"We can either have democracy in this country or we can
have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." -- Louis Brandeis

Legend has it that Robin Hood was motivated by principle when he decided he would rob the rich and give to the poor.  The Enron, Tyco, Worldcom types have made me more and more skeptical, so now I wonder if Robin just accepted the economic realities that robbing the poor is a colossal waste of time.  As for the giving to the poor, I think we better see the receipts or get some testimonials. Click on the picture at left to access a site on the Robin Hood legend.    I think that's Friar Tuck in the soup.  I can't remember all the details      about the tall stranger. Click on the Robin Hood link above to find another  Robin Hood site.   It mentions that Robin and the Merry Men may have had some homosexual connections.   That's news to me, though I have been concerned about sexual harassment and persistent questions about whether Robin Maid Marion.    Maid Marion is an interesting graphic link, but appears to go nowhere? Email me if you figure out something about Maid Marion.

But, things have changed with regard to robbing the poor.   It turns out that if you can get control of the tax code, you can rob the poor and make it pay.    Need proof?   Okey dokey, look at the increase in wealth of the really wealthy over the past 40 years and especially since the Reagan years.  Here's an article from NYU Economics Professor Edward Wolff.  Here's another article, same result, great graphics. Watch and listen for the screaming when anyone calls for increase in the top rates of income taxation.  Hubris has been defined as a person who kills his parents, then begs a court for mercy because he is an orphan.   I think the definition fits for wealthy folks who complain about their taxes.  Want a sample of the screaming?

Want to think about the very way we measure the national economy?   There's a problem.  We use a measurement known as GDP or "gross domestic product."   We used to call this GNP or gross national product.   A group from the Bay Area - Redefining Progress - has suggested we use a measurement they call GPI or "genuine progress indicator."   So why should we make a change like that?   Well, according to GDP measurement, the Exxon Valdez grounding was the most successful oil shipment in history.   It created all kinds of economic activity, cleanup, legal fees, law suits, etc.   GDP is blind to whether economic activity relates to progress or great suffering.   If you think a year where your basement floods, the roof blows off your house, you wreck your car, break your arm, undergo physical therapy to rehabilitate the arm, and are sued for divorce and child support by your spouse is a great year, then the GDP is for you! 

Here's an interesting article that says the two fastest growing parts of the California building industry are gated communities and prisons.   It's an interesting read.  I haven't figured out what it has to do with the Food Revolution?

Here's the definitive site for an overview of wealth, taxes - all of that stuff we are to render unto Ceasar or George III or whoever is wearing the crown these days.  United for a Fair Economy, 

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