I don't see how the current financial crisis has anything to do with "stealing from the rich".

In fact, people have been likening to the sub-prime mortgage crisis as a scam made by the rich...

I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on wealth distribution, income disparity, etc. I do know from basic macroeconomics though, that the austerity drive going on the world is simply counterintuitive. What is it going to do? Businesses invest in order to increase production capacity, and you increase production capacity when there is demand for your products that create the need for extra capacity. In short, you buy machines to make stuff, when you think more people want to buy stuff. I don't see how reducing our GDP is going to increase investment (which is going to further lower GDP, by a lot).

I don't see what abandoning the unemployed is going to do. The laziness argument can't hold, because 6% of the 10% were employed recently, and it's hard to believe that they were the types that just leached off benefits. Maybe they honestly can't find jobs, due to macroeconomic circumstances, out of their hands?

People want to balance the budget, but don't want to raise taxes, want to keep their own benefits, don't want to reform medicare (which is a huge part of spending), etc. Fucking contradictory.

so your big on socialism huh

Isn't socialism where the government owns the means to production (capital) vs capitalism (private ownership of capital)?

I don't see how the government buying goods, lowering interest rates (they're already at or near 0 now), lowering taxes, giving stimuluses, etc is socialism.

The corporations don't have to sell the goods and services to the government, but I don't see why they wouldn't if they were rational and selfish beings.

Widespread  corporate corruption has left the world in financial turmoil. It will take a long time to recover from this huge problem. When the increase taxes hit the US and UK: economic austerity programs will cripple struggling economies. More people will be out of work. Unemployment will rise in both the US and UK as a result of economic austerity: welfare cuts, public service cuts,  decrease in pensions and increase in taxes. 

The majority will  have to pay for the failings of the wealthy few. 

It depends on where you Live in USA but in some parts of USA the mindset and also the personalities of people are just horrible..they lack tolerance and open mindedness and focus on useless crap that doesn't make sense at all to me...

I am living in the NW and I like it here mainly because of the Natural environment..at one point I was pondering on going to NZ as well for a university there but because of several reasons I couldn't, however I am considering on moving to NZ or a place like Swiss in the future, fingers crossed

and btw Good luck mate :) I hope you enjoy yourself in NZ, post some pics of the beach or something :D make us Jelous

Lower consumer confidence left the world in financial turmoil in my opinion. Nothing changed physically over the past 3-4 years. Nothing. We have the ABILITY to PRODUCE what we did a few years ago. The GDP we had was not an illusion, we were making a lot of goods and services.

It's just that there's no point in making goods and services, if no one demands it. There can be no trade, if the other person isn't willing to. That doesn't mean the two individuals have nothing to barter for, it's just that they refuse to barter.

Households refuse to buy G S, then firms refuse to provide wages, and invest less, and so the cycle begins.

Keynesianism, or counter-cyclical policy, wants to stop this negative cycle, and start a positive cycle (replace consumer with government). When people feel that the economy is back in shape, then they'll spend again, at WHICH POINT the economy is better.

Unfortunately, the austerity programs are starting even though unemployment isn't back yet, investment isn't back yet, consumer confidence isn't back yet...

ah i guess it might actually be a bit more communism to have all classes earn the same money

both are similar in that they aim to not have rich and poor but everyone living the same standard of living.  teh 40-45% as the OP put.

Dunno if I agree with his numbers BUT I can see where he is coming from..over the past 10 years the gap between the compensation of an employee and the executives of the company has risen by a great margin, even when the recession was going on. Has it stopped now? nope it still as bad or worse...don't really care much for communism, socialism or even democracy, the spread of wealth can and should be better than this in the USA

But my point isn't talking about what people want, but what the actual state of the US is. Maffoo stated that this desire is the cause of the financial crisis, which is just... retarded. I mean, the reality was that there's huge income disparity, and many people likened the recent years as the Gilded Ages of the 20's.

But my point is that I don't think any of that matters, the cause of the current financial crisis was the reduction in asset values (real estate specifically), that lowered consumer confidence and expenditures. People's wealth fell when home values plumetted, and not feeling as rich as they thought they were (true, people got less wealthy, but WAGES, INCOME, remained the same, and therefore their purchasing power stayed the same), they started to spend less.

The rest is history.

Privatise the profits. Socialise the losses. Why should all the people pay for the losses? That is not fair.