Do trickle-down economic theories work?

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One big problem with Islam is its emphasis on statism. In the U.S. there has been a long standing tradition of separation of religion from the state. On the sabbath, traditionally people think about their faith. On the other days of the week, they get back to practical matters. Intermixing these two frames of mind leads to disputes between those that try to insert religion into everyday affairs and those who oppose that.

In traditional Islam, the state and Islam are the same, and it is the fondest wish of Muslims that their entire life revolves around Islam. When they migrate to other countries, they feel they have an Allah given duty to convert those countries to Islam. Until somebody steps in and says “You can’t do that here”, Muslims will continue to push for their total Islamic life style to the extent that the entire country will follow Islam.

My father used to joke about Catholics he knew who sinned during the week, go to confession to be forgiven for their sins, and then go back the next week to sin again. Muslims would not be able to do that. Selecting one day of the week (sabbath) to serve God would not be done under Islam because praying to God is done several times a day every day of the week.

You’ve got apples and oranges in the same towns trying to achieve uniformity.
 
I used to work in a Los Angeles office with a young Mexican-American from the farm belt in Central California who learned how to operate mainframe computers. He became a pariah among his pals back on the farm and they ostracized him when he visited. They accused him of being better than they.

Coal miners in Appalachia decide to become miners because of family tradition. They could seek out better opportunities in the cities but opt for remaining in the fold rather than being adventurous.
Thomas Sowell’s book, Black Rednecks and White liberals, explains how white “cracker” culture contributed to the lack of success among low-class white rednecks and how blacks in the south were kind of woven into that culture, and the effects of that still existing today.

amazon.com/Black-Rednecks-Liberals-Thomas-Sowell/product-reviews/1594031436

Ishii
 
Thomas Sowell’s book, Black Rednecks and White liberals, explains how white “cracker” culture contributed to the lack of success among low-class white rednecks and how blacks in the south were kind of woven into that culture, and the effects of that still existing today.

amazon.com/Black-Rednecks-Liberals-Thomas-Sowell/product-reviews/1594031436

Ishii
This is indeed a terriffic thesis documented with thousands of references, suggesting that the ‘culture’ in the South is responsible for the ghetto culture, not ‘racism’ alone. The reasons are due to how the Britains lived in the outskirts of England(the lawless regions) before moving into the antebellum South, carrying their anarchic, chaotic culture with them. He also details how slaves lived under the rule of their masters, and how the black culture actually had their own elite/mulatto/light skinned class that continually discriminated against the dark skinned, uneducated blacks that were woven into the cracker culture from the onset. He also compares the northern blacks to the southern blacks, showing how the northern blacks were much more educated because the ‘north’ had 4x more schools than the south, scored higher on tests, had a higher graduation rate, etc.

The northern region itself used discrimination methods not just against black rednecks, but to white rednecks. He notes that racism in the north started when ghetto blacks moved up north, being that the whites and blacks both were uncomfortable with the redneck culture within their community. Racism hardly existed in the north until the migration of blacks from the South after the emancipation of the slaves. He also notes that there weren’t just white slaveholders. There were many black slave holders as well, notably in the southern regions of Louisiana.
 
This is indeed a terriffic thesis documented with thousands of references, suggesting that the ‘culture’ in the South is responsible for the ghetto culture, not ‘racism’ alone. The reasons are due to how the Britains lived in the outskirts of England(the lawless regions) before moving into the antebellum South, carrying their anarchic, chaotic culture with them. He also details how slaves lived under the rule of their masters, and how the black culture actually had their own elite/mulatto/light skinned class that continually discriminated against the dark skinned, uneducated blacks that were woven into the cracker culture from the onset. He also compares the northern blacks to the southern blacks, showing how the northern blacks were much more educated because the ‘north’ had 4x more schools than the south, scored higher on tests, had a higher graduation rate, etc.

The northern region itself used discrimination methods not just against black rednecks, but to white rednecks. He notes that racism in the north started when ghetto blacks moved up north, being that the whites and blacks both were uncomfortable with the redneck culture within their community. Racism hardly existed in the north until the migration of blacks from the South after the emancipation of the slaves. He also notes that there weren’t just white slaveholders. There were many black slave holders as well, notably in the southern regions of Louisiana.
To say that Racism didn’t exist prior to the migration is going to be a hard one to prove. There are any number of reasons why one culture does not except another. Competition for jobs being one of the great ones. We can’t appolagize enough for slavery any more than Sowell can excape the image he’s created for himself. If I remember the book correctly he thought the use of low water crossings as opposed to building bridges was a sign of lazyness in southerners. Today of course we know better than that.

ATB
 
We all have different situations and challenges that can hold us back from taking advantage of opportunity. In America we have had more people rise up to the middle class and beyond due to the opportunities available from our free-market system as well as the stable and secure political system which allows business to flourish. People get a free education for 12 years. There are opportunities to be had for anyone willing to work fairly hard and deny immediate gratification for a while. Some fall through the cracks, (which is why we have a safety net) but overall, the system we have has allowed millions to get ahead and be successful.

What do you think are the reasons why the “very poor” in America cannot be successful?

Ishii
I don’t know. But my inability to completely understand the mechanism of poverty does not mean that the alternative being proposed here (that lack of initiative or other character flaws) are exclusively to blame.
 
By your reasoning, as I understand it, a rich person is rich by “God’s graces”. Therefore a poor person is poor for the same reason.

Now since God wants the rich person to be rich and the poor person to be poor…why are we troubled with senseless equality thing?
It is always dangerous to presume to understand the mind of God. God created man without wings, while He did give wings to birds. By your reasoning, it would be wrong to try to invent airplanes to fly because we would be contradicting the will of God. The book of Job is a good example of well-meaning people trying to explain why bad things happened to poor Job, but being very very wrong.

There are many possible explanations for why God created people with unequal opportunities. One is as a means of testing those of us with wealth to see if we can follow his teachings of sharing that wealth for the good of others. But this is just my guess. Others may guess differently. But the fact that people are created with unequal opportunities is undeniable.
 
It is always dangerous to presume to understand the mind of God. God created man without wings, while He did give wings to birds. By your reasoning, it would be wrong to try to invent airplanes to fly because we would be contradicting the will of God. The book of Job is a good example of well-meaning people trying to explain why bad things happened to poor Job, but being very very wrong.

There are many possible explanations for why God created people with unequal opportunities. One is as a means of testing those of us with wealth to see if we can follow his teachings of sharing that wealth for the good of others. But this is just my guess. Others may guess differently. But the fact that people are created with unequal opportunities is undeniable.
If God wanted to create equality, why did he create two types, male and female?

Clans who hunted for a living had to be very competitive as warriors because of predation from neighboring clans. That is a major factor in the downfall of the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages. It also is a major theme in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Judges, and is the major reason why Yahweh was a warrior in peoples beliefs.

Farmers have less need to be concerned about predation.

So anthropologists have noted that people in farming communities in ancient history were less clever than hunters or nomads. Competition is not a concern in farming groups, but it certainly is in groups where hunting and protecting your hunting grounds looms large in peoples thinking.
 
If God wanted to create equality, why did he create two types, male and female?

Clans who hunted for a living had to be very competitive as warriors because of predation from neighboring clans. That is a major factor in the downfall of the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages. It also is a major theme in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Judges, and is the major reason why Yahweh was a warrior in peoples beliefs.

Farmers have less need to be concerned about predation.

So anthropologists have noted that people in farming communities in ancient history were less clever than hunters or nomads. Competition is not a concern in farming groups, but it certainly is in groups where hunting and protecting your hunting grounds looms large in peoples thinking.
This is not necessarily true.

Romans, in the early Republic, were largely farmers. Yet, they were able to best the Greeks, who were as near to professional warriors as existed in the ancient world. And they were certainly able to overcome the Cisalpine Gauls.

And who did the warrior people tend to despoil? The settled groups, that’s who.

On the other hand, (and I’m telling this mainly because I like the story) the Persian King Cyrus (I think it was Cyrus) was tired of having his empire raided by Scythians, so he gathered an enormous army and set out into the Eurasian steppes to chastise them. As he did, however, the Scythians kept withdrawing deeper and deeper into the steppes, raiding his flanks now and then as the spirit moved them to do.

Ultimately, Cyrus sent a message to the Scythian king, challenging him to stand and fight. The Scythian response was something like this: “We have no cities or crops to defend, but if you find the graves of our ancestors and disturb them, then you will know whether we will fight.”

Cyrus turned his army around and returned to Persia.
 
This is not necessarily true.

Romans, in the early Republic, were largely farmers. Yet, they were able to best the Greeks, who were as near to professional warriors as existed in the ancient world. And they were certainly able to overcome the Cisalpine Gauls.

And who did the warrior people tend to despoil? The settled groups, that’s who.

On the other hand, (and I’m telling this mainly because I like the story) the Persian King Cyrus (I think it was Cyrus) was tired of having his empire raided by Scythians, so he gathered an enormous army and set out into the Eurasian steppes to chastise them. As he did, however, the Scythians kept withdrawing deeper and deeper into the steppes, raiding his flanks now and then as the spirit moved them to do.

Ultimately, Cyrus sent a message to the Scythian king, challenging him to stand and fight. The Scythian response was something like this: “We have no cities or crops to defend, but if you find the graves of our ancestors and disturb them, then you will know whether we will fight.”

Cyrus turned his army around and returned to Persia.
We are having a similiar problem today.

nmgauss is wrong on several points. Farming and the keeping of livestock started as a time saving enterprise. It freed up Humans for other pursuits like building better shelters, creating art, and of course our favorite activity warfare. Settled communities with provisions in store can wage a longer war and as the Plains Indians learned a more successful one. There are a lot of things that come in to play in war and alot of things can go wrong. For the Romans the freezing of a river brought the barbarians to their gate. When Aleric gave them their conditions and demands the Roman ambassador asked what that left them with? Aleric’s response was your lives. He should have killed them perhaps. But he didn’t. 🤷

Those farmers like the hunter gatherers have a vested interest in protecting what is theirs. They cannot afford to have their stores, or crops destroyed anymore than the H/G can afford to be run off of their hunting lands.
 
It is always dangerous to presume to understand the mind of God.
I agree. But you are the one who brought up “God’s graces”
God created man without wings, while He did give wings to birds. By your reasoning, it would be wrong to try to invent airplanes to fly because we would be contradicting the will of God.
No. We were talking about “God’s Graces”. Not the will of God.

If God did not “will” men to fly, we would not be as near to the stars as we are today.
There are many possible explanations for why God created people with unequal opportunities. One is as a means of testing those of us with wealth to see if we can follow his teachings of sharing that wealth for the good of others. But this is just my guess. Others may guess differently. But the fact that people are created with unequal opportunities is undeniable.
This is where God’s Graces come in. They are gifts from God. Like opportunities. Grace can be refused or overlooked. Opportunities are there for all (like God’s Grace) it is up to us to recognize them, accept them and be thankful for them.

Only a child born into slavery lacks opportunity.
 
No. We were talking about “God’s Graces”. Not the will of God.
I am glad you understand the difference. Therefore you can understand how it can be by God’s grace that some of us are blessed by enormous wealth, and others are not so blessed and in poverty, yet it could still be God’s will that those with the enormous wealth share that wealth with those in poverty, and not assume that all those in poverty are there because they failed to take advantage of opportunities, as justification for not helping them.
 
I am glad you understand the difference. Therefore you can understand how it can be by God’s grace that some of us are blessed by enormous wealth, and others are not so blessed and in poverty, yet it could still be God’s will that those with the enormous wealth share that wealth with those in poverty, and not assume that all those in poverty are there because they failed to take advantage of opportunities, as justification for not helping them.
What do you suppose happens to the excess money not needed to live on? It does not sit in underground vaults. Instead it is put to work for society. Much of it is used to provide for the means of production. If there was no means of production, we would all be dirt farmers eking out a living by scratching the earth. The means of production enables people to make things that people want and need. If all the excess money were simply transferred to the poor for immediate consumption, it would disappear. So would the means of production.

It is better to put money to good use than simply pouring it down the mouth of a hungry person. At least the means of production provides jobs for the poor and is self sustaining. Pouring money into the mouth of a hungry person is not self-sustaining. Eventually there is no more left.
 
I don’t know. But my inability to completely understand the mechanism of poverty does not mean that the alternative being proposed here (that lack of initiative or other character flaws) are exclusively to blame.
That is a straw man. I have not made the case that lack of initiative or character flaws are exclusively to blame. However, they are contributing factors certainly. Why the need to construct false arguments?

Ishii
 
I am glad you understand the difference. Therefore you can understand how it can be by God’s grace that some of us are blessed by enormous wealth, and others are not so blessed and in poverty, yet it could still be God’s will that those with the enormous wealth share that wealth with those in poverty, and not assume that all those in poverty are there because they failed to take advantage of opportunities, as justification for not helping them.
Do you think people that have “enormous wealth” just keep it in a vault somewhere and laugh gleefully at poor people while they swim in it?

What do you mean by “blessed with enormous wealth”? Are you referring to people who are born into wealth or people who worked hard for their wealth?
 
What do you suppose happens to the excess money not needed to live on? It does not sit in underground vaults. Instead it is put to work for society. Much of it is used to provide for the means of production. If there was no means of production, we would all be dirt farmers eking out a living by scratching the earth. The means of production enables people to make things that people want and need. If all the excess money were simply transferred to the poor for immediate consumption, it would disappear. So would the means of production.

It is better to put money to good use than simply pouring it down the mouth of a hungry person. At least the means of production provides jobs for the poor and is self sustaining. Pouring money into the mouth of a hungry person is not self-sustaining. Eventually there is no more left.
This argument is a practical one. It is based on some people’s best judgement on how to achieve the ultimate goal, which is apparently “a self-sustaining means of production”. So let’s re-write the parable of the good Samaritan as follows:

…But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he thought how this man’s needs might turn to his advantage. He went to him and bandaged his wounds with the man’s own tattered clothing, pouring on water from a nearby stream. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and hired someone to take care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and made a loan to the man saying ‘Look after yourself, and when I return, you will reimburse me for the donkey ride, the hired nursing care, and my management fee. And if you ever recover enough to work hard under the hot sun, come to my vineyard and you may work for me.’

Yes, you are right. This is a much-improved parable over the original.
 
What do you mean by “blessed with enormous wealth”? Are you referring to people who are born into wealth or people who worked hard for their wealth?
The highest paid CEO in 8 American companies “earn” over 1000 times as much as the median of the rest of their employees - not the lowest paid employee, but the median income of all the rest. Now are you going to try to argue that these CEO’s actually work 1000 times as hard as the other employees? That is impossible. I doubt if anyone can even work 4 times as hard as a 9-5 secretary. So don’t use “worked hard” to justify that much wealth, because it just cannot be done. OK, you may say “…but those CEO’s work smarter”. Fair enough. So how did they get so smart? Was it by a choice they made that was open to everyone? I think not. Some people are blessed with more intelligence of the right sort that is in great demand. But that is not anything they earned exclusively through their good character. That is largely a gift from God too.

What it all comes down to is this: Nothing we have - not our wealth, our good looks, our smarts, our healthy bodies - not even the right to take a breath of air - have we earned by our own merits. The credit and praise goes only to God who made us. And in thanksgiving to Him who gave us all things, we owe everything in return. If you think of your possessions in that way, as borrowers rather than as owners, you may see our obligations differently.

If you don’t believe Catholic moral theology, how about Marvel Comics theology: “With great power comes great responsibility” (Ben Parker).
 
The highest paid CEO in 8 American companies “earn” over 1000 times as much as the median of the rest of their employees - not the lowest paid employee, but the median income of all the rest. Now are you going to try to argue that these CEO’s actually work 1000 times as hard as the other employees? That is impossible. I doubt if anyone can even work 4 times as hard as a 9-5 secretary. So don’t use “worked hard” to justify that much wealth, because it just cannot be done. OK, you may say “…but those CEO’s work smarter”. Fair enough. So how did they get so smart? Was it by a choice they made that was open to everyone? I think not. Some people are blessed with more intelligence of the right sort that is in great demand. But that is not anything they earned exclusively through their good character. That is largely a gift from God too.

What it all comes down to is this: Nothing we have - not our wealth, our good looks, our smarts, our healthy bodies - not even the right to take a breath of air - have we earned by our own merits. The credit and praise goes only to God who made us. And in thanksgiving to Him who gave us all things, we owe everything in return. If you think of your possessions in that way, as borrowers rather than as owners, you may see our obligations differently.

If you don’t believe Catholic moral theology, how about Marvel Comics theology: “With great power comes great responsibility” (Ben Parker).
It’s not about how hard you work, it’s about the value you bring to the company. Apparently the shareholders of those companies believe that the CEO brings enough value to the company to justify that wage. Do you think you could do the job of a CEO?

Why do you assume that I don’t believe Catholic moral teaching?

BTW, you didn’t answer either of the questions I asked in the post, you just danced around them.
 
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