- This is the most important reason Americans resist wealth redistribution, the reason that subsumes all others. Americans do not see society as a layer cake, with the rich on top, the middle class beneath them and the working class and underclass at the bottom. They see society as a high school cafeteria, with their community at one table and other communities at other tables. They are pretty sure that their community is the nicest, and filled with the best people, and they have a vague pity for all those poor souls who live in New York City or California and have a lot of money but no true neighbors and no free time.
Obviously he doesn't have a clue either, but we should clear up a few myths here. First of all, farm subsidies are likely the largest income redistribution program in the country. Add in the increased costs to consumers due to ridiculous agricultural tariffs, and we see that these "Americans" actually love redistribution - as long as they benefit from it.
Second, New Yorkers and Californians bear the burden of redistribution, not its benefits. New Yorkers only receive $.83 for every dollar in federal taxes they pay, while for Californians it's $.82. (For poor New Jersey and Connecticut, whose residents probably aren't Americans either, it's only $.67.) Given that just these two states account for almost 19% of the population of Americans (who aren't actually American, to Bobo), their total net contribution to the welfare payments to the rest of the country would be expected to be quite large. In fact, in 2000 Californians sent $267 billion to the Treasury (13.5% of the total) and New Yorkers sent $159 billion (8% of the total). So, their net "foreign aid to Americans" is $48 billion and $27 billion respectively, for a total of $75 billion.
End heartland welfare now!
The truth is, there's plenty of support for redistribution in this country. It's driven by the disproportionate political power of the big square states, and an aversion to doing anything that would be perceived as disproportionately (or hell, even proportionately) benefitting minorities.