ES EN
Menu Menú

Publications

Publicaciones

Search Publications

Buscar publicaciones

Filters Filtro de búsqueda

to a

clear selection Quitar los filtros

none

Article Artículo

Robert Samuelson Says We Should Seize Bill Gates' Software Copyrights

In his column today he noted the need to seize Bill Gates property, telling readers:

"Copyrights were once thought to be legally and politically impregnable."

Okay, we know Robert Samuelson would never advocate policies that hurt the rich. He actually said "pension benefits were once thought to be legally and politically impregnable," as he celebrated pension cuts in Rhode Island and Illinois, along with the prospect of further cuts in Detroit and Chicago.

There is no doubt what is going on here, Samuelson tells us in his sentence:

"We are locked in a generational war, which will get worse before it gets better."

Samuelson is saying this in the context of a country that has seen the most massive upward redistribution of income in the history of the world over the last three decades, with the richest one percent of the population getting close to half of the income gains over this period. But Samuelson doesn't want people to pay attention to all the money going upwards, he wants them to focus on the money going to seniors, even when it means seizing their property.

The pensions, whose cuts Samuelson celebrates, are part of workers' pay. They already put in the time expecting that the government would follow through on its part of the deal. From a legal or ethical standpoint it is difficult to see a better argument for taking away workers' pensions than taking away Microsoft's claim to a copyright on Windows. Hey, it would be unfortunate, but if we're really broke, maybe the money going to Microsoft in licensing fees should be going instead to the government. After all, much of the system was developed with public funding anyhow.

The crassness of Samuelson's effort to pit young against old, while concealing the role of the rich, should be apparent to all readers. He gives us the usual story:

"The elderly’s interests are running roughshod over other national concerns. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — programs heavily for the retired — dominate the budget, accounting for about 44 percent of spending, and have been largely excluded from deficit-reduction measures."

Of course people paid for their Social Security and Medicare benefits. Social Security is a pension and insurance system run through the government. The elderly are entitled to these benefits in the same way that rich bondholders are entitled to millions of dollars of interest payments on their bonds. They paid for them. 

Dean Baker / December 09, 2013