[ExI] rugged individualists

[Dan]

There are very few living in used cars. The folks I've seen seem to have mostly kept their homes or been downsized to a flat. (Oh, the horror! Living in a flat! I've never owned a house and don't find living in flats to being relegated to a social netherworld.)
 
I'm not saying the middle class, whatever that means, doesn't suffer under statism or state capitalism. But many in that class seem to get a cut and seem to be part of the system. And many government programs -- like the ones I've mentinoed (or did light rail systems and public higher education cease when the housing market slumped?) -- seem geared to buying or keeping middle class support. The state stays in place because it can offer things like this. (Of course, at a price, but most folks ignore the price, especially when others are paying it.)
 
Regards,
 
Dan
Overthrow all governments!
From: BillK <pharos at gmail.com>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 10:19 AM
Subject: Re: [ExI] rugged individualists

Your comment about the middle class is a few years out of date.
The housing slump and unemployment has hit the middle class really hard.

Most of those now living in cars used to be middle class.

BillK
2011/7/15 Dan wrote:
> If you're playing at the level, you not only get dodges, but big fat
> subsidies and should you be really big the government will adjust the
> macroeconomics (Fed policy) to suit your needs.
>
> But it's not just the fabulously wealthy who benefit here. The poor often
> pay more in taxes to support all sorts of middle class stuff. E.g., public
> colleges. Really poor people don't go to college or go as often, as a group.
> Middle class people do. Sure, they get taxed, but so does the poor slob. So,
> the middle class person's kid goes to a public college with a government
> loan to become the manager of a company where the poor person's kid cleans
> the toilet. Yes, the middle class is being destroyed...
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