Perhaps the title of this post is a little harsh as the stupidity is not particularly profound. As a matter of fact, the stupidity that Think Progress displays in this Twitter posting from November 20th is completely common.
First off, this is what we’d call a fallacy of false dilemma. The idea that believing in hard work and individual merit and believing in inheritance rights are mutually exclusive is ridiculous on its face. But there’s a much greater ignorance at work here.
The support of hard work and individual merit is actually stems from a support of free markets, as those two principles are keys success in such an economic environment. The bedrock of the free market is property rights. The adoption of a 100% inheritance tax would, to any thinking person, be a fundamental violation of property rights, as it assumes that upon death ones property reverts to state ownership rather than as they might have chosen to divvy it up while they were alive.
Understood this way, rather than being an indication of cognitive dissonance as Think Progress suggests it is, the belief in hard work and merit actually precludes the belief in a 100% inheritance tax.
Note: Before someone else points it out; yes, I’m well aware that assuming Think Progress’s tweets are generated by something other than a rhesus monkey mashing a keyboard with his fists is dangerous.
You’re such a moron, you don’t even get the point of their question.
Oh, really? I think I pretty much nailed it but if you know otherwise, why don’t you tell me what hidden gems I failed to unlock in Think Progress’s tweet? I mean, clearly you had much more to say but were in too great a rush to leave any indication of what the “point” I missed was. If you’d care to elaborate, I’d be glad to respond. If not, the above comment will forever remain a monument to your childishness. -Rizzuto
Oooo… you called me childish. Oooh… Maybe when I’m all grown up I can be a sheep like you and live in Glennbeckistan.
So I’m right to assume that you’re not going to elaborate on your original thesis which is that I missed the point of their question? Or is it that you can’t elaborate on it because it was BS?
So far you’ve called me a moron and a sheep but have yet to say anything of substance. -Rizzuto
Their point was: the people receiving the inheritance didn’t work for it. It’s a handout, so it contradicts the concept of hard work and individual merit.
Not only did I understand that that was their point, I explicitly explained it when I said, “…rather than being an indication of cognitive dissonance as Think Progress suggests it is…”
Maybe you should be more careful in your reading before you call people moron. -Rizzuto