antiquark2

People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right.

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A Tiny Revolution: Ummm…Suffering…

(Quote from John Kenneth Galbraith, a perceptive genius in his time).

At one major investment bank for which I worked, we used psychometric testing to recruit social psychopaths because their characteristics exactly suited them to senior corporate finance roles.

- Brian Basham: Beware corporate psychopaths – they are still occupying positions of power - Business Comment - Business - The Independent

I think I do have great business idea: poverty porn for our Galtian overlords. Footage of mass misery is just what they need to cheer them up enough to hire another yacht scrubber or two.

- Eschaton: The Suffering Of Other People

Who gives a crap about some imbecile?” Marcus said. “Are you kidding me?” … “If I hear a politician use the term ‘paying your fair share’ one more time, I’m going to vomit,” … “I am a fat cat, I’m not ashamed,” … “You’ll get more out of me,” the billionaire said, “if you treat me with respect.

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Bankers Seek to Debunk Attack on Top 1% - Bloomberg

Pity the poor billionaires and their crippling wealth.

Americans’ wealth last summer suffered its biggest quarterly loss in more than two years as stocks, pension funds and homes values lost value. At the same time, corporations raised their cash stockpiles to record levels.

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People lose cash, business finds it - Winnipeg Free Press

Sounds like redistribution of the wealth — from the poor to the rich.

The gap between earnings by the rich and the poor is the widest in 30 years, the OECD said in a report released Monday. …. Even in traditionally egalitarian nations such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the ratio has risen from 5-1 in the 1980s to 6-1 today.

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Wealth gap hits 30-year high - Business - CBC News

The rich screwing the poor appears to be a global phenomenon now.

For who are the 0.1 percent? Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution.

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We Are the 99.9% - NYTimes.com

C’mon, Krugman, don’t be shy, just say what they are: parasites!