Aerial Circus

underpaidgenius:

Will the GOP start to avoid ‘capitalism’ now that Americans believe it is the C-word? According to pollster Frank Luntz, they shouldn’t.

Luntz: Conservatives should not be defending capitalism. They should be defending economic freedom. And there is a difference. The word capitalism was created by Karl Marx to demonize those people who make a profit. We’ve always talked about the free enterprise system or economic freedom. Suddenly, they’re trying to defend something that has only 18 percent support.

What is ‘economic freedom’ in a country where the economic ladder has become harder to climb, because economic inequality is moving the rungs farther apart. What the GOP actually support is a caste system, where the poor whites continue to believe that they have a chance to get ahead despite the evidence, and they continue to vote for the GOP who satisfy their cultural biases.

Why do poor and working class white people want a society with no safety net, limited social mobility, and income inequality? Because they’d rather beggar their neighbor — keep poor Blacks and Latinos down — than create an egalitarian society where everyone would be truly equal. They’d rather have a unequal society run by rich white men that care nothing for them than accept cultural changes, like a Black president.

emphasis mine

(Source: thinkprogress.org)