It’s a new year, a new decade, so, on day one, Nicholas Kristof is already whining about monetary inequality. He is more than welcome to give up the majority of his cushy salary, along with the rest of the overpaid hacks at the NY Times Equality, a True Soul Food
John Steinbeck observed that “a sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.â€
That insight, now confirmed by epidemiological studies, is worth bearing in mind at a time of such polarizing inequality that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans possess a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90 percent.
He never really gets around to providing ideas to address this inequality, just pushes around the edges in the closing, yet, we all know that the answer in Liberal World is not “work to help the poor (who tend to have free/cheap housing, big screen TVs, microwaves, and cars) achieve a higher salary through better education and work habits.” Instead, it is “take the money from the wealthiest (like those who write op-eds for the NY Times) and just give it to the poor, so they can eat more while sitting around in their free/cheap housing while watching their big screen TVs.”
There’s growing evidence that the toll of our stunning inequality is not just economic but also is a melancholy of the soul. The upshot appears to be high rates of violent crime, high narcotics use, high teenage birthrates and even high rates of heart disease.
Or, it could have something to do with Liberal policies that coddle criminals, sexualize teens and make them think it is simply just A-OK to have wild unprotected sex at a young age, when they are completely unprepared for parenthood, and tell the poor that it’s just fine to sit around all day as the government gives them free money.” I think my explanation is somewhat more believable, and certainly quantified by the state of Liberal controlled areas around the world.
Now it gets really strange
There’s similar evidence from other primates. For example, macaque monkeys are also highly social animals, and scientists put them in cages and taught them how to push a lever so that they could get cocaine. Those at the bottom of the monkey hierarchy took much more cocaine than high-status monkeys.
Other experiments found that low-status monkeys suffered physical problems, including atherosclerosis in their arteries and an increase in abdominal fat. And as with monkeys, so with humans. Researchers have found that when people become unemployed or suffer economic setbacks, they gain weight. One 12-year study of American men found that when their income slipped, they gained an average of 5.5 pounds.
Nothing better than comparing human social life to that of monkeys. Of course, it seems to be primarily Blacks that are shown on the television as being “the poor and downtrodden”, so, I declare Nicholas Kristof a monumental racist, and it is up to him to prove otherwise.
BTW, which political party has controlled Congress and most state governments the past 4 years? The White House the last two? Not to mention which political leaning has been the majority in governmental agencies/bureaucracies for, well, forever?
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.
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I once thought beating Jeff Jarvis into a squiggly puddle would be the most fun…. Nah, Kristof is too stupid by 5X to allow breathing or breeding.
AND WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE THINGS BELOW THIS TEXT BOX?
As usual, Mr. Teach doesn’t actually read the article; he just creates strawmen and attacks them viciously.
For instance, not only is this
absolutely, breath-takingly stupid, it is also refuted in the study reviewed by the professors and discussed by Kristof. When they discuss what are known as (and I understand this may be a technical term to the ironically named Mr. Teach) “other countries” and states with relative inequality versus inequality, they point out social ills are less common, even in places with even more eeeeevvvvvviiiiillllll “liberalism” (like the Netherlands) where economic inequality is less. Seriously, it’s only the major theme of the essay and you missed it!
As for monkeys and people, Mr. Teach’s education in biology apparently stopped somewhere after Genesis 4 when he was matriculating at the Limbaugh Institute of Conservative Studies, but humans and monkeys are primates and have similar DNA (chimps in fact have 98% of the same genes a homo sapien has, something Mr. Teach might have learned had he actually read a book). Thus, studies of other social animals can help support research into….well, us. Or, is Mr. Teach unaware of the hundred plus use of animals to test psychological findings and medications?
I’m gonna ignore his massive racist comment at the the end (suffice it to say, where the reader of the op-ed learns about a study comparing high status troop members and low status troop members, William hears monkeys and reflexively thinks blacks).
All in all, the typical sad sack piece of half-thoughts, insults, and prejudices from a man who doesn’t think inequality is important. He can’t just step up and say “it’s okay if the ultra wealthy use government to make themselves more powerful and have since the 1980’s when, according to statistics, the percentage of the national income going to the richest 1% (who, again, own as much as the bottom 90% and keep getting more of that fat cash every year). No, Bill spent the 2000’s arguing for more dead Iraqis and that John Kerry was a coward and is just now discovering a thirty year trend. Surprisingly, he thinks there’s nothing wrong with inequality, but still wants to blame Obama for it!
Partisan hack, indeed
absolutely, breath-takingly stupid, it is also refuted in the study reviewed by the professors and discussed by Kristof.
Actually, it is not breathtakingly stupid at all. The article cites a study that says that people in lower economic conditions “suffer” more issues than people in higher economic conditions.
The question is “what influences a person’s situation in life more? Their choices or their economic status? Clearly when people start to make choices such as drug use, having kids they cannot afford, etc, the hurt their ability to raise their economic status.
Time and time again we see people of wealth make decisions that leave them penniless. On the opposite end, we see people of limited means rise from poverty become successful.
<Thus, studies of other social animals can help support research into….well, us.
Actually, it doesn’t. The monkey “study” that is cited forgets that macow monkeys are born into class and cannot advance from that class. Human beings are not like that. We have the ability to rise above our station in life when we make good decisions.
(who, again, own as much as the bottom 90% and keep getting more of that fat cash every year).
Do think they get that wealth by making poor decisions?
Surprisingly, he thinks there’s nothing wrong with inequality, but still wants to blame Obama for it!
There is nothing wrong with inequity. The Declaration states that all men are created equal. It does not say that “all men will have the same outcomes in life.”
You look at someone and say “why should they have so much money?” I look at people and say “what are they doing or not doing that would increase their wealth?”
You look at the wealthy to the green eyes of ency, jealousy and greed.
I look at them and say “I want to be successful just as they are.”
You look at the wealthy and say “we need to take money from them.”
I look at them and say “we should celebrate those who live and enjoy the American dream, and should inspire others.”