Latest news with #classwar
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Haves and Have-Yachts. Dispatches on the Ultrarich: How Trump exploited mass-manipulation to stoke culture wars
The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich Author : Evan Osnos ISBN-13 : 978-1398553224 Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK Guideline Price : £22 The most pronounced class war in the United States today is between those who believe that empathy is the greatest weakness of western civilisation ( Donald Trump , Elon Musk , Republicans , most billionaires) versus those who believe that empathy is its greatest strength ( Democrats , Plato, Jesus, David Hume). At this time, it appears that the ultra-selfish are winning as the bought and sold US Supreme Court and Republican-controlled Congress enable Trump's destruction of the federal safety net, constitutional rights, and the further enrichment of the top 1 per cent of the population. As Evan Osnos illustrates in his important book, The Haves and Have-Yachts, Trump is accelerating the trend towards greater inequality revived 40 years ago when US president Ronald Reagan cut taxes on the very rich and declared that 'government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem'. Today's billionaire oligarchy cartel has a new twist on that canard, fervently believing that the purpose of government is massive enrichment of the few who control it by manipulating and buying presidential and congressional elections. READ MORE Osnos writes that the essential fault line in American politics is inequality, feeding the anger of ordinary Americans who know that the elites are winning at their expense. He seeks to answer the question why this anger is directed at Democrats, who want to create a more equal society, and not at Trump and Republicans, who are cutting healthcare and education and most recently rewarded the top 1 per cent with a 'Big Beautiful' tax break that will cost taxpayers $3 trillion. Republican strategists and their billionaire backers have known that inequality and affordability have been top issues since 2013 when former president Bill Clinton's pollster Pat Caddell advised them that there was a 'public appetite for a populist challenger who could run as an outsider exposing corruption and rapacity'. Hello, Donald Trump, reality TV star, who has stimulated and ridden this anger in three presidential elections, winning two of them, and showing how to thrive in the power elite while decrying it as your enemy. Trump and Republicans have successfully exploited mass-manipulation techniques to distract and win ongoing support from working-class voters by stoking culture wars against diversity, affirmative action, gay rights, abortion rights, trans women playing female sports, and 'wokeness' generally. For example, a considerable number of working-class Hispanic and Irish Americans have voted three times for Trump despite his cuts to social benefits. They also believed Trump when he said he would deport only criminal immigrants, but instead, his massive ICE white nationalist army is locking up easy targets such as honest, hard-working immigrants who have been undocumented and denied a path to citizenship for more than 20 years due to Republican congressional opposition. [ 'Really scary territory': AI's increasing role in undermining democracy Opens in new window ] Trump's tariffs are another bait and switch, ostensibly designed to make America great; in reality, they are a tax on working people. Worse still, he chickened out on stopping China's unfair trading practices when it imposed export controls on rare earths which are essential for US industry and defence. Then, Trump turned to pick on the EU, traditionally close allies and trading partners of the US. Osnos shows how social media is at the core of this mass manipulation as the dopamine-driven feedback loops of X, Facebook and TikTok destroy human empathy with huge misinformation and minimum civil discourse. Bowing to Trump, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg promoted a Republican operative as policy chief and named Dana White, a Trump ally who heads the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to Meta's board of directors . By 2025, Zuckerberg's net worth had surpassed $200 billion, ranking him the world's second richest person after Elon Musk. Many Democrats believe that the best presidential candidate to beat this Trump formula in 2028 would be a Bernie Sanders/FDR candidate who would appeal to working people and to younger voters with promises of real economic populism, rather than the fake Republican brand. And what do the billionaires do with their ill-gotten wealth besides owning the US government? The sad fact is that they have no idea; the point is just to keep making more. As they undermine American government power at home and abroad, the ultra-rich can think of little more than outbidding each other to buy diesel-polluting floating toys, costing anything from Zuckerberg's $300 million yacht to Jeff Bezos' $500 million schooner. To be sure, there will be no Zuckerberg or Bezos municipal libraries from this second 'Gilded Age'.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The eternal dilemma of how to tax the super-rich
Asked in 2006 whether he risked fomenting class war by questioning the unfairness of the tax system, Warren Buffett responded: 'There's Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Fresh bias row as private pupils are charged more than state schools to see Shakespeare plays
The Royal Shakespeare Company has been accused of discrimination and 'feeding into a national class war' by charging private school pupils more than state schoolchildren for theatre visits. Groups of state schoolchildren watching performances by the globally famous company are charged £10 a head, while their private school counterparts are charged a staggering £16.50. The National Theatre in London also charges private schoolchildren more than state pupils – £12 a head compared to £10. Last night, campaigners from the Education not Taxation (ENT) pressure group, which represents private school parents nationwide, said the 'two-tier pricing blatantly discriminates against independent school children'. Urging the Charity Commission to investigate, an ENT spokesman said: 'Raising the prices for independent school children feeds into a national class war and can deny children access to rites of passage we should all encourage, such as watching Shakespeare plays. 'Their apparent attempts at social justice show no understanding of the nuanced education landscape, which includes wealthy state schools and poor independent schools.' A Mail on Sunday investigation has also discovered that a prestigious national engineering competition for schools barred private schools from taking part just two years ago. The Big Bang Programme, run by Engineering UK, ruled private schoolchildren as ineligible from taking part in its nationwide competition. More than half a million schoolchildren from over 1,000 schools attend Royal Shakespeare Company performances every year. And yet it is believed the company quietly shelved its one price for all under-18 schoolchildren of £12.50, lowering prices for state schools and dramatically increasing them for private schools. Richard Jones, head of Dorset's Bryanston School, which is famous for performing arts, said: 'The theatres' premium for independent school children isn't inclusion, it's discrimination. 'The arts are meant to unite audiences, not divide children through where they go to school.' The RSC said 'prices for private schools are at a slightly higher rate due to the differences in budgets that are available between state-maintained schools and schools in the independent sector'. The National Theatre said its prices were set on 'a long-standing pricing structure which has been in place for many years'. And Engineering UK said it did not consider private schoolchildren to be among the 'under-represented groups in engineering' it aimed to inspire.
Daily Mail
21-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Angela Rayner accused of waging 'class war' over her plans to cut funding for wealthier Southern areas so more can be spent in the North
Labour was yesterday accused of declaring 'class war' over plans to cut funding for town halls in the South and splurge it in its northern heartlands. Under Angela Rayner 's shake-up, wealthier southern households face a raft of raids to help pay for the giveaway in Labour's traditional working-class areas. These include hikes in council tax bills and fees, such as parking, planning and licensing charges. Town halls in the South also face having to cut existing services because of the raid on their coffers. Under the plans, unveiled yesterday, town halls with 'stronger council tax bases', which tend to be in wealthier parts of London and the Home Counties, will get less Government cash. Those with 'weaker bases', often in the North, will get more under the 'progressive' redistribution model. The Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner, who is also the local government secretary, has long argued that an overhaul of council funding is needed. Ms Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, has pointed to people living in the North who pay hundreds of pounds more in council tax than those in wealthier southern areas, calling it 'unfair'. But the plans, which affect councils in England and would begin for three years from next April, sparked a furious backlash. Greg Smith, the Tory MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said: 'We're already massively over-taxed and council tax has already blown out of all proportion across the country. 'Anything that takes from the South to pay for the North is class war.' And Kevin Hollinrake, the Tories' local government spokesman, said: 'In reality, Labour's appetite for tax hikes knows no bounds. These new backdoor rises in fees and charges are nothing more than stealth taxes – punishing the very councils that have kept taxes low and responsible.' The new proposed formula for allocating money would take into account local needs, based on population, poverty and age data. This will lead to more cash going to deprived areas. And Government grants, which account for about half of councils' income, will now be based on calculations of what local authorities could raise if all areas charged the same rates of council tax based on their housing mix. This will mean steep falls in grant income for wealthier councils. Vikki Slade, the Lib Dems' local government spokesman, said: 'It would be a big mistake for the Government to force councils into unfair council tax rises. 'At a time when councils desperately need support, it beggars belief that Angela Rayner is considering reducing funding entitlements for many, including councils which already receive very little grant funding.' But ministers insist councils won't go bust as it would be phased in over three years, removing a potential 'cliff edge' if the redistribution happened in one go. They also say it will not lead to huge council tax hikes because these are already capped at 5 per cent, and most councils already raise it by this amount every year. However, they could apply to Ms Rayner, who is from Stockport, for special permission to raise it by more than this given the unprecedented pressure their finances could come under. They are also likely to look at cutting back on existing services and hiking other fees to help balance the books. It raises the prospect of councils being handed more powers to raise revenues by hiking such fees. Yesterday's new consultation, which will run until August 15, said ministers will now 'review all fees previously identified and consider where there is the strongest case for reform'. Kate Ogden, a senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said councils in 'leafier suburban and rural areas' in the South will be among the biggest losers. Local government minister Jim McMahon said: 'There's broad agreement across council leaders, experts, and parliamentarians that the current funding model is broken and unfair. 'This Government is stepping up to deliver the fairer system promised in the 2017 Fair Funding Review but never delivered.'
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Starmer's waging war against his own social class - and there's much more punishment to come: STEPHEN GLOVER
Shortly before he died in 2015, former Labour Chancellor Denis Healey declared that the 'class war is over'. He added that 'in my time it was the dominant element in politics, but now nobody gives a b***ery'. Healey hadn't bargained for Sir Keir Starmer, who had just been elected an MP. Nor had he factored in Angela Rayner, then also new to the Commons, and about to join forces with hard Left .
