Filmmaker and entrepreneur Tyler Perry is a billionaire. His Atlanta studios receive massive tax write-offs, premised on the idea that his success will inspire others. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a liberal version of trickle-down economics.
This is the first I’ve heard of him “pretending” that he’s lifting up black people of Atlanta. I’ve read the article and didn’t see anything that supports that claim. Where is it coming from?
The article basically says: ‘Tyler Perry bought property in a low income area of Atlanta and it hasn’t single-handedly fixed income inequality. See! Liberals support trickle down economics too!’
Just because you haven’t heard about it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Two of those links are to his own website that he has to promote himself.
Also, neoliberal or not, Tyler Perry is deeply conservative in many ways, including his focus on self-glorifying private charity over supporting the many public programs and NGOs that are much more effective at alleviating poverty like he’s claiming to attempt.
Those are all examples of him donating to charity and helping people which is the opposite of pretending.
And why are you referring to him as a neoliberal? The article mentioned liberals in the American politics context. Which has nothing to do with neoliberalism.
Just because he chose to donate to charity doesn’t mean he ‘chose it over supporting public programs’.
I’ve donated to charity before. Does that mean I am I neoliberal that is deeply conservative etc, etc? Nope. I just wanted to help and if that wasn’t the most effective way to help then I just didn’t know of a better way.
Liberal = neoliberalism. Democrats are neolibs, self identified liberals and most “progressives” are neolibs that don’t understand what neoliberalism is. Political conversations at the very least need to come from a mutual understanding of what words mean, and liberal is a pretty important one in the context of this conversation.
Also, philanthropy is a scam. The only thing Tyler Perry is helping is his PR, like every other rich person that “uplifts their community”. Its a farce to trick people like you into being more content with the status quo. I will agree that singling out Tyler Perry here is an odd move because he isn’t doing anything unique, but that’s about it
You’re trying to claim that the article is using the definition of neoliberalism when referring to liberals in American politics? That’s observably false. Just look at the context.
The article tries to spin this as a “gotcha” because those who American Conservatives call “liberals” in American politics campaign against trickle down economics.
Do neoliberals campaign against trickle down economics? Nope.
Reaganomics pushed trickle down economics in the 80s and was neoliberal to the core.
American Conservative’s use of “Liberal” ≠ neoliberalism
The headline does a poor job of establishing context. The article has it, but the headline should’ve been along the lines of “Despite the recent feel good biopic about him, his wealth isn’t helping everyday Atlanta residents”.
Without that context it feels very unusual, and even with that context, I can’t say that I agree this is newsworthy. He was born poor, and he made his money by directing and starring in movies. Becoming a billionaire from that is infinitely more moral than making a giant corporation off the backs of minimum wage employees.
I’m sure he’s done things worth criticizing and could afford to pay workers at his studio more. But in the grand scheme of things, are they really worth this much time and effort when there’s vastly more egregious shitheads out there? Why waste your time with someone who actually is trying to give back when you have Musk as the perfect poster child of why billionaires should be taxed at 100%?
Becoming a billionaire creating little value for the average person is better than a CEO that can provide employment for thousands of people. Seriously?
Actually I think the arts are as important as any other job but get serious if you think that means they are a better person than a CEO.
What if those thousands of jobs don’t pay a living wage? While Perry might not provide as much convenience as Amazon, he certainly hasn’t fucked over as many workers either. I’d wager most rich musicians are far more moral than business tycoons. Taylor Swift famously paid $100k to truckers for tours and covered all the healthcare expenses too I believe for all the tour workers.
When it comes to what they provide, Perry doesn’t put a single morsel of food on the majority of the people he interacts with. I bet the CEO of exon, who makes under 10 million a year, pays some wages far more than the 100k Taylor Swift pays along with all kinds of medical coverage. And Taylor Swift is likely making some 100 million a year for likely less work.
Not only is Taylor Swift making 10 times the wages, she pays less overall wages and supports likely only a few hundred people.
The CEO of exon makes one tenth her wage, employees 1000s of people, likely many over that 100k a year and benefits, and he likely works more hours.
Let me tell you some things about Exxon. They easily employ over 1000, probably closer to 10,000. It’s like a nation state of its own in some ways. The engineers certainly all make over 100k and nice medical benefits and a 401k match – but they’re exploited labor all the same. They’ll suspend the 401k match and fire a third of the work force, and ask you to take on double the work to compensate while being paid less. They’ll say they’re based on science and facts, and then demand people come into the office vs WFH for no reason other than butts in chairs, and no actual benefits. They’ll send internal emails to remind you that “blue lives matter” when there are ongoing racial injustice protests, and bring over a senator running for reelection to give them free advertising during a town hall. They’ll say they care about sustainability and global warming, and then fight tooth and nail against any actual, significant changes to that end.
The engineers on the other hand, they’re truly amazing people. They care about sustainability changes. They care about their coworkers. They’re exceptionally brilliant. And they’re just treated like cogs in the machine. Expendable, and they’re always looking for lower cost cogs. The workplace will drive you to the point that you realize you have mental health issues and need to go to therapy. And if those mental health issues get in the way of your with, you’re “put on a performance plan” for having low performance , even during a pandemic.
As you’ve probably guessed, I previously worked for good ol daddy Darren. A lot of my colleagues who were also young working professionals have since left the company too. And some of my friends who are still there don’t have much love for the company either.
I don’t know where I was going with this, you got me on a bit of a tangent I suppose. Just know that they don’t pay enough for the bullshit they put you through, and they don’t value their employees nearly as much as they should.
What if he is doing good things like donating to charities and investing in low income communities and Republicans try to spin it as a bad thing to claim Democrats are as bad as the Republican Party?
Is it just the opposite? Is he actively hindering the black people of Atlanta? Is he doing something differently than all the other wealthy people in GA? If not then I don’t see why he alone is called out here.
Well he famously sued the IRS and got $9m out of that. Pretty sure lots of public programs needed those 9 millions more than a guy who already have more than a thousand millions.
All obscenely wealthy people are contributing to poverty through pathological hoarding of resources best used elsewhere. Other people doing it too doesn’t absolve Perry from his complicity.
As for why he’s being singled out, it’s probably because every other time he’s mentioned, the press fawns over his charity and he’s constantly promoting it himself. Even got at least one award for it.
I don’t have any details about him suing the IRS but I do know that you don’t win a lawsuit against the IRS without a strong case so he probably had a strong case. If they overcharged him $9,000,000 in taxes or something then he shouldn’t have to pay it just like the rest of us shouldn’t have to overpay our taxes. I’m sure the Pentagon could have found plenty of ways to vanish that money but they seem to be doing just fine without it.
I’ve never claimed anything of the kind. Still, that more and more of the world’s income and wealth are concentrated with just a few rich people while the rest gets poorer and poorer is a fact so well-known that you’d have to be wilfully ignorant to not be aware of it.
No. Back when all wealth was physically represented like the caricature your strawman is claiming, wealth and income concentration and inequality was much less severe than it is now. That you can’t differentiate between the hoard of Smaug and the hoard of Musk isn’t my fault.
That you can’t differentiate between the hoard of Smaug and the hoard of Musk isn’t my fault.
This isn’t how wealth works, so I’m pretty good at differentiating between them.
Did you mean to say “if I can’t see the similarities between them?” You’d still be just as incorrect, factually, but the sentence would make more sense.
I think the text tries to make the point that it doesn’t work not because but despite him being black. The argument Perry and others make in this case is not one in the form of material benefits but rather moral ones. A member of a marginalized group makes it big, which is supposed to inspire others from this group. The point is that this form of trickle down economics works just as badly as the “regular” one, which is hardly at all.
It doesn’t work because, as pointed out by another commenter, wealth does not “trickle down”. It only accumulates. This has been demonstrated to be a basic function of wealth and the minute you begin to think about it, it becomes obvious that having more resources makes it easier to gather more resources.
Yeah it feels kinda weird to single him out in a way that insinuates it’s because he’s black…
I think it’s more about the fact that he’s pretending that he’s lifting up the black people of Atlanta when in reality it’s the opposite.
Just like with every other billionaire pretending to be a philanthropic force in the world.
This is the first I’ve heard of him “pretending” that he’s lifting up black people of Atlanta. I’ve read the article and didn’t see anything that supports that claim. Where is it coming from?
The article basically says: ‘Tyler Perry bought property in a low income area of Atlanta and it hasn’t single-handedly fixed income inequality. See! Liberals support trickle down economics too!’
This seems like it’s written in bad faith.
Just because you haven’t heard about it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Two of those links are to his own website that he has to promote himself.
Also, neoliberal or not, Tyler Perry is deeply conservative in many ways, including his focus on self-glorifying private charity over supporting the many public programs and NGOs that are much more effective at alleviating poverty like he’s claiming to attempt.
Those are all examples of him donating to charity and helping people which is the opposite of pretending.
And why are you referring to him as a neoliberal? The article mentioned liberals in the American politics context. Which has nothing to do with neoliberalism.
Just because he chose to donate to charity doesn’t mean he ‘chose it over supporting public programs’.
I’ve donated to charity before. Does that mean I am I neoliberal that is deeply conservative etc, etc? Nope. I just wanted to help and if that wasn’t the most effective way to help then I just didn’t know of a better way.
Ok, you clearly don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. We’re done here.
If that’s true then explain why you think so.
Liberal = neoliberalism. Democrats are neolibs, self identified liberals and most “progressives” are neolibs that don’t understand what neoliberalism is. Political conversations at the very least need to come from a mutual understanding of what words mean, and liberal is a pretty important one in the context of this conversation.
Also, philanthropy is a scam. The only thing Tyler Perry is helping is his PR, like every other rich person that “uplifts their community”. Its a farce to trick people like you into being more content with the status quo. I will agree that singling out Tyler Perry here is an odd move because he isn’t doing anything unique, but that’s about it
You’re trying to claim that the article is using the definition of neoliberalism when referring to liberals in American politics? That’s observably false. Just look at the context.
The article tries to spin this as a “gotcha” because those who American Conservatives call “liberals” in American politics campaign against trickle down economics.
Do neoliberals campaign against trickle down economics? Nope.
Reaganomics pushed trickle down economics in the 80s and was neoliberal to the core.
American Conservative’s use of “Liberal” ≠ neoliberalism
Just because he is black doesn’t mean he gets a free ride. If he is doing a shitty think like any other race, then he should get called out.
The headline does a poor job of establishing context. The article has it, but the headline should’ve been along the lines of “Despite the recent feel good biopic about him, his wealth isn’t helping everyday Atlanta residents”.
Without that context it feels very unusual, and even with that context, I can’t say that I agree this is newsworthy. He was born poor, and he made his money by directing and starring in movies. Becoming a billionaire from that is infinitely more moral than making a giant corporation off the backs of minimum wage employees.
I’m sure he’s done things worth criticizing and could afford to pay workers at his studio more. But in the grand scheme of things, are they really worth this much time and effort when there’s vastly more egregious shitheads out there? Why waste your time with someone who actually is trying to give back when you have Musk as the perfect poster child of why billionaires should be taxed at 100%?
Becoming a billionaire creating little value for the average person is better than a CEO that can provide employment for thousands of people. Seriously?
Actually I think the arts are as important as any other job but get serious if you think that means they are a better person than a CEO.
What if those thousands of jobs don’t pay a living wage? While Perry might not provide as much convenience as Amazon, he certainly hasn’t fucked over as many workers either. I’d wager most rich musicians are far more moral than business tycoons. Taylor Swift famously paid $100k to truckers for tours and covered all the healthcare expenses too I believe for all the tour workers.
When it comes to what they provide, Perry doesn’t put a single morsel of food on the majority of the people he interacts with. I bet the CEO of exon, who makes under 10 million a year, pays some wages far more than the 100k Taylor Swift pays along with all kinds of medical coverage. And Taylor Swift is likely making some 100 million a year for likely less work.
Not only is Taylor Swift making 10 times the wages, she pays less overall wages and supports likely only a few hundred people.
The CEO of exon makes one tenth her wage, employees 1000s of people, likely many over that 100k a year and benefits, and he likely works more hours.
Let me tell you some things about Exxon. They easily employ over 1000, probably closer to 10,000. It’s like a nation state of its own in some ways. The engineers certainly all make over 100k and nice medical benefits and a 401k match – but they’re exploited labor all the same. They’ll suspend the 401k match and fire a third of the work force, and ask you to take on double the work to compensate while being paid less. They’ll say they’re based on science and facts, and then demand people come into the office vs WFH for no reason other than butts in chairs, and no actual benefits. They’ll send internal emails to remind you that “blue lives matter” when there are ongoing racial injustice protests, and bring over a senator running for reelection to give them free advertising during a town hall. They’ll say they care about sustainability and global warming, and then fight tooth and nail against any actual, significant changes to that end.
The engineers on the other hand, they’re truly amazing people. They care about sustainability changes. They care about their coworkers. They’re exceptionally brilliant. And they’re just treated like cogs in the machine. Expendable, and they’re always looking for lower cost cogs. The workplace will drive you to the point that you realize you have mental health issues and need to go to therapy. And if those mental health issues get in the way of your with, you’re “put on a performance plan” for having low performance , even during a pandemic.
As you’ve probably guessed, I previously worked for good ol daddy Darren. A lot of my colleagues who were also young working professionals have since left the company too. And some of my friends who are still there don’t have much love for the company either.
I don’t know where I was going with this, you got me on a bit of a tangent I suppose. Just know that they don’t pay enough for the bullshit they put you through, and they don’t value their employees nearly as much as they should.
What if he is doing good things like donating to charities and investing in low income communities and Republicans try to spin it as a bad thing to claim Democrats are as bad as the Republican Party?
What should we do then?
Because that is what is happening.
Is it just the opposite? Is he actively hindering the black people of Atlanta? Is he doing something differently than all the other wealthy people in GA? If not then I don’t see why he alone is called out here.
Well he famously sued the IRS and got $9m out of that. Pretty sure lots of public programs needed those 9 millions more than a guy who already have more than a thousand millions.
All obscenely wealthy people are contributing to poverty through pathological hoarding of resources best used elsewhere. Other people doing it too doesn’t absolve Perry from his complicity.
As for why he’s being singled out, it’s probably because every other time he’s mentioned, the press fawns over his charity and he’s constantly promoting it himself. Even got at least one award for it.
I don’t have any details about him suing the IRS but I do know that you don’t win a lawsuit against the IRS without a strong case so he probably had a strong case. If they overcharged him $9,000,000 in taxes or something then he shouldn’t have to pay it just like the rest of us shouldn’t have to overpay our taxes. I’m sure the Pentagon could have found plenty of ways to vanish that money but they seem to be doing just fine without it.
This isn’t how wealth works. Rich people don’t have Scrooge McDuck vaults, because then they’d get poorer every day
I’ve never claimed anything of the kind. Still, that more and more of the world’s income and wealth are concentrated with just a few rich people while the rest gets poorer and poorer is a fact so well-known that you’d have to be wilfully ignorant to not be aware of it.
This is you making that claim.
No. Back when all wealth was physically represented like the caricature your strawman is claiming, wealth and income concentration and inequality was much less severe than it is now. That you can’t differentiate between the hoard of Smaug and the hoard of Musk isn’t my fault.
This isn’t how wealth works, so I’m pretty good at differentiating between them.
Did you mean to say “if I can’t see the similarities between them?” You’d still be just as incorrect, factually, but the sentence would make more sense.
I think the text tries to make the point that it doesn’t work not because but despite him being black. The argument Perry and others make in this case is not one in the form of material benefits but rather moral ones. A member of a marginalized group makes it big, which is supposed to inspire others from this group. The point is that this form of trickle down economics works just as badly as the “regular” one, which is hardly at all.
It doesn’t work because, as pointed out by another commenter, wealth does not “trickle down”. It only accumulates. This has been demonstrated to be a basic function of wealth and the minute you begin to think about it, it becomes obvious that having more resources makes it easier to gather more resources.