Unfortunately, it’s taken a terribly misguided, albeit revealing turn towards “makers versus takers.”

What’s misguided about it?  It misses the dynamics of real lives in America and instead, creates a false and divisive framework.  Were we to accept this framework and try to embed it in our economic policy, our nation would be the worse for it.

The implication is that one group—the makers—is supporting the well-being of another—the takers.  Moreover, since the takers don’t pay taxes—they just take government benefits—they are endlessly incentivized to support politicians who keep their Ponzi scheme going.  When conservatives say “we’re reaching a tipping point” they mean that the takers will soon be a larger electoral block than the makers, at which point the former only have to get up from their well-worn sofas once a year to vote for their facilitator-in-chief who pledges to keep the transfer checks coming.

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