"Shit's Gonna Hit the Fan:" Talking to a Billionaire About Class War

[Pyrrho]

Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist who was one of the first investors in Amazon, has the distinction of being one of America’s few progressive billionaires. We spoke to him about the class war—which he is busily fighting.

Hanauer drew attention last year for writing an op-ed in Politico warning his “fellow zillionaires” that “the pitchforks are coming” if something is not done to address America’s growing economic inequality. Since then, he has been producing a steady stream of blog posts and essays calling for higher pay for low-wage workers and other measures designed to boost the fortunes of the declining lower and middle classes.

Yesterday, the Seattle-based investor was in New York testifying in favor of a $15 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers. He stopped by our office afterwards to talk.

...

NH: Yeah. My message is that the counterclaim—which is that if wages go up, employment will go down—is a scam. It’s a con job. It’s an intimidation tactic. There is absolutely no evidence anywhere that it’s true. On the contrary, where you find high wages you usually find low unemployment.

...

NH: Raising the minimum wage a lot across the board would make a big difference. It’s not the only thing, but it’s an indispensable part of solving the problem. Raising the minimum wage is very efficient. Everybody’s on the same playing field, it’s a very simple rule, it doesn’t require a lot of administration, you don’t have to negotiate anything. It just is what it is. And Americans today spend a minimum of $150 billion a year in tax subsidies that go to people not who don’t have jobs, but who have jobs, and are in poverty. There is no earthly reason why Walmart and McDonald’s and Walgreens and these other giant, profitable institutions should have one worker in need of public assistance. It’s ridiculous. And it’s not just getting them out from under the need for public assistance; it’s like, that’s what drives the economy! The person earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 isn’t going out to eat at restaurants. They’re not taking piano lessons. They’re not going to the gym or the yoga studio. They’re not sending mom flowers on Mother’s day. What good is this person in the economy? If you raise it to $15 an hour, they’re doing all of those things. And all of a sudden, not just business thrives, but small business thrives.

...

http://gawker.com/shits-gonna-hit-the-fa...1711464448

[Minimalist]

There are a few who get it.

Not enough.

For the rest of the greedy fucks.....

[Pyrrho]

There are a few who get it.

Not enough.

For the rest of the greedy fucks.....

That is what he says will happen if things don't change.  Though he wrote of pitchforks rather than guillotines, he does mention France and the revolution.  In another article:

...

But the problem isn’t that we have inequality. Some inequality is intrinsic to any high-functioning capitalist economy. The problem is that inequality is at historically high levels and getting worse every day. Our country is rapidly becoming less a capitalist society and more a feudal society. Unless our policies change dramatically, the middle class will disappear, and we will be back to late 18th-century France. Before the revolution.

And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.

If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when.

...

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2...YBymmA-C9s

[Minimalist]

I've said many times that the problem with these tea-bagging shitheads is that they are fixated on the wrong revolution.

[Crossless2.0]

Nick Hanauer: "And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.

If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when."

It won't be pitchforks those fuckers will need to worry about. It will be all of the firearms -- not to mention pipe bombs, home-brew chemical weapons . . . you name it. A Jacobin-style revolution in contemporary America would be scary as hell.

Of course, that's why we'll see something like a police state -- bought and paid for by the 1% -- long before people in this country get fed up enough to get their shit together and target their real enemies. We're already on our way.

[abaris]

I've said many times that the problem with these tea-bagging shitheads is that they are fixated on the wrong revolution.

Yeah, min, but look at who was inciting the first American revolution. No taxation without representation says something about the people at the helm, since according to british rules, only a tiny part of the population actually was represented in parliament.

So you could argue the tea baggers to continue that tradition. At least the ones standing behind them.

[Minimalist]

The issue that will start trouble is not taxation but income inequality and the arrogance of the ruling class.  That's France in 1789.

[The Grand Nudger]

Nick Hanauer: "And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.

If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when."

It won't be pitchforks those fuckers will need to worry about.  It will be all of the firearms -- not to mention pipe bombs, home-brew chemical weapons . . . you name it.  A Jacobin-style revolution in contemporary America would be scary as hell.

Of course, that's why we'll see something like a police state -- bought and paid for by the 1% -- long before people in this country get fed up enough to get their shit together and target their real enemies.  We're already on our way.

Just think of the damage that all of those homeless, unemployed, under-medicated and unwell "former" soldiers could cause?  I hear that there are alot of those guys wandering around nowadays....bit like live grenades.

[Crossless2.0]

Nick Hanauer: "And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.

If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when."

It won't be pitchforks those fuckers will need to worry about.  It will be all of the firearms -- not to mention pipe bombs, home-brew chemical weapons . . . you name it.  A Jacobin-style revolution in contemporary America would be scary as hell.

Of course, that's why we'll see something like a police state -- bought and paid for by the 1% -- long before people in this country get fed up enough to get their shit together and target their real enemies.  We're already on our way.

Just think of the damage that all of those homeless, unemployed, under-medicated and unwell "former" soldiers could cause?  I hear that there are alot of those guys wandering around nowadays....bit like live grenades.

Well, if our wars were fought by a real cross-section of our country -- i.e., if children of the ultra wealthy were also in danger of getting their limbs blown off or of suffering PTSD from combat -- then we might see some movement toward cleaning up and adequately funding the V.A. and there might be fewer homeless, unwell veterans.  But that's pie in the sky. 

So yeah, you make a good point.  Remember those stupid recruitment commercials that touted a soldier as an 'army of one'?  Well, that's bullshit of course, but there are a number of potentially dangerous people with real know-how wandering around who could do some serious damage if they were pushed over the edge.

[The Grand Nudger]

Sucks that a gun is cheaper than a liquor license, I guess, huh? It all seems so silly, excluding and pissing on so many groups of people, some of which you've actually paid to have trained, and to do your dirty shit for you. Things that you cannot or will not do. Who -wouldn't- see that coming back around to bite them is the ass?

You know those guys who breed pits for fighting...every damn one of them is surprised when their pit bites -them-. Seems to be the same thing to me. You treat people like shit and teach them to treat other people like shit, you beat them over the brow until the -accept - that shit...and you shouldn't be surprised at how shitty they treat you the day that your head is on the block. This must all just be "poor person" wisdom...that you and I and everyone I know holds....because the priveledged act as though it;s never crossed their minds. They get indignant at the very notion.