The superrich own the media.
And the politicians.
Question answered. No further comments needed. Part of growing up is realizing the “democracy” we live in is just a mask for fascism.
A good chunk of current democracies are actually open market oligarchies.
And they also run fake competitions where they promise to give a million dollars to people for voting a certain way, but really the winners were predetermined the whole time…
Long article to say “the rich are in charge”
That’s not the full answer though, since a similar phenomenon appears in much less oligarchic systems.
While the rich also have a disproportionate influence in those systems, it wouldn’t be enough without the assistance of the racism and spite of the average voter.
Why do we think they’re less oligarchic? It’s a classic principal-agent problem. Representatives are generally for sale.
Less corrupt systems than the one in the US can and do exist.
I might be assuming too much of what you meant by oligarchic.
An oligarchic system is one where political power lies predominantly in the hands of a small privileged elite. But it’s not a binary concept, the current US system is less oligarchic than it was in the 19th Century, or the Venetian Republic for example. What did you mean?
Blue-state Democrats are in a bind. They support a more equitable tax system, but fear, with some justification, that they and their party will be blamed if higher state taxes cause their wealthiest residents and their state economies to “head south,” literally and figuratively.
They say “with some justification,” but what is that justification? Is there evidence that higher taxes causes wealthy residents to leave AND that that has negative consequences for the broader economy?
Just like all the billionaires in NYC that fled when Mamdani took office? All 0 of them?
So what if the rich leave? They’re not paying taxes, who needs them? The need for vendors and contractors doesn’t go away when the wealthy leave. The economy goes on. Someone will take their place and pay taxes and not bitch about it so much.
the fear isn’t that a rich person leaves. the fear is that a large employer moves and takes all those jobs with it.
Because they don’t own the means of production, and the opposition has a monopoly on violence.
Over 70% of voters want universal healthcare. About the same amount want a higher minimum wage.
About 90% of Democratic voters want universal healthcare, more than half of all independents want the same thing, and even a huge amount of Republicans want universal healthcare (around 40%).
Even so, D&Rs can’t be bothered.
(yes yes, I know, BoTh SiDeS so I must be a secret Nazi bot, etc. you got me)
Because the rich are extremely resistant to taxation.
This basically sums it up. https://youtu.be/sYA-z0Y8WRQ?is=kw_NGc3gLO-d4Onl
What the bottom 99% want is irrelevant. We don’t run this country or make its decisions. We are just cogs in a machine that exists to serve the rich and convince the poor that they’re in some magical land of freedom. None of us are free.
Not entirely. Generally of course people who don’t have to labour for their livelyhood have more time and certainly more resources to influence politics. But the common man can make their voices heard. -you can vote in your interest. Be careful of what people try to tell you is your interest -you can protest (peacefully); look at France to see a populace that doesn’t just take what is rammed down their throats -you can talk to your neighbours; discuss things with them to form an opinion; don’t just parrot talking points from media; -you can write to representatives; sure, your letter won’t be directly shown to then, unlike one from Koch or someone. But it won’t go unnoticed. -participate at town halls -participate in polls A fortune 500 CEO or Forbes billionaire list name will have more impact than a single voice from the population. But organised, the voices of the population make a difference. Organisation, participation and critical engagement can make a difference.
I used to think that way but now I would say your are ignoring the severity of the situation and still clinging to the lie that we still live in a democracy.
the question answers itself.
Because the rich bribe our politicians. Legally.
We REALLY need to normalize demystifying the rebrand of bribery as ‘lobbying’. There’s a reason that term has power, cause people alreayd learned the dangers of it, and the corruption it breeds.
Title should be: ruling class makes it as difficult as possible for the rest to tax them
This is definitely not a real question
…but I’ll answer it anyways
The answer is because the rich make the laws.
That and half of the people who actually show up to vote, vote for republicans, who are against taxing their buddies, donors, etc.
Because voters don’t vote accordingly.
Because voters have little to no say in the matter.
How is this a real question
