There They Go Again, Blaming Everyone Else In The U.S. First

Pity poor Diane Francis.

According to her above-link OpEd piece in The New York Post, she and her husband are something close to international heroes for their incredibly brave decision to buy a luxury condominium on Manhattan's 57th Street.  They're creating jobs!  They're adding tax revenue!  They're single-handedly saving New York City from the greedy commoners who have the nerve to question who is benefiting the most in a metropolis where the benefits of living are increasingly front-loaded for the 1%, and everyone else is asking how they're suppose to continue living in a city they can no longer afford!  Why, those greedy parasites scurrying about in the subways instead of limos should be grateful for their very existence.

She's missing the point.  And she's not alone.

As an immigration lawyer who helps investors with visas, I frankly have no problem whatsoever with helping the Diane Francises of the world invest in America.  I believe America is well worth investing in.  And there's no doubt that we need the additional revenue.

But let's be clear.  All of us pay taxes.  All of us contribute to the public fisc in more ways than one.  And, even in New York, the burdens do not fall exclusively, or even disproportionately, on those with high incomes.  In fact, when it comes to owning real estate in New York, those at the top of the economic house of cards we have built for ourselves benefit greatly from the rules that have been written for them, as this New York Daily News article shows.  Clearly, Mrs. Francis and her husband are far from dumb.  They may indeed "fork out at least $25,000 a year in property and sales taxes," but I'm inclined to suspect that this "sacrifice" will barely begin to compare to the ones that are being made the overwhelming majority of us.

And that is what's wrong with the system that's been built for the benefit of those at the top, based on the assumption that those at the top are the most essential economic players.  The truth is that their income is only possible because of our spending.  They are not supporting us; we are supporting them.  As Winwood Reade wrote in "The Martyrdom of Man," there is no wealth without industry.  And there is no industry without labor.  Or, to quote a truly great Republican President:  "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."  Thank you, Mr. Lincoln.

That is why Bill de Blasio is now Diane Francis' mayor.  He understands just how badly we have reversed Lincoln's understanding of the relative merits of capital and labor, and why he is determined to do something about it.

Enjoy life in the Big Apple, Mrs. Francis.  It's a city that's filled with heroes.  But buying overvalued real estate does not make you one of them.