Operation: Voice Your Opinion

#22

I haven’t begun reading the article but it the title merits a read. We might find some pointers for counter-arguments.
Fortunately this article didn’t make much rounds and is 3 years old. Came across it looking for a petition.

http://americansforprosperity.org/repeal-the-death-tax

Here is the petition I was looking for, a repeal to the ‘Death’ Tax as referred to by Conservatives. This is an organization funded by the billionaire heirs infamously know as the Koch brothers. Should I share this on the MP FB page? With a text, perhaps simply: Know your enemy.

The petition reads as following:

“The death tax, also known as the estate tax, is a tax on a person’s assets at death. With this tax, the viability of family-owned farms and businesses are threatened when one generation wishes to pass assets down to the next generation. It is simply wrong to punish Americans who work hard throughout their lives by confiscating the fruits of their labor when they die. At AFP, we are committed to delivering your petitions to ensure your voice is heard!”

http://americansforprosperity.org/repeal-the-death-tax

#24

Sorry, this was the article I meant to share… and I as I tried to state I have not read it yet, but it may have points that may be useful to counter, so that may be added to the FAQ.

#25

We have had a very interesting article in Germany (sorry, German only and I dunno if a Google Translate would be a good one). http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/forschung-politik/soziale-systeme-der-terror-der-leistungsgerechtigkeit-13740822.html

It deals with the question if a meritocracy is desirable as a social system. The founder of the term “Meritocrarcy” replies, that it ain’t. The point in this article is, that a society with equality would miss the differences between different classes. And furthermore the risk, that the new elite which is achieved by a meritocracy has new risks. An example is,that each class needs also skilled people. In a case of a meritocracy, all skilled lowe class people would become member of a higher class. The result would be, that there are only groups of skilled or unskilled classes. And therefore, the lower classes would be without any structure, leadership and so on.
The article says that those fears are announced by Micheal Young.

How do you feel about it?

#26

Could you translate the article to English?

#27

^ I think it’s not so clear that there would be an underclass of unskilled people if everyone gets equal education. Instead there is a whole population of skilled/educated people of which the very best will be the leaders. And just ask the difference between the voting system, it’s clear that meritocratic elections crush the current political system by being far more intelligent. Everyone will not buy this, there will most likely always be guys who cry about their fellowship’s rights to vote about everything. Preferrably directly from the bar at the shopping mall :slight_smile:

#28

A social capitalism by Gar Alperovitz. Some relevant quotes,

“if we acknowledge that our current system is broken, then what do we want instead?”

“As a historian, I know that far-reaching ideas do not usually matter at most points in time. What matters is entrenched power. But we are in one of those exceptional moments in history when the old ideas are demonstrably failing at a time when new ones represent a very great source of potential power and political energy.”

“Mostly remembered for the titular claim of his book that ‘small is beautiful’, many readers neglect to read all the way to the end, where Schumacher insists that the hyperlocal must be complemented by publicly owned enterprises at various scales: “When we come to large-scale enterprises, the idea of private ownership becomes an absurdity.””