It is worth 0.2% to them to see you Destroyed

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

The rich do not favor Republicans to enrich the rich. Everyone knows on some level the rich make more money under Democrats.

The Rich favor Republicans because it is worth it to them to make a little less money themselves as long as they get to be richer in relative terms.

They are willing to take a small relative loss in order to keep you down. To injure you. To make you a lower and lower class.

Is this irrational behavior on their part? Maybe, maybe not. Studies show that once your basic necessities are met happiness correlates with how much higher your standard of living is than that of those around you, not the absolute quality of your standard of living.




(Rachel Maddow showed this chart on her show. I don't know where it originated.)

[Uzybone]

1. Wow. Great chart.

[LoZoccolo]

2. Sure, but then what does that say about splinterist leftists?

Look at who they are willing to hurt to try to get what they want, using tactics which have never worked.

[RandiFan1290]

5. Agree

We should all question why the DLC types do what they do.

[valerief]

7. You mean rethugs in dem's clothing? nt

[Oceansaway]

3. K&R...n/t

[drm604]

4. I'm not sure that I buy that.

I find it difficult to believe that they look at charts, notice that differential, and then vote accordingly.

They vote based on their misconception that Republicans are better for them, that and their overall ideology about government, regulations, taxes, etc. They vote based on misinformation.

Also, I think it may be possible that the wealthiest of the wealthiest, a very small percentage, do do better under Republicans. Those people, such as the Koch brothers, spend a lot of money convincing the lesser wealthy (as well as gullible middle and lower class people) to support Republicans.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. In a literal sense, no. In an invisible hand sense, yes.

I don't think there is a consciousness of the rich and I doubt many people think this out literally.

And I agree that the top 5% is different from the top 0.01%.

But there is a punitive quality to Republican thinking. They are more about punishment than growth. Not, "If only we could sell twice as many widgets" but rather, "If only we could break the union or eliminate unemployment insurance..."

In my experience, there is a psychological streak in the rich that no matter how much money they have they picture themselves as atop a rampart kicking down at orcs trying to climb the wall.

[drm604]

11. I don't doubt that many of them have a punitive streak.

I just don't think that that chart proves it.

[louis-t]

8. Thanks, Rachel Maddow had this and I wanted to find it

today.

[kenny blankenship]

9. It's Chinatown

Jake Gittes: How much are you worth?
Noah Cross: I have no idea. How much do you want?
Jake Gittes: I just wanna know what you're worth. More than 10 million?
Noah Cross: Oh my, yes!
Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What could you buy that you can't already afford?
Noah Cross: The future, Mr. Gittes! The future.


If you've won the game, the only thing left for you to do that can feed your ego is to establish your rank relative to other winners, not losers. Once the practical goals of "success" are achieved, the only goal left is to run up the score. Noah Cross has no future to speak of - he's already a man of 70 years. He pulls grand scale real estate scams to prove that he controls the future itself, the future he won't be around to see; just as he inseminates his own daughter, and presumably will attempt to inseminate his granddaughter. It's not about the money in absolute terms, and it's not about competing with losers, it's about the degree of Mastery achieved over others - over we their servants and over rival Masters of the Universe.

[leftstreet]

10. +1

[Nay]

14. Yep. There are a lot of petty and huge Hitlers in the ranks, and they

do seem to get a woody over being masters of others.

[Egalitariat]

12. Is that "After Tax" income growth or "Before Tax"?

[OnionPatch]

13. I think it's short-sightedness more than anything else.

A dollar saved on taxes today, a few dollars saved on labor today is the only thing they think about. It doesn't occur to them to think ahead and consider how their customer base is going to hold up in the long run.

[GeorgeGist]

15. Given recent studies showing that incomes over $75000

do not increase happiness, your hypothesis would appear to be irrational.