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Envy and common sense

If class is America’s “forbidden thought”, and not even the left has been strongly driven by economic egalitarianism, is it a tactical error for Mr Obama to keep calling on millionaires and billionaires, hedge-fund managers, the owners of corporate jets and other assorted fat cats to pay higher taxes in hard times? It is certainly misleading of him to imply that America will be able to tame its deficit and protect entitlements by raising taxes on the rich alone: the maths suggests that the middle class will have to pay too. But that does not make it bad politics. America is not so exceptional that its people are impervious to the sin of envy, or to commonsensical notions about what is fair. A Gallup poll published on September 20th found that those who supported raising the taxes of the rich outnumbered opponents by 66% to 32%.
Besides, American politics is not as free of class as politicians think. It is often said that Americans do not choose between parties for mainly economic reasons. This is a myth. Larry Bartels, a political scientist who defines class by income rather than education, concluded in his 2008 book, “Unequal Democracy”, that “traditional class politics is alive and well” in America. His data show that the Republicans are in general the party of the rich and Democrats the party of the poor. Bill Clinton steered clear of class politics, especially in his second term when he moved sharply to the centre. But in 2000 Al Gore injected a strongly populist tone into his campaign. “They’re for the powerful, we’re for the people,” he said in accepting the Democratic presidential nomination. And, pace Mr Kazin, the left has just scored a gigantic victory in the form of the health-insurance subsidies that the poor will receive from Mr Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

A. 어휘
Envy 부러움, 질투, 羨望(선망). egalitarianism 평등주의.
tactical 전술적인. calling on 요구하다. corporate jets 회사 제트비행기.
assorted 분류된. hedge-fund 투자신탁 조합.
fat cats 세력가, 돈 많은 권려가, 정치자금 많이 바치는 부자.
imply 암시하다. tame 길들이다. deficit 적자, 결손.
entitlements (연금, 의료, 생활보호자 급여 등) 受惠(수혜) 자격.
exceptional 예외적인. impervious 무감각한, 둔감한, 불침투성의.
notions 槪念(개념). opponents 반대자. political scientist 정치학자.
traditional 전통적인. Republicans 공화당원(의원).
Democrats 민주당원. steer 조종하다. steered clear of ...을 피하다, 관계하지 않다.
term 임기. inject 注入(주입)하다. campaign 선거운동, 전쟁. nomination 지명, 임명.
pace〔peisi〕prep. 에게는 실례지만. pace Mr Kazin 카진씨에게는 실례지만.
gigantic 거대한. subsidies 보조금. Affordable 줄 수 있는, 입수 가능한.
Affordable Care Act 의료 수혜가능 법.