Our system is rigged to favor thee rich, and that has led to many people not voting. A recent article in the Inquirer reported that voters in New Jersey feel they are more engaged now than before the election of 2016. But we cannot conclude that they are more engaged because they voted for Donald Trump or that they woke up and are promising themselves that the president cannot be given another term and so they have decided to become more engaged. The latter is certainly true of many Latinos, men and women we have interviewed since the 2016 election. And the involvement is not limited to people who are usually engaged in politics. People who did not participate actively in any campaign, are now offering to volunteer to register people, to drive them to the polls, and to explain to them the need to cast a vote. There are large numbers of Americas who never bothered too much with elections assuming that the same crooks get elected year after year and they cannot do anything to change the system.
The system is indeed rigged in favor of the big companies who at this point must be celebrating the ascent of Donald Trump to power and the benefits rained upon them. As we know the tax cut benefitted mostly the large corporations and billionaires. There is a long list of billionaire companies and individuals who have not paid a dime in taxes, something a small group of millionaires find absurd and they have banded together to ask for real tax reform in order to pay more. That kind of request is rather unusual and unexpected form people who take every legal step to avoid paying taxes. As a corollary to that idea, there is another one floating about concerning the fact that philanthropy would not be needed if the rich paid their taxes. Of course, at this moment that idea goes contrary to what Trump and every Republican is thinking. But someone has done the math and it leads to the conclusion that if the billions of dollars in the hands of the rich should be taxed properly and we would not need to sustain charities because the taxes would enough to support the system. But that is a big if, because the rich will make sure to hire more expensive lawyers to squash the idea of paying more taxes. The common response in the poll of New Jersey voters, concerning the question of an increased interest in civic engagement, is Donald Trump. If you are old and rich and didn’t finish High School you probably voted for Trump. Nick Cohen, who wrote a piece for The Guardian comments that Michael Dell, the corporate Tycoon, burst out laughing, when asked if, as the 39th richest man in the world, he should pay more tax.” He suggested that a 70% tax was ridiculous and it would not work. Well, it has worked, right here in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1970s rates were that high. It will never happen now, because greed is in the air in the age of Trump.
Editorial