I was just reading the convention speech of the Democratic candidate for president in 1896, William Jennings Bryan. In his speech ( http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354/ ) he says "There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it." So some Democrats had to counter this trickle down nonsense even back then.
As an aside, in the speech he says "we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world". Can you imagine a Democratic presidental nominee saying that today, even if by some miracle it was Bernie Sanders? It's impossible - the heirs, and rentiers, and LPs and VCs and "job creators" and other parasites on those of us who work and create wealth have gained too much control of the system. And for the past two weeks signs are around that it could be entering one of its periodic crackups.
The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous
Assuming that were even possible. Whether it is or not is a pretty big open question. More to the point, can you do it without needing the hammer of government sanctioned violence (or threat of violence).
I was just reading the convention speech of the Democratic candidate for president in 1896, William Jennings Bryan. In his speech ( http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354/ ) he says "There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it." So some Democrats had to counter this trickle down nonsense even back then.
As an aside, in the speech he says "we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world". Can you imagine a Democratic presidental nominee saying that today, even if by some miracle it was Bernie Sanders? It's impossible - the heirs, and rentiers, and LPs and VCs and "job creators" and other parasites on those of us who work and create wealth have gained too much control of the system. And for the past two weeks signs are around that it could be entering one of its periodic crackups.