Class Warfare

This is not class warfare. It’s math. — Obama, Sep 19, 2011

These few days, a group of people are occupying Seattle by camping in the busy Westlake Park. They claim that they represent the 99%. The general idea is that 1% of the population control all the societal resources. The rest — the 99% — must take it back.

Let’s see. We have divided the society into two halves: us and them. We are the 99% and they are the 1% (therefore we are the majority and must be right). They are evil (and they always are) and we are unfairly disadvantaged (and we always are). We have been wronged (and we always have been) by them. We had it! And this is the time to take action. Whatever action, as long as it takes from them and gives to us.

This sure sounds like class warfare to me.

Class warfare are always — sad, sad, sad — internal: brethren against brethren. Class warfare redistribute resources or wealth. They destroy value in the process. They don’t produce new values or increase the net assets within the society. At the end of the class warfare, the society ends up poorer. Most of the time, the poor remain poor, or even poorer. Only the rich change from one group to another.

It turns out “Occupy Seattle” is part of a bigger movement called “Occupy Wall Street.” It is “workers against corporate and wall street.” The Guardian said, “Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings because of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street.” Really?! Because of? If I waive a magic wand and the entire Wall Street disappears, would the problem go away?

This movement is pitting “99% of the population” against an abstract concept, not a specific group of people or a social or legal structure. Do they propose to exile Bill Gates and confiscate his money? Or they want a new constitution that do away with the congress? Maybe new tax laws that turns the rich into poverty? I have learned, long time ago, that the word “fair” has no meaning. It is always not fair against us, whatever the definition of us happens to be.

These people will smash some windows and feel good about it. For the society to change, occupying Seattle or Wall Street is not going to cut it.

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