I think this is the greatest thing ever done with found footage. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfuwNU0jsk0

So now let's all talk about how awesome that was.

When you compile a list of quotes from someone who talks on the radio for multiple hours a day every day of the week and present them out of context you can make the most rational and caring person seem like an irrational and insensitive jerk ... I'm not saying that Glenn Beck is the most rational and caring person (far from it), but when he used to be on CNN I watched him on occasion (don't have Fox News so I can't comment on him since he moved) and while his arguments tended towards an extreme position he also tended to make several good points.

With that said, I do find it impressive how individuals can use old footage and edit it together to make something new and interesting.

As someone who has both... I can say he's gotten worse.

I actually used to listen to his radio show occasionally before I went to school... (Talk radio is easier then fiddling with the radio the whole drive.)

He went all crazy somehwere down the line and just kept getting more paranoid etc.

For the record though... the Gini coefficent and wage gaps are pretty much always going to grow.

The only times they go down, are times of economic hardship like the ones we have now.

There is a pretty straightfoward reason for this...

Economic growth is largely created by the rich investing money to make buisnesses, factories and products....

or it's created by the people who have a great idea and create completely new products... these people then become rich.

There really isn't any way you can stop it... even with progressive taxation because if you tax enough to where you can stop it, well then people just stop investing because now they aren't getting any benefit from investing.

Even huge estate taxes leads to nothing since that money just goes to the government who then spends that money on projects that go to rich peoples companies.

The real question is... does it matter?

Money isn't a zero sum game afterall.  10% of wealth now can buy more then like, 30% of wealth 100 years ago.

As long as value is being added and most people can afford more now then they could 10 years ago, who cares?

I'd rather be able to buy three videogames and my neighbor be able to buy 2 cars...  rather then me buy two videogame and him buy 1 car.

Really, the only way to lower the gini coefficent during times of prospeirty is to convince the rich to buy cheap, stupid things that are cheap to make.... or change society to be more charitable so that said money instead of going to rich buisnesses by the government.... it goes to charities that work to give to the poor in more "real" ways.  Even things like foodstamps don't really increase the gap.

Maybe we could convince the rich to buy poor peoples children.  Like I dunno for food or something.  (This is a reference to something by the way... an ironic use and refrence... but it's basically true.)

Edit: Ooooh good Idea.... get the rich addicted to games like TF2. 

It sells items and valve gives the creators a cut, the creators just being every day people who know how to model stuff.

I don't even care about shrinking the Gini coefficient.  I just want taxes to be high enough to pay for a safety net so I don't have to see my neighbors starve to death.  It's disgusting.  In cold cities like New York they actually freeze to death overnight, and if you're unlucky enough to be walking home at 4 or 5 in the morning you actually have to step over frozen dead humans.

I really don't care about the gap between the rich and the poor on its own.  As long as the poor can eat and not die, the rich can get as rich as they want and blow all their money on their stupid $100 cheeseburgers and $1000 pizzas and food with little bits of tasteless gold sprinkles in it.

And Glenn Beck responded to this on his radio show!  And he doesn't understand what "fair use" means!

As sad as it is... saftey nets aren't going to stop that sort of thing... they're barely going to put a dent in it.

The majority of people in need don't take advantage of what's there, even in countries with more saftey nets.

I think it's because of the nature of "Saftey nets" in that they are just that, a net where someone catches you.   Most people that low are too prideful to get the help they need.

I mean, you see those kind of homeless people on the street all the time, or at least I do.   The ones that try and sell you stuff, and when you give them money for free, they feel bad... they almost give it back, sometimes they try to and you have to convince them that it's ok.

A lot of people don't want a handout, they want to work for their living, or die trying unless you activly seek out and almost force them to go to a shelter or give them money.

A lot of other people are just ignorant of the options out there... afterall there is no "Citizens guidebook" you get nobody tells you where foodbanks are, how you apply for foodstamps, if you qualify, where to apply for energy vouchers... (which generally will pay for heating costs if you have a house or apartment)... where shelters are... etc.

Money isn't the problem the majority of the time.  It's education of programs and locations.

Glen Beck got so much worse. He used to be fairly reasonable, then he kind of went a bit nuts at some point in the last couple of years.

Also I'm mostly just impressed with how well that was made.

Yeah that's a good point.  This past year I was actually eligible for food stamps but too proud to get them.  They say that "people want roles instead of goals."  It's more important to feel like you're part of something important, even if it's not actually important.  Jobs are more important for confidence than money in that respect.

I've been painfully underemployed a few times, working part time at 2 jobs, going to school, and paying for groceries on a credit card.  Tried doing 3 shitty jobs at once for a whlie, but it just started to mess up my sleep and make me go crazy.  And that's when I start feeling like Donald Duck.  I can understand the appeal of pink-faced half-wits like Glenn Beck.

Education's really the answer to everything.

No amount of education will help, if that education is in an area no one wants.  I knew of a person with multiple degrees in theological studies that had to drive a school bus to pay the bills.  When the going is tough, and the options doesn't seem there, it is time for character, inspiration, and innovation, along with the heart to help that is needed, FAR more than just education.  Education tells you what is, not what will be.