Ah, but who actually forced King John to sign? It wasn't the common man. They were the ones who did all the fighting, yes, but it was the barons, with the support of the wealthy merchants. So any 'rights' accruing to the common man were more or less a 'gift' from those wealthy barons. And unless I'm mistaken, the American Bill of Rights, which are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, were also developed by the wealthy merchants and politicians, the ruling classes, and primarily concerned the rights of landowners. This is probably simplified, but you get the idea.
Sorry, but there have been several people here who have stated quite bluntly that they would like to see money taken from the rich and given to the poor. Not by increasing their education levels, or through better work environments, but by giving them entitlements, trying to raise them up to a level to equal the wealthy.As regards equality, nobody is seeking equal wealth not even communistis. People seek equal opportunites, to raise the standard of the poor to eradicate poverty and to make the difference in wealth fairer.
That's probably because we in the middle class know that, regardless of how the money is distributed, we're unlikely to see any of it. Look into how many government programs the middle class can't qualify for because we own our own homes, or we have a little money saved. Yet supposedly 'poor' people who have spent all of their money on luxuries, such as expensive clothing, expensive jewelry, expensive entertainment systems, will qualify for those programs just because they are frivolous with their money. That's not 'leveling the road', that's catering to stupidity. I have worked with people, who made as much or more than I, who complained bitterly about not being able to get by, yet they were living in a high-rent apartment, driving higher-end vehicles and spending obscene amounts of their paychecks in bars and nightclubs every week. Why should the wealthy, or I, have to pay to support their wasteful lifestyles?But the loadest complaints about wealth spreading comes from the middle and upper middle classes. Yes they work for their money but they moan about how they "work hard" as if other workers dont. I don't know about you but I would rather have hard work in the air conditioned office with executive lunches than the easy life working down the mines or at MacDonalds.
This is about the most intelligent comment I've seen here, and it's been said many times by many of us. Relying on career politicians who haven't even tried to make a go of it in the real world is what's brought us to this point. What makes anyone think that relying on them to fix it will make anything better?The problem is the inept politicans make a balls of it and are so inefficient such that people pay too much tax for the services received. If governments worked like companies they wouild all be bankrupt and the leaders in jail.