Matt, I think you raise some valid points, but you come across as an arse. This detracts from the intellectual validity of your arguments.
One of the things you find if you care to look past labels such as Socialism, or as you prefer, 'Lefties' is that poorer people tend to care more about the people around them than wealthy people do. Wealthier people tend to be more focused on themselves, their family, and their firm than their community. These are generalisations, true, but they drive the behaviours that you describe. People thinking solely about their own situation, you might describe as free thinkers and intelligent, whereas you label those who have a different perspective with a demeaning title such as Sheeple. (Or, it may be that demeaning other people makes you feel temporarily superior, I don't know). People who care only about themselves will often forgo children to "get ahead" in their careers. In my opinion, this shows a lack of the intelligence you claim for them, as unless they are doing it for themselves, they're being cruelly exploited by the truly wealthy with the lure of success.
To assert that poor people are less intelligent or uglier than the wealthy is laughable at best and insulting in reality, and smacks of eugenics. My children went to private schools and I can tell you that there were some remarkably stupid and/or ugly children (and parents) at those schools. I'm a self-made man from an "underclass" background and according to your theory, there's no way my daughter would have been proxime accessit at the most prestigious girl's school in this country. I, as a now relatively well-off man, would also be expected to eschew any notions of wacky leftiness so that I don't become a Sheeple. On the contrary, I am a firm believer that we need to look after one another as a society, and that selfishness, narcissism, and a 'greed is good' mentality is what builds divisions and divisiveness in societies. Thankfully there are still lots of intelligent people having children - even if they don't fit into the social strata you'd expect them to.
I agree with you that people are not born the same. However, people also get different opportunities in life. I started out in your fiscal underclass but was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time more than once, and worked really hard to achieve what I wanted to. Other people I know made bad choices or didn't get a choice, and thereby are less well off financially but are not necessarily less happy. You seem to be stuck in this 'poor people are dumb, and dumb people are lefties' mentality. I challenge you to look harder. Loads of dumb people buy into capitalism, and loads of very dumb people buy into extreme 'right wing' ideology.
I also see a different outcome to what you term a growth in Socialism. What you really describe is a growth in inequality, and historically when inequality gets too great bad things happen to the wealthy.
To your final gripe (about this forum), I think you miss the point entirely. This is definitely a technology issue, and perhaps the most important technology issue of our time. That is why it is right and proper that those with an interest should comment.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
