On January 30, 2013, Thomas B. Edsall writes in The New York Times:
A concept promulgated by the right — the notion of the hidden prosperity of the poor — underpins the conservative take on the ongoing debate over rising inequality.
The political right uses this concept to undermine the argument made by liberals that the increasingly unequal distribution of income poses a danger to the social fabric as well as to the American economy.
The conservative counterargument – that life for the poor and the middle class is better than it seems – goes like this: Even with stagnant or modestly growing incomes, the poor and middle class benefit from the fact that a stable or declining share of income is now required for basic necessities, leaving more money for discretionary spending. According to this theory, consumption inequality – the disparity between the amount of money spent on goods and services by the rich, the middle class and the poor — remains relatively unchanged, even while income inequality worsens.
Socialism hasn’t been discredited; Stalinism has. Socialism was the backbone of New Towns in the colonial period, and made possible their survival through 7 wars with the French and Indians, as well as their foreign trade in timber, spars, fish and furs. The colonial household in New England was essentially a commune, in which every member was expected to pull his or her weight in proportion to his or her abilities, much like the arrangement described in Acts 2: 44-45. Capitalism appeared in the form of local mills, toll bridges and shipyards, not in the form of corporations, which were anathema to colonial settlers.