Charles Barkley: 'Politics Is Rich People Screwing Poor People'

[Quixote1818]

[merrily]

1. As opposed to all the segments of US society that are not rich people screwing poor people?

Politicians have power to enact laws. I think that is all that distinguishes politicians, from say, pharmaceutical companies, who can "merely" lobby politicians to pass laws that make pharmaceutical companies richer.

[Kip Humphrey]

2. So is Wal-Mart. See how that works? Government, politics, business, economics, taxes,

pretty much EVERYTHING IS LIKE THAT!!! And that's why everything is a problem/broken/doesn't work for people anymore.

[Enthusiast]

3. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

It is exactly as he said. I hear a constant drumbeat that it is the people on welfare and food stamps that are 100% responsible for the nation's financial ills.

Never once do these voices consider the corporate welfare that has been going on for decades. This was bad enough before Reagan, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, NAFTA and welfare reform destroyed the fucking nation. Now the ENTIRE media is giving voice to a reverse Robin Hood mentality. We actually are in a race to the bottom.

Hey, politicians, we are on to your game. Some of us are, anyway

[Sinan]

4. This kid is pretty smart

And despite his outbursts and silliness, so is Sir Charles. Sure you can quibble about this word or that word but he usually tells it like it is and gets right to the bottom of the matter quickly. His comments were spot on. Calling poor people stupid because they do not rise up as a group is accurate. This is not an all inclusive stupid, it is a selective stupid, a kind of laziness born of tradition and fatalism if you will, it is that same kind of stupid that accepts the notion that Social Security can go bankrupt, that the EPA must be destroyed, that Common Core is the reason our kids do poorly instead of blaming parents for letting their kids watch TV or game all day long, it is that kind of stupid.

[liberalmike27]

5. Wow

I've been pushing this narrative for years. They use their media to create rifts between various groups. Blacks and Hispanics, Blacks vs. Whites, the evil Muslims, the Jews and Palestinians, then they milk us dry why we all scrap, when the real battle that goes on, is their class warfare, a one-sided battle in which we're all screwing ourselves while we're distracted and misdirected.

Fight back against the class warfare, and remember when you watch the "news" and yes, even MSNBC, you are listening to words prepared by the rich, which you are allowed to hear. And believe me when I tell you, there is plenty left unsaid, you need to hear, but will never hear on the over-air media--probably not in regular print publications either.

Chomsky has been pointing this stuff out for most of his life, with his book "Manufacturing Consent." (to start)

[Nitram]

6. Actually, politics is also the Civil Rights Act, the voting Rights Act, The Clean Water Act,

the Federal highway system, Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc, etc, etc.