SA I think Stephens is fairly transparent—he was born into privilege (apparently his grandfather founded a chemical company in Mexico, which is father ran while Bret was sent to fancy boarding schools in the US) and has never felt it necessary to consider how people with less privileged lives get along or to bother to attempt to understand—or god forbid, empathize—with their situation. So two weeks ago he expressed concern for the New York couple earning "over $400,000" who was struggling to meet all their expenses thanks to high tax rates. But aging workers with a few thousand dollars in savings and no hope of high-paying work in their 60s? Well they are just entitled, I guess, wanting to retire and receive Social Security at 67 rather than 72. And single payer health care or a strong publicly funded Medicare system? Well think of the taxes on the wealthy that would require!  Leave the wealthy to pay for their own luxury health care. The poor and middle class? Well, who cares really?  I mean that couple earning $400,000 has private school and a summer home to pay for!  The person making $60,000? Do they even exist?I find Stephens hard to stomach because, while he may be good with a clever turn of phrase, he as no original ideas and his prescriptions for our society are at best conventional conservative cliches,  poorly thought-out, lacking in empathy and understanding for the lives of ordinary people, and often simplistic and intellectually flimsy.

SA I think Stephens is fairly transparent—he was born into privilege (apparently his grandfather founded a chemical company in Mexico, which is father ran while Bret was sent to fancy boarding schools in the US) and has never felt it necessary to consider how people with less privileged lives get along or to bother to attempt to understand—or god forbid, empathize—with their situation. So two weeks ago he expressed concern for the New York couple earning "over $400,000" who was struggling to meet all their expenses thanks to high tax rates. But aging workers with a few thousand dollars in savings and no hope of high-paying work in their 60s? Well they are just entitled, I guess, wanting to retire and receive Social Security at 67 rather than 72. And single payer health care or a strong publicly funded Medicare system? Well think of the taxes on the wealthy that would require!  Leave the wealthy to pay for their own luxury health care. The poor and middle class? Well, who cares really?  I mean that couple earning $400,000 has private school and a summer home to pay for!  The person making $60,000? Do they even exist?I find Stephens hard to stomach because, while he may be good with a clever turn of phrase, he as no original ideas and his prescriptions for our society are at best conventional conservative cliches,  poorly thought-out, lacking in empathy and understanding for the lives of ordinary people, and often simplistic and intellectually flimsy.

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