Discussing Class Warfare and Opportunity

Nevada County resident Doug Keachie and I have been engaged in a discussion about jobs, opportunity, investment, class warfare, and the like.

I don’t think I would be mischaracterizing Doug’s opinions to say that he really dislikes those who are very successful and would like to see the federal government tax them and spread the wealth. (Doug, if there’s a better short sentence that you want me to replace that with, let me know.)

We have an interesting conversation going on. Here was my last comment…

It is certainly the responsibility of those who are successful and have been given much to give back.

But herein lies the point: if we are always against those who are successful by the work of their own hands, and try and penalize their success because “it’s not fair” — we disincentivize success.

And success, whether it’s by the 1%, or the 10%, or the 20%, or the 80%, is a rising tide that lifts all boats. Because it generates investment, new innovation, job creation and opportunity.

The key is to make the investments to ensure that the bottom 50% of society have a level playing field and the opportunity, through their own hard work, to be successful.

And that’s why I spend so much of my time as a community college trustee. Because it’s an investment in the shared prosperity of my country across class, across race, and across socioeconomic background.

And I want to be clear here: a level playing field is not about denying the success of the successful.

A level playing field is about ensuring that everyone has the tools they need to harness their own talents and achieve the upper limits of their own abilities — if they are willing to work hard for it.

That’s why I like to say that community colleges are one of the few parts of government that give people a hand up, rather than a hand out.

Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.sierrageeks.com Douglas Keachie

I do not dislike wealthy people. Do I think the wealth should be distributed more evenly, yes. 20% in the hands of the top one percent is a bit much, especially when the range, bottom to top, is so great. Some of the wealthy do great jobs of spreading it around. I make good use of the Ellison (Lawrence, of Oracle) Ambulatory Care Center, UC Davis Med Center, as do thousands of others. Bill and Melinda Gates, likewise, but I’ve been on the front lines, and little things, like a one click fixit disk for Win95, like corporate had, and the schools were denied (at least SFUSD) could have really make a difference. I’m sure there are current equivalents facing teachers today.

Opinions at the bottom, where the rubber meets the road, are just basically shuttled aside. The whole Obama Campaign too, suffered from Top to Bottom communication pathways.

“Put your idea in 25 words or less” is the typical situation for those trying to communicate from the bottom to the top. Too many chiefs think they know it all, or are closed via, “not invented here.”

http://www.aaronklein.com Aaron Klein

Can’t disagree with most of what you wrote there. The difference between us is that I don’t want to fix the problem by confiscating the wealth from the top 1% and redistributing it to the bottom 99%, because I think that disincentivizes everyone from creating the wealth in the first place.

Gotta find another way for the market to make a better society that benefits all. The solution is a more level playing field.

http://www.sierrageeks.com Douglas Keachie

BTW, using the inflammatory term “class warfare” is really ironic. So far, the poor have only recently discovered that the war was on since the 1980′s, and that they are losing, badly.

http://www.aaronklein.com Aaron Klein

Not trying to be inflammatory. But confiscating from one group to give to the other is class warfare. I guess we could call it Robin Hoodism to put a nice name on it.

http://www.sierrageeks.com Douglas Keachie

The poor now includes what was the middle class. As in, how many middle class incomes does it take to buy the equivalent of a middle class home of the 1950′s? It used to take just one.

http://www.aaronklein.com Aaron Klein

Hey, listen — I’m right there with you. I feel like I’m pretty well off with a six figure income in this economy, but my wife’s dream for her entire life was to be a full time mom while our kids are young, and I want her to be able to do that.

That also means I live in a much smaller house than I should be able to afford. But that’s a lifestyle choice we’ve made for the benefit of our kids.
http://www.aaronklein.com Aaron Klein

I normally wouldn’t talk about my income, but the fact that it’s over a certain amount is on my disclosure forms on file at the college, so what the heck.

http://www.sierrageeks.com Douglas Keachie

Darn,

I’ve been told you’re not allowed to earn that much without being graduated at least 4 times!

There are things other than thermometers that are graduated and have degrees without having any brains……

http://www.aaronklein.com Aaron Klein

I don’t want people to think I don’t value education. To the contrary, I’ve been a life long learner, and it’s the only way that I’ve been able to harness my God-given talents to do what I do and make an above-average living for my family. It’s just a matter of formality that the degrees haven’t been granted, and like I said, there’s so much more that I’d like to learn, which is why I’d like to do a MBA program.

Thanks for the good discussion, Doug.

Discussing Class Warfare and Opportunity

Markets change. Do your investments still fit you?

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