送交者: mangolasi 于 2005-4-12, 17:55:46:
"或者通过税收，或者通过其他和平手段，使得财富分布不这么荒谬。可是美国的民主制度已经存在了二百年，为什么这一切并没有发生"
The whole post is misleading. The numbers listed shouldn't be too far away from the truth, but the conclusion, as quoted above, is a leap of faith.
Even though it does not take place in American currently, but why does it take place in Canada, Australia, and most western European countries? (in cluding Britain?) Why did the New Deal take place in America in 1930? Or moreover, why America's reaction to depression was the New Deal and great society, while Europe's reaction was war?
All the above countries have democratic system currently, with varations only in forms. America is just one observation in the sample of democracy. On average, the countries w/ better political system are more equal than those without (except for some "fail states" that people are equally poor). The reason that it takes place in western Europe and Canada and took place in America in 1930, not in America of 2000 lies in culture, not the system itself (though the system is not perfect).
One thing almost all informed people agree is that there must be trade off between equality and the growth of economy (though both of them can head south simultanously when things go very bad, e.g. the plutocracy and the following 1929). And the more stable, equal society you want, the higher tax you need to pay if you are in the higher income bracket.
Some fact:
1) There are 19% of the American claiming to be the 1% richest people in the country, and a further 20% believe they would enter the top 1% in their life time! (source: either The Economist, December 21, 2002; or Financial Times, January 25–26, 2003. I quote someone who quoted these sources)
2) A couple years ago, US was highly critized for using abosulte measure--a multiplier of food need as proverty threshold, while most developed countries are using relative ones. I could not find the direct proof, but it seems things improve little from below quote (source:http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povdef.html#3)
Poverty thresholds were originally derived in 1963-1964,using:U.S. -Department of Agriculture food budgets designed?for families under economic stress
-Data about what portion of their income families spent on food
These two facts reflects more or less the American's mentality: they are optimistic, and their care to the less lucky goes no further than keeping them alive--not about how well they feel fit as a member of society. Letting everyone share the progress of the society is not their main concern. I think those are the hybrid of Protestant values, individualism and libertarianism.
If they are more optimistic, they will put more weight on the policy to make them pay less tax IF they got rich, less on the policy to make them a decent life if things got messed up in their life. Or they simply think they are rich when they aren't, and hate policies actually doing them good. And they will tend to have more faith the social mobility (well, even America doesn't lage in mobility among industrial countries, it definitely doesn't lead, either). A certain dose of such mentality is very good for vivid economy. Unfortunately, the wealthest nation in the world is receiving more than a fair dose.
But I believe Americans are egalitarian in their nature. They are simply misinformed. But when inequality becomes egregious, and people will wake up from the myth of "American Dream", great society will be reinstalled. Hopefully this time is less painful than last time.
And another thing is American's obsession on "growth". Now we are in a world where capital are flowing freely (almost freely). And countries w/ most friendly capital policy and regulations, other things equal, would get more capital. Thus there is something like "race to the bottom", and I predict the world will become less and less favorable to the labor (lessen only by slower population growth, which makes labor scarcer--but we have huge bases for India and China), until the day of reckoning.
But those things have little to deal with a political system.