Jay Nordlinger picks up on something President Clinton said the other day.
In The (London) Spectator, Toby Harnden quoted our 42nd president, Mr. Clinton. The subject was British politics, and the Blair-Brown dynamic. Clinton told Harnden, “You’ve got a great economy, better growth than America has, and less inequality than America.”
What a shoddy way of thinking: “less inequality than America.” As Milton Friedman and others have pointed out, America is the most prosperous country in the history of mankind. No wonder so much of the world seeks to come here.
But there is a socialist mindset — and a disgraceful one — that would rather a man made $15,000 than $30,000, if the former salary kept him closer to the top guy.
Let me elaborate a little, sketching two scenarios. In the first, the poorest guy in town makes $15,000, and the richest $100,000. In the second, the poorest guy makes $30,000 and the richest $250,000.
The mindset I’m speaking of would favor the first scenario, costing the poor man 15 grand — on the grounds that this scenario is more “equal” than the second. In the second, the “gap” between rich and poor is wider.
Mark my words, my friends: Whenever you hear someone talk about “inequality,” watch out — it may well mean that he prefers general misery to a world in which, while the poor get richer, the rich get really, really rich.
This thinking doesn't keep Clinton from accepting $100,000 speaking fees and $9 million books deals when the median price is much lower?
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