The while ago, I was watching intellectual television (Book TV) and I learned that everything I was taught concerning the structure of our society and Economics was just plain false. I was surprised, but given the state of the present economy I thought I had better listen. Here are some of the principles of the new economy and societal structure I learned from the experience.
There are four classes of people in our country perhaps as many as six:
The dependent class, those who are dependent on government handouts, and those who are dependent on the employer class for their income. This class could be divided into two depending on whom the members are dependent.
The employer class, these are individuals who are owners and upper managers in businesses which employ those who fall into the dependent class. These class members may be manufacturers or entrepreneurs, merchants or service providers.
The producer class, these are people who actually produce wealth. They may be farmers or ranchers, or those who are part of the intelligent trades, i.e. those who must be educated to do what they do. These include Doctors, Engineers, Nurses, although there was some doubt about nurses, Lawyers, Optometrists, Pharmacists and Bankers and Money-managers. Some of these produce wealth from natural resources, such as oil drillers and miners. But this class does not include teachers, because they produce nothing and serve only the interests of other classes. They therefore belong in the dependent class. This class could also be divided according to licensure, professionals and non-professionals.
The investor class, these are people who have sufficient wealth that they live from the income derived by way of their wealth. They are the actual new wealth generators of our society, while others merely labor to derive an income, these class members are entitled to an income by virtue of their wealth. They may be “old money” or “nouveau riche”.
There may be considerable overlap between these classes, because some who are in the producer class may also be employers. Some of the investor class may be owners of commodities or natural resources, so may fall also into the producer class and the employer class depending on the type of investments they possess.
The speaker went on to describe members of the producer and employer class as “middle class” and working class as dependent. Things became, with these terms, more familiar to one who was educated so long ago. He explained that the dependent class pays no taxes because their employers actually make the payment. Yes, the taxes are deducted from the dependents paycheck, but that is merely a technicality. The speaker offered several solutions to the problems we face today. He claimed that we must reduce the dependent class by eliminating the tax burden on the employer class by forcing the dependent class to pay their own taxes and eliminate the burden of FICA taxes from the employers. He, of course, also intimated that if we further reduced the tax burden on the investor and producer class, the economy would begin a recovery. He advocated price controls by government assurance methods, i.e. standing offers by government for commodities, minerals and other resources. Thus assuring a healthy economic status to the producers. His claim was also that if we reduced the tax burden on the investor class to zero, they would be more apt to invest their increased income in the producer class and employer class.
Suddenly my interest turned to anger, not only because as a teacher I was described as dependent, but I have never heard such a bold justification of trickle-down economics. Although what the speaker said was true as a matter of fact, fact according to a specific interpretation of the reality of things, but also a perverse interpretation of what ‘fact’ means. It is clear that the speaker was mistaken as to how things ought to be. It was another case of the Naturalistic fallacy, or trying to derive ‘ought’ from ‘is’. One wonders, perhaps it’s my philosophic education but, what is being taught today in Economics and Business departments?
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