Afternoon Must-Read: Paul Krugman: The Rhetoric of: “You’re a Loser!”

Paul Krugman: You’re All Losers:

The other day someone… asked an interesting question: when did it become so common to disparage anyone who hasn’t made it big, hasn’t gotten rich, as a “loser”? Well, that’s actually a question we can answer, using Google Ngrams… the term “losers” has become much more common since the 1960s. And I think this word usage reflects something real — a growing contempt for the little people… not limited to Republican politicians. Still, it’s striking how unable they are to show any empathy…. The most famous example, of course, is Mitt Romney, who didn’t just disparage 47 percent of the nation; he urged everyone to borrow money from their parents and start a business. I still think the most revealing example to date was Eric Cantor, who marked Labor Day by tweeting:

Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.

But Marco Rubio’s latest speech deserves at least honorable mention, for the airy way he dismissed the idea of raising the minimum wage: “Raising the minimum wage may poll well, but having a job that pays $10 an hour is not the American dream.”…

OK, I know what the answer will be: conservative policies will lead to economic growth, and that will raise all boats, the way it did in the days of Saint Ronald. Except, you know, it didn’t….

So what is the GOP agenda to help people who aren’t going to build businesses and get rich? There isn’t one — partly because they really can’t reconcile any real agenda with their overall ideology, but also because, deep in their hearts, they consider ordinary people trying hard to get by a bunch of losers.