Inequality of income and assets; true justice?
Posted on Friday, March 16th 2012 at 09:45 am
I have had several friends that have been victims of thievery lately. Most of it was copper theft, but a friend who is in heavy construction had something very unusual happen. They arrived at the job site this week to find that thieves had picked specific parts off of their heavy equipment. Things like gears, and light kits for bull dozers, not your ordinary thievery. Perhaps it was a competitor that needed parts for repairs and thought that since my friend had them he could take them? There has been so much talk about "income inequality" and the need to "redistribute wealth" perhaps this will be the new trend. Your neighbor has something you "need" so you just take it to even things out. Need a part for your car, just take it from someone else's car, after all why should they have it when yours is missing? I can see this used as a defense in the not too distant future:
Prosecutor: "Why did your client take his neighbor's lawn mower?"
Defendant's Attorney:" My client is the real victim here. His so called neighbor makes more money than he does and has more assets."
Prosecutor: "Actually your honor this is not true. We have the defendant's tax returns right here and he makes more than the victim the only reason he has more "stuff" is that he inherited the assets from his grandfather."
Defendants Attorney: "Just what I thought your honor generational transfer of wealth. This is another brick in the wall of income inequality in America".
Coming soon to your area equality of income and assets; true justice?
Comments:
It could be true that there are folk on the hard left who moan, but more importantly there are many oridanry people, voters, workers, citizens, benefit receipients who do not receive a fair deal, a respectful deal, and have every reason to moan about the poverty they are in through no fault of their own. ‘Tis true that the last Tory government has much to answer for with regard to the poverty and injustice they imposed. I would never want a return to a goverment that supports the greediest rather than the neediest. There again, I would not want to continue to support a regime that continues working to Thatcherite philosophy, where the free market is king, where business and profit is more more important than people, where targets in government services have become more important than the individual people that the services and government are supposed to serve, where the people are serving the economy rather than the economy serving the people.I don’t need to wait for government measurements and indicators to physically observe that there are people who don’t have enough money to pay for their needs. I speak to people I know who are scared of the next gas bill, who cannot afford their own housing, who worry about whether they can aford to go to the dentist (if they can find one. I see homeless people on the streets. Life in the community keeps me in touch, it is a great shame that the actions of those empowered by the ballot box do not appear by their actions to be in touch with the realities of poverty faced in the community. The minimum wage, albeit a significant improvement on thatcherite days, remains an insult to the porly paid, who should not need to go cap in hand to claim tax credits and benefits. A fair days wage, without state top ups, for a for days work seems an alien concept within the British economy.Not being a political theorist, I have no allegience to any poltical wing, all I know is that if I respect my neighbour, give him what he is due with the fairness and respect s/he desrves, then it is the first step towards the type of society and economy that I want to live in, and that my neighbour deserves to live in. Then if my nextdoor neighbour treats his neighbour fairly, then like a contagious disease fairness and respect may spread down the street, and beyond perhaps reaching and infecting my Labour Party, and then perhaps into Westminster and the City of London. Yes, it’s my dream, a fantasy that Labour will wake up to remember the people in poverty, and do something to meaningfully address the poverty and inequality so that all in our community receive the respect, opportunity and dignity they deserve within the community and the economy.‘Tis true thast we elected Labour in 1997 to enable the poor to get richer. “Richness of the poor” is an academic point at a time when fuel poverty is rising. There will be many more in the winter of 2008/9 than in the winter of 1997/8who will be forced to decide whether to eat or heat. Rising social housing waiting lists are indicative of housing poverty. How many government measurements do we need, before the problems are recognised and acted upon?
By Madhu on 05/15/2012