Are we really capable of living in “the Middle”? Or are we sliding evermore leftward of center?
In Marx’s Words
As I read through some of Karl Marx’s writings today, I thought of how closely they foreshadowed modern economic and social contexts for Leftist political arguments.
Marx writes in his The Poverty of Philosophy that “henceforth the good side of an economic relation is that which affirms equality….” (235)* Over the past couple of decades Americans have been hammered by the notion of equity, the Marxist version of equality that centers on the leveling of outcomes regardless of talent or effort. That’s the ideal fostered for more than a century by labor unions striving, not for just higher wages, but also for equal pay in their ranks of workers. In writing about Proletarians and Communists, Marx also says, “Communism abolishes eternal truths; it abolishes all religion and morality….” (261). * Since the nineteenth century, attacks on previously accepted “eternal truths” and morality have increased so much as to become commonplace, so that, in a recent example, the Mets honored with a game-opening “first pitch” a young woman whose rise to fame on TikTok centered on her telling followers how she prepares for oral sex. ** It’s not that we humans have only recently discovered the Clintonian practice of “not having sex,” but since his Oval orifice escapades with Monica Lewinsky, the cat’s gotten out of the zippered pants on the most public forums available to both adults and children. The Puritan heritage, smudged by the red of Hester Prynne’s Scarlet Letter worn in shame in the eponymous Hawthorne novel, is now worn publicly and proudly by a widely followed “influencer” in front of fans both present and remote, with the history of the display forever recorded.
Furthermore, Marx writes the following four “measures” in a ten-point list, “in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents to public purposes
2. A heavy progressive income tax
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants…”(262)
Pause here to consider:
#1. New York City now houses illegal immigrants in former hotels, and other Democrat-run sanctuary cities also provide housing free of charge to both illegal immigrants and American homeless people, essentially turning private property into public facilities. Now candidate Harris says she will “build” three million housing units—a strong promise in the context of the Biden-Harris failure to build an infrastructure of charging stations. A Politico article published in December, 2023 carries the title “Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero.” *** So, three million new Marxist housing units? You tell me the odds of that happening. Plus, Harris promises $25,000 for first-time home buyers. Yeah. That won’t raise the price of homes just as educational subsidies haven’t raised college tuition. NOT.
#2 “Make the rich pay their fair share,” is the mantra of modern Democrat candidates like Biden and now Harris. The idea of a progressive tax became reality during the Civil War, but was repealed in 1872. Even then it was limited at the top to 10%. And—Bernie Sanders take note—Vermont Rep. Justin Morrill wrote, “in this country we neither create nor tolerate any distinction of rank, race, or color, and should not tolerate anything else than entire equality in our taxes.” Oh! How Vermonters have changed. Then in 1913, the country ratified the 16th Amendment, and with it came the very public rise of class warfare that continues today and that has been from its inception supported by progressives on both the Right and the Left.
#3 The Estate Tax is a tax on your right to transfer property at your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death—and not what you paid when you acquired your stuff; rather, its current inflated value. Are you a successful entrepreneur who has weathered risks and provided jobs that support families? You know the expression, “You can’t take it with you”? Well, you can’t leave it all to your descendants under estate tax laws.
#4 The California exit tax is a one-time tax that must be paid by businesses and individuals who relocate outside of California. Want the freedom to move? That freedom will cost you.
The Democrat Platform
Candidate VP Harris proposes:
Legacy
If Marx could see his legacy in the impoverishment of billions of people and the deaths of millions under Communist and socialist systems, would he still hold his principles? If in selling his popular Manifesto, he became a millionaire, would he relish paying higher taxes? Would he set the price for his book or prefer a government agent who never had practical experience in writing, publishing, and distributing books, set that price?
*David McLellan. 1977. Ed. Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford University Press.
**Phil Mushnick. Aug. 17, 2024. NY Post https://nypost.com/2024/08/17/sports/mets-should-be-ashamed-of-themselves-for-hawk-tuah-girl-first-pitch-on-camp-day/
***James Bikales. Politico online. 12/05/2023 05:00 AM EST
In Marx’s Words
As I read through some of Karl Marx’s writings today, I thought of how closely they foreshadowed modern economic and social contexts for Leftist political arguments.
Marx writes in his The Poverty of Philosophy that “henceforth the good side of an economic relation is that which affirms equality….” (235)* Over the past couple of decades Americans have been hammered by the notion of equity, the Marxist version of equality that centers on the leveling of outcomes regardless of talent or effort. That’s the ideal fostered for more than a century by labor unions striving, not for just higher wages, but also for equal pay in their ranks of workers. In writing about Proletarians and Communists, Marx also says, “Communism abolishes eternal truths; it abolishes all religion and morality….” (261). * Since the nineteenth century, attacks on previously accepted “eternal truths” and morality have increased so much as to become commonplace, so that, in a recent example, the Mets honored with a game-opening “first pitch” a young woman whose rise to fame on TikTok centered on her telling followers how she prepares for oral sex. ** It’s not that we humans have only recently discovered the Clintonian practice of “not having sex,” but since his Oval orifice escapades with Monica Lewinsky, the cat’s gotten out of the zippered pants on the most public forums available to both adults and children. The Puritan heritage, smudged by the red of Hester Prynne’s Scarlet Letter worn in shame in the eponymous Hawthorne novel, is now worn publicly and proudly by a widely followed “influencer” in front of fans both present and remote, with the history of the display forever recorded.
Furthermore, Marx writes the following four “measures” in a ten-point list, “in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents to public purposes
2. A heavy progressive income tax
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants…”(262)
Pause here to consider:
#1. New York City now houses illegal immigrants in former hotels, and other Democrat-run sanctuary cities also provide housing free of charge to both illegal immigrants and American homeless people, essentially turning private property into public facilities. Now candidate Harris says she will “build” three million housing units—a strong promise in the context of the Biden-Harris failure to build an infrastructure of charging stations. A Politico article published in December, 2023 carries the title “Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero.” *** So, three million new Marxist housing units? You tell me the odds of that happening. Plus, Harris promises $25,000 for first-time home buyers. Yeah. That won’t raise the price of homes just as educational subsidies haven’t raised college tuition. NOT.
#2 “Make the rich pay their fair share,” is the mantra of modern Democrat candidates like Biden and now Harris. The idea of a progressive tax became reality during the Civil War, but was repealed in 1872. Even then it was limited at the top to 10%. And—Bernie Sanders take note—Vermont Rep. Justin Morrill wrote, “in this country we neither create nor tolerate any distinction of rank, race, or color, and should not tolerate anything else than entire equality in our taxes.” Oh! How Vermonters have changed. Then in 1913, the country ratified the 16th Amendment, and with it came the very public rise of class warfare that continues today and that has been from its inception supported by progressives on both the Right and the Left.
#3 The Estate Tax is a tax on your right to transfer property at your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death—and not what you paid when you acquired your stuff; rather, its current inflated value. Are you a successful entrepreneur who has weathered risks and provided jobs that support families? You know the expression, “You can’t take it with you”? Well, you can’t leave it all to your descendants under estate tax laws.
#4 The California exit tax is a one-time tax that must be paid by businesses and individuals who relocate outside of California. Want the freedom to move? That freedom will cost you.
The Democrat Platform
Candidate VP Harris proposes:
- Tax breaks for homebuilders with the goal of building 3 million new housing units in four years
- Up to $25,000 in downpayment aid for first-time homebuyers
- Up to $6,000 for low- and middle-income families with infants (Not clear if this is a one-time gift or on ongoing yearly check. “Honey, you know that new car we wanted but was just too expensive? Well, here are the keys. Next year, we’re driving it to Disney World after the Harris check arrives. Grand Floridian, here we come”)
- Up to $3,600 per child per year in an expanded child tax credit (Will this extend to adult children living in basements of their parents’ home?
- A ban on price gouging in the food sector, singling out meat prices in particular. (Cattle drives will never be the same. But what about vegan burgers?)
Legacy
If Marx could see his legacy in the impoverishment of billions of people and the deaths of millions under Communist and socialist systems, would he still hold his principles? If in selling his popular Manifesto, he became a millionaire, would he relish paying higher taxes? Would he set the price for his book or prefer a government agent who never had practical experience in writing, publishing, and distributing books, set that price?
*David McLellan. 1977. Ed. Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford University Press.
**Phil Mushnick. Aug. 17, 2024. NY Post https://nypost.com/2024/08/17/sports/mets-should-be-ashamed-of-themselves-for-hawk-tuah-girl-first-pitch-on-camp-day/
***James Bikales. Politico online. 12/05/2023 05:00 AM EST
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