Which political party and political ideology is better at reducing income inequality?

Author: n8nrgim

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n8nrgim
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Or helping the poor and working class?

The last time I asked the income inequality question it got bogged down in distractions but was spawing interesting conversation. So I'd thought I try again with hopefully with less distraction this time
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@n8nrgim
Communism isnt exactly famous for solving poverty now.
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@TheGreatSunGod

Yes, living under communism makes countries poorer and less healthy for decades, according to a landmark new study.
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Honestly neither. Deficit spending is the ultimate wealth transfer to the rich from everyone else, since they can afford to hire tax lawyers and minimize what they pay out but then also furnish the government bonds that finance said deficit spending, reaping dividends from other taxpayers down the road. Just during Covid alone there was an unprecedentedly massive stimulus package and income inequality soared higher than ever. Whatever the poor get from this arrangement only helps them in the short term and does nothing to help them achieve self-sufficiency in the long term. We know this because, 60 years after the announcement of LBJ's Great Society, people are still moaning about how devastated the vast American underclass will be by cuts to welfare programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the Child Tax Credit, or SNAP.

Democrats are the ones ultimately responsible for ensuring that Washington keeps passing similar sized budgets year after year. Even when they're the minority party, the fact that in 2 years or less they'd run and easily win against any Republican-led Congress that made substantial cuts all but ensures the status quo remains untouched. But as this would imply, Republicans are completely useless at doing anything about the problem, and indeed add onto the pile with irresponsible tax breaks.
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@Swagnarok
Good thoughts
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The idea that income inequality needs to be abolished isn’t even a communist/socialist ideal, let alone capitalist. It absolutely is not political. It is philosophical. Income level is entirely on us individually to achieve. It depends on relative individual belief in a simple formula we either embrace or ignore: income level = relative and consistent dedication to ambition, planning, and execution. I = a + p + e.  Another necessary belief is that the money supply is unlimited based upon aggressive action on the given formula. A third factor is to ignore the naysayer in the mirror who constantly tells us “You can’t.” Let him/her win, we fail. 
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Why do poor people (those worth less than $300 million) even want to live?
AdaptableRatman
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@fauxlaw
Yes is all up to the individual. Definitely. Totally. Daddys and mommys inheritance and going to a good school having good tutors and having a caring non toxic environment at home to study in is all on us, as well as being neurotypical enough to find school enjoyable and not a nightmare that affects our ability to learn... Duh, it is all on the individual.

Duh. Like come on... Obviously.
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@Greyparrot
Tell us more about how Republicans are better than Republicans at reducing income inequality, and helping the poor and middle class. While you r educating us all, throw in how trump is remaking the Republican party to be even more like these ideals
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Tell us more about how Republicans are better than Republicans at reducing income inequality, and helping the poor and middle class. While you r educating us all, throw in how trump is remaking the Republican party to be even more like these ideals
Better than democrats
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Politcal parties are not good for applying what they preach. They are all corrupted by greedy people looking for power. So, you can tell where all the evil in this planet comes from. 

Besides, I don’t think it's about helping a specific social class but finding an ideology that is suitable for the human being. This ideology is the libertarianism imho because it gets the best out of the human being.

When you give absolute liberty to people they can do their best to get what they want, it's very rewarding. It's not like communism or socialism where you can't give your best because you know you have to share your achievements with the rest. It sucks.

Besides, it's been demonstrated ad nauseam that the wealthiest countries are the ones with the most liberty in term of economy. People don’t give a fuck about politics, they only want to make money to have a better life. That's why China has grown so fast and reduce their poverty eventhough it's a communist country.

Maybe in the near future we can think about socialism, but now it's too soon to consider it. 
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@IlDiavolo
The solution is benevolent dictatorship with feudalistic leadership. That way everyone gets guaranteed jobs and the system benefits all. I did not say equally, I said benefits all.

This current system of democracy and liberalism means left wing becomes too concerned with nihilism and hedonism while right wing becomes concerned with ironically individualism and tribalism rather than holy collectivism.

Problem is, to be a dictatorship means democracies alienate you. That ruins your shots at international trade and good relationships. I admit idk the solution to how to get to the end goal.
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@AdaptableRatman
The solution is benevolent dictatorship with feudalistic leadership.
I never expected to say that but you're fkn right. I can give as an example the case of Chile during the dictatorship of Pinochet. Chile was a fkn mess and got fixed with the General. I mean, it wasnt a benevolent dictatorship but it worked pretty well.

I don’t believe in democracy either, it has proven wrong, it's not sustainable over time. So, I agree with Plato in that sense. 
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@AdaptableRatman
The solution is benevolent dictatorship with feudalistic leadership.
One out of the top 20 ranked countries in the 2023 Human Development Index (United Arab Emirates, #15 with its vast oil wealth) was a dictatorship, so it must be the most perfect form of government! /s

Seriously though, I'll admit there's quite a few constitutional monarchies at the top of the list, but even this arguably defeats your point (that unchecked power is good): these kings and queens don't rule outright, but merely offer one additional check on democracy.

The best form of government is that where nobody reigns. Not one man, not a minority, and not the majority. There's many competing interests, and this conflict is mediated through a well-designed constitution.
I could absolutely see an executive monarchy, wherein a halfway-decent king rules the executive branch for life and has absolute veto but no power of the purse or to make laws (powers held exclusively by the elected legislature), working better than some dysfunctional democracies, potentially in the US itself either now or with another 10-20 years of political deterioration. It's an idea that I think doesn't get considered much if at all, because the public face of monarchism in the US is unhinged weirdos who've read one too many fantasy novels or unironically take the latest Pope's pontificating (no pun intended) on political topics he knows little about seriously. But even then, I don't regard this as being superior to a good democracy. More like, it's something of a second resort if a good democracy cannot be achieved.
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@Swagnarok
Yeah I am not the same type of conservative as you are. I am not a free market capitalist. I support strong regulation.
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@Swagnarok
The best form of government is that where nobody reigns. Not one man, not a minority, and not the majority.
I do not agree to this. I used to think like this because everybody points to Hitler or Stalin, they forget the fantastic emperors or monarchs of the past and it isnt always about the top one alone. How do the knights treat the peasants?

We did not elect God, nor the angels, nor the clergy. God presumably did not intend us to be democratic, he did intend us to be respectful of rights.
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@AdaptableRatman
God has no sin nature. God has no innate depravity. All humans do; hence, none can be trusted with godlike powers over their fellow man.
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@n8nrgim
The only way Republicans are better is because they don't actively fuck over the poor with illegal migration competition for scarce resources as well as making it impossible to build anything for the poor without 1000 arbitrary hoops to jump created for the purpose of milking the taxpayer for swamp pork .

Doing nothing is a vast improvement over evil activism.
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@AdaptableRatman
Yes, on us, but you missed the other point: personal creation of wealth by the formula:  income = ambition + planning + execution. Sounds so simple, most ignore that it really works. That's how I've decided my primary investments are gold + silver, plus rental property that is mortgage free, and my house, which is also mortgage free, and this was all planned & executed beginning nearly 50 years ago, plus my writing/illustration income, which guys like clauswitzian thinks is entirely bogus, but I actually make more money on design & illustration than writing, and that, alone pays more than I was earning before I retired, and has been an income over the last 60 years. I sold my first canvas  [oil] when I was 14 for about $900, tor actor in my childhood neighborhood named Glen Ford, sold several more on that sale by referrals to other Hollowood folks, and has been steady income ever since.  I started publishing poetry in magazines when I was 15, but that is not a money-maker. Didn't write a novel until the late 90s, and never a non-fiction until 15 years ago. I now put out a fiction or non-fiction about once a year, swish several books in various stages of development now. I keep busy.
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@Swagnarok
What did OT and Peter tell us to do to our Emperor as long as the Emperor is not very unjust?
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@IlDiavolo
Democracy --- "it's not sustainable over time."
The U.S. has been functioning as a democratic republic since before it was a sovereign state - about 400 years and counting. Show me a communists or socialist state that has performed as well. I'll wait while you research, but the winner, io date of that genre is China, at less than 100 years. But they're virtually capitalist by economy, not communist. They'd have collapsed already if their econ was communist, simply because that whole routine is missing the major ingredient: knowing how to create wealth, not just use it. USSR was failing at 70 years... Why do you think they have to steal out tech? Maybe because they can reverse engineer all day long, but forward new engineering? Not so much.
And by the way, who do you think is the premier EV producer for quality performance in the U.S. None other than Elon Musk, the guy the greenies attacked to burn him down. What sense does that make? Somebodies are deficient a head for clear thinking.
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@AdaptableRatman
God presumably did not intend us to be democratic
My guess is the Sermon on the Mount - among other things, the best political platform ever written. Jimmy Madison was after "a more perfect union," and the SotM is the most efficient means to get there.
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@fauxlaw
Christianity was founded upon/within and spread by Imperialism.
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@fauxlaw
So what? Rome lasted 500 years. The US needs a bit more time to catch up. All the same, the fact that the great masses have the right to vote doesnt mean shit. 

The problem is that you think people have the last decision but it doesn't work like this. You have the deep state in the US taking decisions in the shadows. The media also takes part in it spreading the news that are more convinient for the status quo. So, are people really voting by themselves?

While I think a benevolent dictatorship is better, it's not that easy to get it. There is an adage that says "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely". So, I don’t know, it's a dilema.

Maybe when the AI gets enough developed we can put it as our dictator because this piece of code is uncorruptible. 
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@IlDiavolo
Deep State is a nonsense term the right wing invented because they think the Left run everything.

The actual rulers dubbed 'illuminati' are not all left wing and there is no use even wanting to fight them in any traditional sense of 'fight'.

I am not a liberal. I do not think it is my duty to free us all from our rulers. I think I must serve well, obey well and resist on balance passively.

At the end of the day, we are born undemocratically ruled by parents or guardians. God was unelected. We did not even choose to be born, be human, have our sex, race or anything like that. We are given some limited 'free' will to make decisions with that we should choose the most holy option most times to have a hope tp get to Heaven. That is how life is.

The more artificial constructs we put on top the more backfires. Remember Hitler won democratically. He maintained his dictatorship inside democracy. Stalin and Lenin rose from a rebellion against the firmer dictator monarch(s) known as Czars.

The reality is, our urge to be free is not itself evil but must be tempered. Discipline and devotion to God matter more than freedom. Thus wanting to be free from secular tyranny such as China's is good.
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@Swagnarok
I am anti brexit, pro EU.

This is despite me being anti abortion, anti (privately but not directly or professionally at all) lgbtq, anti democracy and more on a personal belief level.

I see EU as an oligarchic formation and think it is better to side with fellow oligarchs if they keep your country strong than to brexit for freedom to run your nation how you want.

I did not fully realise why I was pro EU despite disgreeing with some of it until I realised I don't mind oligarchies. I am a genuine non-democracy supporter now. I do not believe democracy is good. That does not mean I go around rebelling or defying my place's laws for the sake of that since I believe in serving my emperor, elected or not, at least publicly.
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@n8nrgim
Reducing income inequality harms the poor. So Democrats are gonna be better at reducing income inequality but for helping the poor and giving them a better standard of living it's Republicans
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@AR

The solution is benevolent dictatorship with feudalistic leadership. 
I did say for years that dictatorship is much better. Maybe not better at respecting freedom, but clearly better at decision making. Compare North and South Korea now. South is basically failing badly in all areas. Their birth rates are lowest in the world now. Their debt is huge. Their military is a joke compared to what North has now. And worst of all, North is under sanctions, yet somehow grows really fast while South Korea is standing in place going nowhere.

Dictatorship monarchy is best.
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@TheGreatSunGod
As opposed to activist judges making sure nothing improves?

South is basically failing badly in all areas. Their birth rates are lowest in the world now. Their debt is huge. Their military is a joke compared to what North has now. And worst of all, North is under sanctions, yet somehow grows really fast while South Korea is standing in place going nowhere.
We are seeing a lot of late stage capitalism malaise in the Orient lately as tradition flounders with nothing to replace purpose except consumerism. The problem with that is it leaves the next generation in the dust where traditions used to be the guardrails to protect and support the future generations. In the past, family, duty, and continuity gave the average person purpose. They weren’t always happy, but they had a place in society. In 2025... That’s been hollowed out and replaced by consumerism, competition, and burnout. It's not just South Korea losing "soul"...China's lay flat movement is also in ascendance.

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@TheGreatSunGod
North Korea is Hell on Earth. The only reason any EO church even exists there is as a superficial favour to Putin. Maybe it brings some to Christ but they cannot admit it as they are blackmailed to worship Kim as a god.

My theory is God judges them in a differing way akin to desert islanders that never came across Christianity. He bases their devotion to Kim Jongs as god as devotion to the real god and measures their moral actions realtively to the broken system.