this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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The term "Trickle Down Economics" was coined by Will Rogers, but ironically, he wasn't advocating for it, he was warning AGAINST it, in favor of "Trickle UP Economics:
He was 100% right, and we have proof. During the pandemic quarantine, the economy actually boomed, because the government did a couple of rounds of stimulus payments to all Americans, who spent it, thus STIMULATING the economy the way it was intended. Corporations like Amazon and Walmart had huge increases. The struggling delivery service business suddenly stabilized, and continues to be a viable business. Many people created successful home businesses that added to the economy. Others took the opportunity to learn new skills, and emerged from the quarantine with improved employment and compensation potential.
It proved that if you give the money to the people at the bottom, it will eventually get to the wealthy anyway, but at least it will grease the wheels of the economy as it moves through the system on its way to their hands. The wealthy would prefer that the government just hand them the money directly, it's much more efficient for them than to wait for it to Trickle Up, but all they have to do is be a little patient, and they'll still get their money, just after it has done some good for the economy first.
The current "Trickle Down" system is starting to crack, and it will break and collapse unless it is forced to hold together by oppression and violence, which is the path we are on now. If the Sociopathic Oligarchs don't eventually embrace "Trickle Up Economics," the real Free Market will replace the current "Trickle Down" system with "Robin Hood Economics" (Take from the rich, give to the poor), which the Sociopathic Oligarchs won't like at all, since it usually includes punitive violence toward the oppressors.
Just a nitpick (I’m still against trickle down), but how do we know those sectors boomed from the stimulus, vs from people using those services more because they were quarantined? Video conference platforms also took off—that wasn’t from gen pop citizens spending their stimulus.
We know because this was a unique moment in American history, and there have already been many studies about it, and they have confirmed the economic power of those stumulus checks. They are the reason that the economy emerged from the pandemic in relatively decent shape. Serious inflation followed, but studies have also confirmed that most of that inflation was caused by corporate profit-gouging and greedflatuon, not normal economic fluctuations.
Those were just examples, and not the only vectors for stimulus. For many people, paying off bills, getting long-deferred medical work done, fixing their vehicle, replacing ailing appliances, subscribing to streaming platforms for something to watch while in quarantine, and much more, happened because people suddenly had some money to make their lives a little better. It demonstrates that if we really want to hand out money to stimulate the economy, we shouldn't give it Sociopathic Oligarchs with Financial OCD/ Hoarding Disorder, who will instantly turn it into dead money by stuffing it into offshore tax accounts, we should give it to the working class, who will spend it, and actually stimulate the economy for real.