Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Prosperity Gospel of Trickle Down Economics
http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/08/16/the-prosperity-gospel-of-trickle-down-economics/It suddenly occurred to me this morning that there are important similarities between the prosperity gospel nonsense preached by so many televangelists and the trickle down economics favored by conservatives. In the first, fabulously rich hucksters tell their followers that they will become rich too, if they only send in more money; in the second, fabulously rich politicians and corporate executives tell their followers that they will become rich too, if only they’d make them even richer by cutting their income taxes.
Both of these fantasies manage to survive even though the evidence is clearly against them and should be obvious even to the dullest of those who buy into it. Prosperity preachers are forever telling their followers that if they would just send them money, God will send it back to them ten-fold, or a hundred-fold. So people give money, in huge amounts, and that prediction is proven false; they don’t suddenly become rich. If the preachers really believed their scam, they’d be giving money away rather than demanding that others give it to them. And yet they keep believing that nonsense and keep sending in money.
Both of these fantasies manage to survive even though the evidence is clearly against them and should be obvious even to the dullest of those who buy into it. Prosperity preachers are forever telling their followers that if they would just send them money, God will send it back to them ten-fold, or a hundred-fold. So people give money, in huge amounts, and that prediction is proven false; they don’t suddenly become rich. If the preachers really believed their scam, they’d be giving money away rather than demanding that others give it to them. And yet they keep believing that nonsense and keep sending in money.
Interesting insight!