Winston Churchill once said that “the inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” During his State of the Union address to Congress, President Obama declared that “after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened.”
Despite the fact that Obama himself has been running the country during this time of allegedly deepening inequality, he and his fellow Democrats hope a populist message on the issue – accompanied by proposals such as hiking the minimum wage – will boost their electoral prospects in November.