Radical idea: let's stop kissing the ass of the rich

In its story about a trader going to jail for inside trading, the NYT injected an explanation of the trader's status that is, well, a sort of thermostat reading of the temperature of this here plutocracy.


"Though Mr. Kimelman lived comfortably, he was hardly a Wall Street titan. In his best year, Mr. Kimelman said he earned about $400,000 and never had more than $1 million in the bank."

I love it when the plutocratic libido scratches a hole in the placid news discourse that tries to normalize it.

Compare this to Heritage Foundation's recent study of the poor, showing the American poor really have nothing whatsoever to bitch about. Here's the rundown from a Bill O'Reilly show:

"O'REILLY: The Census Bureau reports that 43 million Americans are currently living in poverty. The bureau defines poverty as a family of four earning less than $22,000 a year. But the conservative Heritage Foundation says that many poor American families have lots of stuff. Here now to analyze, Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs.

[...]

O'REILLY: Eight-two percent have a microwave. This is 82 percent of American poor families. Seventy-eight percent have air conditioning. More than one television, 65 percent. Cable or satellite TV, 64 percent -- thank God.

DOBBS: Amen, brother.

O'REILLY: Cell phones, 55 percent. Personal computer, 39 percent."

Wow, heady stuff for the poor, there. In fact, the conservative case for the poor being rich poses the question: why aren't the rich lucky enough to be poor? One would think that the logical next step would be Eisenhower era taxation, since the rich, too, I have heard, have air conditioning, tv, personal computers, and - a sad note - often only a million in a bank account at any one time.

But all mocking aside - one demand I think the 99 percent can and should agree on is: the rich should no longer expect us to continually kiss their ass.