Further to the Paul Krugman salary saga, more leftist imperviousness to irony and hypocrisy:
The Guardian‘s Polly Toynbee rails against “the unjust rewards of the rich,” by which she means, “the 1.5% who earn over £100,000.” These, she says, are the “extravagant earners” who “feel profoundly entitled to take what they like in salaries… untouched by public disgust or a sense of propriety.” Toynbee’s Guardian salary, for years a subject of speculation, was eventually revealed as £106,000 – excluding royalties, advances, media fees, rental income, etc. Curiously, Polly’s own financial rewards are not deemed “extravagant,” “unjust” or in any way improper, such is her ability to tolerate dissonance.
In September 2011, Toynbee struggled with a reader’s suggestion that instead of demanding others pay even more tax she could make large donations to charities of her choice and thereby ease her conscience. “The point about tax,” she replied, “is that it’s collective – it’s an ‘I will if you will’ deal. I see no hypocrisy in any of this.” The paper’s foremost class warrior waved aside suggestions of hypocrisy as merely “empty spite,” the smears of “malevolent” people.
But if Polly’s idea of “being progressive,” as she puts it, hinges on the coercion of millions of people who may already feel over-taxed, her preferred tomorrow isn’t likely to happen any time soon. Come the next election, those she wishes to see taxed more heavily, indeed punitively, will most likely resist. And thus “social justice,” as she sees it, is indefinitely – and conveniently – deferred, leaving her free to be indignant without consequence. For a six-figure salary, of course. As Polly’s conscience is apparently troubled more by what you earn and keep than by what she earns and keeps, that life-changing gesture, that personal action, will simply have to wait.
And if a well-heeled person bangs on, week after week, about how terrible unequal incomes are and how something must be done urgently, and then says they won’t do anything to help directly until the state forces them, along with everyone else, this isn’t a resounding affirmation of their professed morality.
Asocial injustice, the decrepit, immoral philosophy of the Progressive. A sociopathic authoritarianism over the rights, freedoms and property of others. They have earned every drop of “empty spite” and “smears of ‘malevolent’ people” that can spit in their direction.
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS. Animal Farm.
Pollyanna is not a hypocrite. I’ve read her articles and she certainly doesn’t earn over £100,000 even though she’s paid it.
Do Paul Krudman and Polly T find inspiration in Barry Manilow’s oeuvre?
“I write the songs that make the young girls cry”
Lately, Toynbee’s attention to task seems to have slipped a bit and I think she must be tapping out her column employing only her big toe, whilst using her hands to attend to something more interesting.
Toynbee represents a particular kind of British “chattering classes” political hypocrisy.
And even within the leftie-luvvie ranks of Guardian stalwarts she is not greatly admired.
….”whose basic assumption seems to be that a person “concerned” by income inequality – a good person, someone like them – should somehow be exempt from the bitching and resentment aimed at people they regard as not being concerned, or sufficiently concerned, regardless of how much either party makes. It’s a neat dance if you can do it.”
I have found that most of these “concerned” individuals are only concerned that someone else has more than they,and most of them are the least charitable people I’ve ever met.
While they love to revile the one percenters,they never EVER will acknowledge the good that may be done by said 1%’er. BC’s own and Canada’s richest man, Jimmy Pattison, is constantly trashed by the Left media here, but they never recognize his many large contributions such as multi-million dollar medical services buildings,or the fact he employs 40,000 people.
And THAT is worth a hell of a lot more than pretending to “care”.
Reminds me of the folks running the Portland Hotel Society in Vancouver’s DTES. Quite the psychological trick to be earning such a large salary and donate little to nothing of it and then demand higher taxes for everyone!
” how terrible unequal incomes are and how something must be done urgently,”
Oh god … can you imagine everyone having the same income … isn’t whole point of working your ass off to make money is so you won’t have to live among ‘poor people’.
If anyone has a problem understanding the concept …. let me tell you what my life was like when I was young and very poor ….it’s a scary life down there …. Try it some time …. if you are a stupid or violent person, you may like it …. otherwise, you will be motivated to move on up to the west side ASAP.
What is truly unequal in this world is the allocation of brains.
Good on ya, Don.
The older I get, the more repulsed I become by the ‘contrived compassion’ that’s the primary fodder for weekend local newscasts. I suppose every human being has a need to believe he’s doing some good, but there’s more to it than showing up for a charity run.
Compassion and charity is something that should come from an individual’s heart and his wallet; not something that the collective state strives for through coersion and outright theft.
The Progressive mantra -“Do as I say not as I do”
Not for nothing is she known as Polly Filler to the readers of Private Eye.
Robert;
Ah yes, how quickly the peeps forget and move on!
How about country style and the raving success of progressives in France. El Presidente has scared the ‘overachievers’ into the Chunnel to take up residence in England.
Do we see a theme here? Our very own Turdeau Jr. harps in a incoherent way about those who do not work for a living(?) but live off their ‘trusts’. The fact that he was raised thru a trust does not count. It is all about finger pointing and duping the masses who are far to willing to be duped.
Hypocrisy is the left’s modus operandi.
In ancient times Paul Krugman would have been a court soothsayer.
He would have also been hung if ANY thing he said turned out wrong.
Declaring the future of any action. Witch doctor would have been to high a title.
More like false prophet.
In the long ago they where the bureaucrats making money telling rulers what they wanted to hear. From those pretending to be from God, or Astrologers with a system.Most of their predictions fell threw, but the cover stories held up till the advancing armies laid them all low.
Instead of quantum easing they had basic alchemy turning lead to gold. Just like Obama thinking printing money will magically end the debt with gold left over to enrich themselves more. At public expense of course.
At least the Roman aristocracy had the decency during the Republic to pay for public works like aqueducts & such. Not our gilded crew.
People never change, just the style of dice they use.
I remember in the 80s Wall street investors where caught using horoscopes for trading.
For the most part these people are deluded. thinking their superior to others for what ever reason, from education to fame. Like some judges who when donning a robe, reason they are infallible.
Rationalization is used to set them apart in twisted minds, that they are above the peons.
All others who do not whine about the plight of the so called poor are the evil ones. Never them. Human Nature never changes. They end up making things worse.
Like greenies with the never working useless bird blenders.
This is the left. They are so memory challenged they can’t even hold the reality that socialism has killed 150 million people . Nor EVER worked in any Nation to make it more prosperous. It always, always ends with pits for murdered people with plenty of bulldozers. Once the left finds its Utopia is unrealistic. They can’t face it so blame it on the citizans, not the ideology.