The problem those arguing for a 'revival' of Centerism have (this morning Phillip Collins/Observer) is that they draw centrism wide enough to draw in Blairs' Labour & Cameron's Tories.
If that's the liberal centre then its been in power for decades & got us to the stagnating, unequal, failing juncture we have reached.... why would anyone think they now have the answers (other than their feeling of entitlement to govern?) as the are worried less by Reform than the Greens?
I was struck by this:
"In the 1950s about 70% of manual workers voted Labour and the same percentage of non-manual workers voted Conservative. Today, education and age both predict voting affiliation better than class."
It is an example, I think, of the myopia of centrist or 'liberal' thinking. It misses the point that the current association of education and age with political affiliation comes out of the expansion of higher education in the 60s and 70s, then the generational inequality perpetrated by the single-generation handout of neoliberal privatisation, that has produced a society in the UK (and to some extent elsewhere) in which lots of well-educated young people don't have any assets to fall back on - which is really what being working class means - rather than having a regional accent or liking chips, as 'liberals' would have it - and lots of older people living longer that are less well educated but have both assets and relatively generous pensions.
What is 'social class' supposed to mean if not the difference between having no choice but to keep working all hours for somebody else, or conversely receiving unearned asset income ?
But naturally 'centrists', 'liberals', whatever you call them, must never see this, because if they did they would have to admit the economic interests (in preserving the status-quo) that really lie behind their own supposedly a-historical 'ideas' and 'values'.
Yes, a really good point... and as you say what centrists are (wilfully) blind to
I disagree
(Not with the assessment of how we got here, but with laying the blindness on "liberals)
Every liberal who calls for a #WealthTax (a lot of them) understand the dynamic you mentioned.
Now, "centrists" - yeah they are probably turning a blind eye.
As implemented, with lots of holes, sure the few #WealthTax have barely moved the needle.
And yes, let's tax unearned income more
But the real problem is not income. It's the vast hoards of wealth that underwrite loans and favors - and create an exploitive rentier culture.
Just look at Musk. He has little income (of any type) while sitting on historic wealth.
Sorry, are you saying a #WealthTax is "confiscation of people's legally acquired wealth"?
Because lots of places already tax property, cars and boats based on the value of the asset. So, I don't see why that same principle cannot extend to stocks, bonds, art, commodities and other sources of wealth storage.
And yes, of course, we need to look at how great wealth was accumulated and where it is being hidden.
#TaxTheRich
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6 @GeofCox Taxing an object every year after it has been legally acquired because you don't like the type of object it is seems pretty confiscatory to me. Taxing it at purchase is fine.
Property taxes are different, they are intended to fund the provision of local services
So, if we use a recurring annual wealth tax to fund public services (like property taxes do), then that must be OK too.
Let's do that.
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
GeofCox
TC Won't Give In To Lies
Robert Pluim 🇪🇺