Saint John Edwards is now famous for his depiction of two Americas–the well-to-do who get all that they need and those who have to struggle to get by. Because Edwards is clearly not pleading for himself but for those in the “other America,” his appeal seems to be much more genuine. But in fact when we observe the real two Americas we realize that Edwards is speaking in the interest of his own ruling class.
The real two Americas are divided between the taxpayers and the tax consumers. In other words it is divided between those who depend on the coercive transfer of resources generated by productivity in the private sector for their livelihood and those in the private sector who generate that productivity. When viewed this way Kerry and Edwards are on the same side of the two Americas divide as those who will more overtly benefit from the government expansions that they advocate. They are part of the class whose power and livelihood depends on the coercive reallocation of the productivity of others.
