“We Are Not All in This Together”

[Saviolo]

6. But they're just going to come back with...

... that storied old chestnut about how those in the top 1% work/worked -so much harder- to get where they are. Why should we punish their success? Why should it be up to the hard working successful job creators to pay for those lazy people beneath who didn't go to school, didn't work hard, and are just slacking?

It's all bullshit, of course, but it's a hard image to fight. They were born on third base and insist they hit a triple. Truth is, social mobility is all but gone now. If you were born in the middle class or lower, you're either staying there or sinking. How do we fight all of this perception?

I'm at a loss. The message has been so deeply ingrained in the public's consciousness by the wealthy-led and owned media. Anyone who stands up to that message is a class warrior (though I don't see how that's a dirty word, really!). It's a deeply Sisyphean task.