Duncan Black describes the way of the world in a very similar way as I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while. Though his articulation, as always, is much more direct.

I just assume that going forward we basically have two ratchets. The one ratchet keeps getting nudged in the direction of giving more goodies to rich people, and except for possible temporary blips, those goodies aren’t going away.

The other ratchet gets nudged in the direction of fewer goodies for the rest of us. And once gone, they’re gone for good.

This is the process of how class warfare in America is actualized. And odds are if you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly losing.