Posted on 10/16/2012 9:31:19 AM PDT by John S Mosby
"Venice’s elites were the chief beneficiaries. Like all open economies, theirs was turbulent. Today, we think of social mobility as a good thing. But if you are on top, mobility also means competition. In 1315, when the Venetian city-state was at the height of its economic powers, the upper class acted to lock in its privileges, putting a formal stop to social mobility with the publication of the Libro d’Oro, or Book of Gold, an official register of the nobility. If you weren’t on it, you couldn’t join the ruling oligarchy. .......
....Extractive states are controlled by ruling elites whose objective is to extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. "
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
But the thesis DOES fit the Communist Dialectic and "lesson of history" class warfare motif, and neatly dodges the historical REALITY of the 14th Century-- the Genoa competition with the Venetian state and the Ottoman Turks -- the Muslim horde, vs. the ascendant Austro-Hungarian empire. That is to say Christian civilization to fight the nascent islamofascists. Like, uh, today.
But, OH NO, it couldn't possibly BE that the "rich elite" are actually the democrat liberal socialists whose goal it is to retain their power and prevent mobility in business and to restrict freedom (the reason the US was founded to ESCAPE Euro-monarchical socialism). No, it is the "rich" 1% and... by false inference, blames conservatives (RINOs in fact, are part of this socialist mumbo jumbo oligarchy). The whole piece is in direct antithesis of true conservatism and an opportunity society, where people who work hard in freedom, save and invest, and CAN rise. As opposed to obamao and the enablers of the muslim brotherhood (the new Turkic world caliphate) and sharia law, helped by the guilty remains of the socialist elitists who refuse to see reality. An appalling support of the "occupy" neo socialists who demand a piece without working for it. Damn these ***holes.
Utter elitist convoluted tripe rooted in centuries old irrelvant societies that bear no connection to today.
Author, or authors more enamored of their peculiar knowledge of archaic elitists in a wholly ignorant society than they are to realize they have no idea of what their supposed 1% actually does for society. Their intellectualism is never meant to build-up anything; it is soley to tear-down that of which they are jealous.
In Venice they at least controlled who got to vote. Not a bad idea.
Power for power’s sake.
Amazing. I read the article even though I knew full well what their argument was going to be.
Class warfare, government regulation, high taxation, unionism will be the undoing of our country.
Oh, wait...isn’t there an overarching description of an ideology that embraces all of those things?
There is: Liberalism.
These articles absolutely amaze me. In Venice, you had an elite group using the power of government to prevent people from joining the ruling group by publishing a list of those who could govern and get benefits.
In America, no such list exists. The authors make stupid statements like “true, globalization plays a part but the 1% cannot deny their responsibility.” Why can’t the “1%” deny their responsibility? Explain exactly how the “rich” in America have used government to exploit the poor.
The authors are simply explaining how in a free market, some people can get incredibly wealthy. That is all. It doesn’t prevent others from getting wealthy too. That is the miracle of Capitalism. Over the past 200 years, EVERYONE has gotten much, much wealthier because of Capitalism.
Since the 1% is imploding, we don’t need Occupy or the New York Times then. :)
Some of the rich have made a living off the state. As have some of the poor. Naturally mostly been the middle class, since they are the biggest voting block.
GLOBALism will be the end for the West. Economically, politically and socially.
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