Wherein Joe Scarborough displays his elitism

[blogslut]

Just now, on Morning Blow, Scarborough was defending the wealthy from the evils of taxation. He plead:

"Why should we punish the most productive members of our society?"

And there you have it. Joe believes that wealth equals worth. Nevermind the janitor that cleans his mess. Forget the laborers and service workers who keep the city he works in humming. Fie, on the teachers that instruct and look after his children. All those MSNBC staffers and technicians that insure his show runs smoothly? Not productive enough for Joe.

[NNN0LHI]

1. My impression wasn't that he actually believes that

My impression was more that if he were running for office again he could very easily get the people who hardly make anything to believe it.

And he is right about that. People are generally stupid and will vote against their best interests every time and he knows it.

That was my take.

Don

[blogslut]

3. Granted, the man is wholly disingenous

Still, his words belie a commonly held belief that wealth = worth. The belief is not new nor is it unique to America. For me, that mindset is at the core of humanity's troubles.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Yet one more waste of protoplasm and oxygen inhabitng this planet.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Exhibit A against Joe's arguement, Carly Fiorina, was a guest today.

Unfortunate timing for Joe.

[StarfarerBill]

5. He's a closet Randroid, no doubt.

[Tesha]

6. a very popular portrayal of taxation

on local LTE comment pages. Ayn would have been proud - especially since the guys who mouth this foolishness are hardly "the most productive". Most likely they are charter members of the local Teabagger Team.

[lxlxlxl]

7. he does this once every hour...

i stopped making a record of it.

[Berry Cool]

8. Typical Randian; thinks he's a self-made man, but let his wastebasket go unemptied for just a day

and he'll throw a fit.

These guys always remind me of the story about the parts of the body arguing about who deserved to be boss, of which the punchline is, "You don't need to be a brain to be boss, just an asshole." But really, it's also a perfect illustration of why Randian thought doesn't work.

Randian philosophy consists of a bunch of brains sitting around complaining about how they should go on strike, because the rest of the body they inhabit just doesn't appreciate them enough. But the truth is, if the assholes all decided to go on strike, the brains wouldn't be able to get jackshit done--nor would any other parts of the body.

In the body of our human society, the people who work primarily with their minds are the brains, and the people who work primarily with their hands and with doing the unpleasant but necessary tasks of the world are the "assholes." Everyone else treats them as if they are the lowest of the low. But the truth is, without their work, everyone else would be in deep, deep shit in a hurry.

[Bobbie Jo]

9. Not just Joe...

Typical Rethug worldview.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Yeah, never mind the 500 employees working under them

Who are CREATING that productivity.

Assuming, of course, that the rich person actually works.

Many live off trust funds and dividends and don't produce a THING.