{"id":22293,"date":"2011-04-03T22:29:31","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fryeblog.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca\/?p=22293"},"modified":"2011-04-03T22:29:31","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:29:31","slug":"quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Quote of the Day: “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”"},"content":{"rendered":"

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kl0H1EUQ_38<\/a><\/p>\n

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist”<\/em><\/p>\n

Economist Joseph Stiglitz sounds the warning <\/a>in this month’s Vanity Fair<\/em>. The least productive in society have taken just about everything there is to take. No, not welfare mothers.<\/p>\n

A sample:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation\u2019s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous\u201412 percent in the last quarter-century alone. All the growth in recent decades\u2014and more\u2014has gone to those at the top. In terms of income equality, America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride. Among our closest counterparts are Russia with its oligarchs and Iran. While many of the old centers of inequality in Latin America, such as Brazil, have been striving in recent years, rather successfully, to improve the plight of the poor and reduce gaps in income, America has allowed inequality to grow.<\/p>\n

Economists long ago tried to justify the vast inequalities that seemed so troubling in the mid-19th century\u2014inequalities that are but a pale shadow of what we are seeing in America today. The justification they came up with was called \u201cmarginal-productivity theory.\u201d In a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society. It is a theory that has always been cherished by the rich. Evidence for its validity, however, remains thin. The corporate executives who helped bring on the recession of the past three years\u2014whose contribution to our society, and to their own companies, has been massively negative\u2014went on to receive large bonuses. In some cases, companies were so embarrassed about calling such rewards \u201cperformance bonuses\u201d that they felt compelled to change the name to \u201cretention bonuses\u201d (even if the only thing being retained was bad performance). Those who have contributed great positive innovations to our society, from the pioneers of genetic understanding to the pioneers of the Information Age, have received a pittance compared with those responsible for the financial innovations that brought our global economy to the brink of ruin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not to mention the middle and working classes, upon whose labors the entire fraud depends. How else could speculators drive up the price of gasoline and food without the victims whose money is played in the casino markets they have created? The house always wins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kl0H1EUQ_38 “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist” Economist Joseph Stiglitz sounds the warning in this month’s Vanity Fair. The least productive in society have taken just about everything there is to take. No, not welfare mothers. A sample: It\u2019s no use pretending that what has obviously happened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events"],"yoast_head":"\nQuote of the Day: "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" - The Educated Imagination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Quote of the Day: "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" - The Educated Imagination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kl0H1EUQ_38 “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist” Economist Joseph Stiglitz sounds the warning in this month’s Vanity Fair. The least productive in society have taken just about everything there is to take. No, not welfare mothers. A sample: It\u2019s no use pretending that what has obviously happened […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Educated Imagination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Happy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Happy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Happy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95\"},\"headline\":\"Quote of the Day: “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Current Events\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\",\"name\":\"Quote of the Day: \\\"Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%\\\" - The Educated Imagination\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Quote of the Day: “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/\",\"name\":\"The Educated Imagination\",\"description\":\"A Website Dedicated to Northrop Frye\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95\",\"name\":\"Michael Happy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Happy\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/author\/michaelhappy\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Quote of the Day: \"Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%\" - The Educated Imagination","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Quote of the Day: \"Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%\" - The Educated Imagination","og_description":"httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kl0H1EUQ_38 “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist” Economist Joseph Stiglitz sounds the warning in this month’s Vanity Fair. The least productive in society have taken just about everything there is to take. No, not welfare mothers. A sample: It\u2019s no use pretending that what has obviously happened […]","og_url":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/","og_site_name":"The Educated Imagination","article_published_time":"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00","author":"Michael Happy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Happy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Happy","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95"},"headline":"Quote of the Day: “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”","datePublished":"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/"},"wordCount":528,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Current Events"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/","url":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/","name":"Quote of the Day: \"Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%\" - The Educated Imagination","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-04-04T02:29:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/2011\/04\/03\/quote-of-the-day-of-the-1-by-the-1-for-the-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Quote of the Day: “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/","name":"The Educated Imagination","description":"A Website Dedicated to Northrop Frye","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/#\/schema\/person\/666be62a4e8014df67296baeeaf4db95","name":"Michael Happy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe523aceeb39b65793575d0523e67cb779a13050efa89e2284a05c0d0a141aa9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael Happy"},"url":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/author\/michaelhappy\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/fryeblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}