of the most important things that could be done to help the poor, in terms of shifting the political landscape. Who will step up?
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