Your Heart Was Never There To See

I’m Not What You Want by Kelley Polar.

Occupy Wall Street: Accidental Capitalists?

The Article: The Accidental Capitalists by Charles Kenny in Foreign Policy.

The Text: As the Occupy Wall Street protests drag on into their ninth week, the movement has spawned global “occupations” from Rome to London, Toronto to Santiago, Hong Kong to Taipei. Meanwhile, the protesters continue their calls for “democracy not corporatocracy” — revolutionary language, even if it falls just a bit short of “eat the rich.” So perhaps it is no surprise that some of those more at home with the traditional occupants of Wall Street have been quick to complain that this is just one more sign of growing class warfare.

But is the threat of conflict between the rich and the rest a good thing once in a while? Talk of class warfare rears its head when more people start thinking that the rich are rich not because of their hard work or talent but because they are lucky or because the system is stacked in their favor. That view is becoming increasingly widespread — 75 percent of Americans back a millionaires’ tax, for example. And to an extent, it’s right — not just as a matter of fairness, but as a matter of economics. A bit of redistribution might actually help make everyone — including the rich — better off in the long term.

Behind the protests is a growing level of frustration over the yawning income gap. The top fifth of households in the United States earn 10 times what the poorest fifth makes and more than the rest of the country combined. The incomes of the richest 1 percent are 67 times those of the poorest 20 percent of households. And over time, that gap has widened. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1979 and 2007, the richest 1 percent saw their after-tax incomes climb 275 percent compared with an 18 percent rise for the poorest fifth. The story is similar, if less dramatic, in other rich economies.

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Hello Mr. Downtempo

Loveshine by Dana Bergquist & Peder G.

The Skeletons In Ron Paul’s Closet

The Article: 10 Shocking Quotes from Ron Paul’s Newsletters by Benjy Sarlin in Talking Points Memo.

The Text: Ron Paul’s 1980 and 1990’s newsletters — and their incendiary content — are coming to the forefront of the campaign as the candidate surges to the front of the pack in Iowa.

It’s hard to overstate just how extreme these publications are, from comparing blacks to zoo animals to speculating about Israeli involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Paul denies having written or read the offensive material in question, but even a casual glance at the newsletters would have revealed their basic formula. As a recently uncovered direct mail piece advertising the newsletters demonstrates, the most out there passages were the chief selling point, not out-of-context asides.

The New Republic, which first obtained the archives during the 2008 campaign, have recently posted images of several issues of the newsletters. Here are 10 of the most shocking quotes from the publications and related materials.

1. “Order was only restored in LA when it came time for the blacks to collect their welfare checks. The ‘poor’ lined up at the Post Office to get their handouts (since there were no deliveries) — and then complained about slow service.” -Report on LA riots, June 1992

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Bertrand Russell Quote On The Paradox of Fools And Wise Men

The crippling wisdom and reflection of the world in one brilliant Bertrand Russell quote: “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wise people so full of doubts.”

Enjoy this Bertrand Russell quote? Check out this fascinating video of Bertrand Russell explaining why he’s not a Christian.