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Xavier Lewis's avatar

That develops your earlier point about the lack of compassion and empathy in modern political discourse. Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird were forcibly removed from the curriculum by a Tory Minister of Education in England (Michael Gove) because they were "irrelevant" to the lives of English youth. I guess compassion for the poor has no place in the social narrative of a Conservative government that considers the poor to be feckless scroungers. Similarly, the struggles of single-parenthood, overcoming racism, and fighting for justice have little attraction for a government that labels human rights lawyers as obstructive lefties.

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Michael Shurkin's avatar

Funny, in school I was made to read Dickens, Chaucer, Woolf, etc. etc. English. Honestly, I'm grateful.

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Gary Phillips's avatar

Re: the rich - "They don't pay taxes." Please explain.

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Michael Shurkin's avatar

They are able to avail themselves of tax shelters and loopholes, in part bc they can afford to hire clever tax lawyers who are expert in gaming a system that's opaque by design. Just see Trump, who either pays no taxes or pays less than I.

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Gary Phillips's avatar

Understood. On the other hand, "the rich" pay a much higher share of taxes than they receive in income. Perspective, please? And, I'm not trying to start an argument or take a cheap shot. I'm interested in a different point of view, so I'm asking.

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