And he does it with humor and keen observations of the 'stupid stuff' we tell ourselves, as working class Americans.
{... Obligatory 'Course Language' warning ...}
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Wealth Gap (HBO)
Link to video
posted by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
America now has a system where wealth is essentially dispersed as a lottery of birth and maybe the reason we seem to accept that is that even though we know the odds are stacked against us, we all think we're going to win the lottery.
And watch out! for those who talk about
"Class Warfare"
-- because we all know, THEY want to
'steal your future' opportunity to
WIN that Wealth Lottery.
And that's what America's about -- is Winning!
HBO’s Oliver: ‘America is a System Where Wealth is Dispersed as a Lottery of Birth’
by Connor Williams | July 14, 2014
[...]
The relevant portion of the transcript is below.
HBO
Last Week Tonight
July 13, 2014
11:13 p.m. Eastern
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC Nightly News: A new analysis shows the richest Americans, the top 1%, made nearly 20% of all the available income in America last year. That's the widest income gap since the roaring 20s.
JOHN OLIVER, host: Okay, nothing ominous there then! The roaring 20s were famously the party that never ended. That's what made the 30s so great, just more 20s. And the thing is, income inequality affects everyone. It can actually hinder overall growth. And just to be clear, income inequality is by no means just an American problem. Globalization and technology means the gap is rising all over the developed world. It's just rising faster here. In fact, in the United States, the income ratio between our richest and poorest 10% is now 16-1. At this point the rich are just running up the score. If our economy was a little league game, someone would have called it by now. But what sets America apart is that, in this time, we've actively introduced policies disproportionately benefitting the wealthy. Like cutting income tax and capital gains tax rates for the richest in half. As well as that weird tax rebate for orgies with fancy eyes wide shut masks. The password is fidelio. You would think, you would think in a democracy, policies that benefit very few people at the expense of very many would not be able to succeed. But they have. And I think the reason for that may lie somewhere in Americas greatest quality: optimism. It’s basically in how susceptible Americans are to this:
MARCO RUBIO, Senator (R–Florida): We have never been a nation of haves and have-nots. We are a nation of haves and soon-to-haves, of people who have made it and people who will make it.
OLIVER: Yes – I mean no! Hold on! That sounds great. The problem is, it makes no sense. Economically, mathematically, or even grammatically. And yet we believe him. We believe him and there's a poll that I think explains why. A few months ago, Pew Research revealed that 65% of Americans believe the wealth gap is increasing. And 60% believe our system unfairly favors the wealthy. But, and here’s the key, 60% also believe that most people who work hard enough can make it. Or in other words, yeah, I can clearly see this game is rigged which is going to make it so sweet when I win this thing. Whoo! And it’s good, that’s a good thing. That optimism is one of the things I love the most about this country. I love that you line up around the block for TV talent shows for talents you objectively don't have and everyone feels bad when a person who is inevitably and revealingly British does this to you.
{... several bits about the "Federal Estate Tax" and how we 'act against our own best interests' when we try to get rid it -- even though it's a Tax that does not apply to 99% of us. ...}
OLIVER: And also, lets be clear. The existence of an estate tax has not prevented Americans from passing on a fuck load of wealth. Of the billionaires on the Forbes 400, 71 inherited their fortune, and another 56 inherited at least a portion of it. That's nearly a third of the list. And our habit of handing money down from generation to generation perpetuates another disparity. Perhaps explaining why, of the Forbes 400, only .25% are African-American. And to answer your question, yes, it's Oprah. Oprah's the person. You're right. Good guess. Good guess. America now has a system where wealth is essentially dispersed as a lottery of birth and maybe the reason we seem to accept that is that even though we know the odds are stacked against us, we all think we're going to win the lottery.
[...]
John Oliver ends the American Wealth Lottery rant with a strong object lesson, with 2 different Lottery Drawing machines, on set:
One with 3 numbered balls in it; and the other with several hundred in it.
I leave it you to guess -- as to which "Wealth Machine" that only the Top 1% get to use ...
Enjoy!