1
2
3
| Wealth and Want | |||||||
| ... because democracy alone is not enough to produce widely shared prosperity. | |||||||
| Home | Essential Documents | Themes | All Documents | Authors | Glossary | Links | Contact Us |
The
rich get rich and the poor get poorer
You may not be old enough to remember the song http://www.bauaw.org/2004/12/bauaw-newsletter-tuesday-dec-28-2004.html AIN'T WE GOT FUN?
Words by Gus Kahn and Raymond B. Egan; Music by Richard Whiting,1921 http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/aintwegotfun.htm Bill collectors gather 'round and rather
haunt the cottage next door,
Men the grocer and butcher sent, Men who call for the rent. But within, a happy chappy, and his bride of only a year, Seem to be so cheerful, Here's an ear full of the chatter you hear: Ev'ry morning, Ev'ry evening, Ain't we got fun? Not much money, Oh but honey, Ain't We Got Fun? The rent's unpaid dear, We haven't a bus In the winter, in the summer, Don't we have fun? Times are bum and getting bummer, Still we have fun. There's nothing surer: The rich get rich and the poor get poorer In the meantime, In between time, Ain't we got fun? Just to make their trouble nearly double, Something happen'd last night. To their chimney a gray bird came, Mr. Stork is his name. And I'll bet two pins A pair of twins just happen'd in with the bird. Still they're very gay and merry, Just at dawning I heard: Ev'ry morning, Ev'ry evening, Don't we got fun? Twins and cares dear, come in pairs, dear, Don't we have fun? We've only started, As mommer and pop, Are we downhearted, I'll say that we're not! Landlords mad and getting madder, Ain't we got fun? Times are bad and getting badder, Still we have fun! There's nothing surer, The rich get rich and the poor get laid off In the meantime, In between time, Ain't we got fun? When the man who sold 'em carpets told 'em, He would take them away, They said "Wonderful! here's our chance! Take them up, and we'll dance!" And when burglars came and robb'd them Taking all their silver, they say. Hubby yell'd "We're famous, For they'll name us in the papers today!" Night or daytime, It's all playtime, Ain't we got fun? Hot or cold days, Any old days, Ain't we got fun? If wifie wishes, To go to a play, Don't wash the dishes, Just throw them away! Street car seats are awful narrow, Ain't we got fun? They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow, They've cut my wages, But my income tax will be so much smaller, When I'm paid off, I'll be laid off Winston Churchill: The People's Land Every
form of
enterprise only undertaken after the land monopolist has skimmed the
cream off for himself It does not matter where you
look or what examples you select, you will
see that every form of enterprise, every step in material progress, is
only undertaken after the land monopolist has skimmed the cream off for
himself, and everywhere today the man or the public body who wishes to
put land to its highest use is forced to pay a preliminary fine in land
values to the man who is putting it to an inferior use, and in some
cases to no use at all. All comes back to the land value, and its owner
for the time being is able to levy his toll upon all other forms of
wealth and upon every form of industry. A portion, in some cases the whole, of
every benefit which is laboriously acquired by the community is
represented in the land value, and finds its way automatically into the
landlord's pocket. If there is a rise in wages, rents are able
to move forward, because the workers can afford to pay a little more.
If the opening of a new railway or a new tramway or the institution of
an improved service of workmen's trains or a lowering of fares or a new
invention or any other public convenience affords a benefit to the
workers in any particular district, it becomes easier for them to live,
and therefore the landlord and the
ground landlord, one on top of the
other, are able to charge them more for the privilege of living there. ...
Read the whole piece
Clarence Darrow: How to Abolish Unfair Taxation (1913)
|
|
to
email this page to a friend: right click, choose "send"
|
||||||
Wealth
and Want
|
www.wealthandwant.com
|
|||||
... because democracy
alone hasn't yet led to a society in which all can
prosper
|
||||||