Beware the siren song of hate

Progressives, Liberals, Democrats Take Note

For most of the past century human society appeared on an upward path toward greater compassion, enlightenment, abundance and opportunity for all. At the moment, however, it all seems to be falling apart, and we are momentarily at a loss as to how to respond.

Each day, the “forces of darkness” give us a new opportunity to be outraged over this, that, or the other thing. It is difficult to avoid a perpetual state of anger, even hatred. We often don’t realize that we are falling into a trap — perhaps a deliberate strategy to keep our attention and resources divided, unfocused, and spread too thin to be effective.

In simplest terms,, conservatives are AGAINST things whereas progressives are supposed to be FOR things. Yet we are being seduced into expending the majority of our energies following the conservative dynamic — and we are guaranteed to continue losing since they are the experts on negativity

It’s been widely acknowledged that the Democratic Party has lost touch with the base of the American people – especially the workforce. To cut through all the noise and distraction and to demonstrate true support for ordinary Americans, perhaps winning back a majority of voters, I suggest one simple, discrete policy to focus upon and promote: phase out the income tax and replace it with a progressive tax on wealth.

The income tax is essentially a monetary fine for working. (The harder you work, the greater your fine.) In contrast, a wealth tax, progressively applied, would be a a monetary fine for hoarding — especially to civilization-destroying proportions.

Even a child can understand that people ought to contribute back to a system in proportion to the benefits received. Yet at this point, the oligarchs own and control so many of our institutions that it’s not clear how we make such a major change. Yet the choice seems either to work for that or to succumb to a life of serfdom in a neo-feudal society.