Winner Take All Politics

The super-rich become richer and richer at the expense of the middle class 

By Lutz Lichtenberger, SF Bay Area IMC

[This summary of the political book “Winner Take All Politics” by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson published 7/11/2011 is translated from the German on the Internet,http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/das-politische-buch-winner-take-all-politics-us-superreiche-werden-immer-reicher-auf-kosten-der-mittelklasse-1.1118614. 
Lutz Lichtenberger works for the German monthly “The Atlantic Times” in Berlin.] 

[Since Ronald Reagan’s term in office, the assets of the US have been systematically and massively redistributed from bottom to top. US political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson call this a “thirty-year war” in their powerful, myth-destroying book “Winner Take All Politics.”] 

Government buildings are in a state of siege. Thousands of protesters sing, drum and whistle. Representatives of the regime are yelled at and their houses watched. Supporters from all over the country donate food and money and show their solidarity. On the telephone, the governor talks with a super-rich supporter about whether troublemakers should be hired to mix among the people. 

The scenes come from Madison, not Tunisia, Egypt or Libya. Madison is the capitol of Wisconsin where public workers, teachers and union members rebel against a law that cuts their salaries and limits collective bargaining. 

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