Stick It to the Rich

I have a theory that politics, when it really boils down to it, is basically just two groups of people who argue over who should get to consume the production of society. Marx and Obama supporters call it the have's and the have not's. Some would call it the leftists vs. fascists. Others would call it the producers and the parasites. Regardless of what you want to call them, politics as far as I've read and seen throughout history is about one group of people finding a way to take what others have.

But what I find particularly interesting in today's Western democracies is that the "have nots/leftists/parasites" act as if the "haves/nazibushloverfascists/producers" don't already transfer a significant sum of their earnings to the have not group. That they don't get a dime from the richer classes. Or that the rich don't pay taxes at all, they have those always-available "loop-holes," and not only that, but they actively engage in oppressing the poorer classes just for sh!t's and giggles (which I know I do, actually the Republican party has a quota of poor people you must oppress if you want to join the party, you get bonus points if they are of a minority race or religion)

Regardless, what ultimately made me choose sides in this simplified political landscape was one simple thing;

Fact.

Specifically, statistics that show you, among other things, just how much people are taxed and where the government spends the money.

One would think this would be the MINIMUM amount of fiscal stewardship a citizen of a democracy (or republic) would do to determine what is in the best fiscal interests of the country they are ultimately responsible for. Sadly, one cannot attribute that bare minimum of concern for one's country to the majority of Obama supporters because without verifying the facts, they'll just go and knee-jerk response;

"The rich don't pay their fair share."

"The rich use loopholes to avoid paying taxes."

"The rich poke baby koala bears with sharp sticks." (which you also get bonus points for)

When the reality, the cold hard truth of the matter is the rich in the US and practically all western democracies are the most charitable people in the history of the world;



Of course there is more to a political campaign and platform than just fiscal policy. But my question would be would anybody of the lefter leaning ideologies vote for Obama if he said he wasn't going to tax the rich? And on the same coin, would anybody of the righter leaning ideologies vote for McCain if he said he was going to tax the rich?

If you think about it, you'll see just how simple politics is.