No one said anything here about “compelled by the state.” The fact that you love your fellow human beings doesn’t mean you’re “compelled by the state.”

Which I am

🙏

Neither Wilbur Wright nor Thomas Edison would agree with you

Not so

Full contents of my Economic Bill of Rights speech: marianne2024.com/economic-bi…

In my proposed Economic Bill of Rights, number ten is the right to cultural and civic involvement in a democratic life. #Marianne2024

The survival of our species will in many ways turn on whether enough of us make the transition from "What's in it for me?" to "What's in it for us?"

I do like it. But I realize it's often misunderstood and "trickle-down hyper-capitalistic" said enough.

And look where that got us.

The values of the Declaration of Independence are profoundly humanitarian: All men are created equal, with inalienable rights (given by God) to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The values of trickle-down hyper-capitalistic economics are values-neutral, acknowledging no ethical responsibility to people or planet but only fiduciary responsibility to corporate stockholders. Our generation is confronted by the need to decide between the two.

It's the words in the Declaration itself:)

Neoliberal is not the same as liberal

:)

Tax cuts to the very wealthy are given under the canard that those people will then create more jobs and add to the economy. Evidence is clearly otherwise. The 2017 tax cut - where 83 cents of every dollar went into the hands of the wealthiest Individuals and corporations - will never pay for itself. Giving tax cuts to companies already making billions in profit did not make them invest; the money mainly went to stock buybacks etc. When corporatists talk about reducing the deficit, they are only willing to do so on the backs of the middle class and poor. They are never willing to spend money on catching wealthy tax cheats, repealing unfair tax cuts to the very wealthy, or increasing investment in things that actually support the average person in creating more wealth. The problem is not one individual policy here or there. The problem is big picture: a state of aristocracy and corporate entitlement now baked into the cake in America - the very opposite of a free democratic society in which everyone is supposed to have a fair shot. The current system makes a mockery of the very idea of "unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." As the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said, "We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." #Disruptthesystem

And this isn’t The 20th century anymore, where only the most transactional language is considered a sophisticated conversation.

I don’t follow your logic. If no one applies for the role - doing so in order to change the plot - then the theatre company continues to clone itself and nothing will ever change.

You’re saying the work of a wealthy person is more inherently valuable than the work of someone who is not wealthy. I disagree. And your vision of a country in which the very very wealthy are constantly giving back to society is like a fairytale - some fanciful version of what is actually happening. That trickle down delusion has led us to where we are: the largest income inequality in over 100 years. It certainly did not lift all boats; it has left millions and millions of people without even a life vest.

No it doesn’t. It sounds like the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address.