Walter Joyce wrote:This is not the truth, this is the "trickle down economics theory" that Reagan was so fond of and that has been refuted by economists for years. And the money that this 1% holds on to, and they wouldn't be in that 1% without holding on to a lot of it, doesn't return to the economy, it stays in their coffers.
No matter how you want to try and spin it the plain fact is that wen 1% of the population controls more than 50% of the wealth there is something wrong with the economy.
I'm not sure of those who don't see this have aspirations to join that 1%, but if thats the case face it, if you're over 35 and you haven't got there yet, its not going to happen.
As much as I love this country I am saddened at how we have gone backwards culturally and politically since Jimmy Carter left office. The well known American political and cultural scholar Daniel Aaron was recently quoted as saying that when he views the current landscape of the country he has devoted his adult life to as a foreign diplomat and champion of the American culture and system of values, that he is troubled to find that since the 1980s there has been a growing fascination and preoccupation in this country with money and power.
He finds himself alienated from his own country. He said, "America is promises, but this idea has been eviscerated. The idea of a certain American universalism, of what America once meant, has become this insatiable pursuit of money and power." The interviewer noted that "This is not said with anger but with apparent resignation."
I am not as old as this as Mr. Aaron, but I too feel that the ideals of this country that I learned as a youth have been set aside.
Rugged individualism has been replaced by fascination with the self and and I got mine, now go get yours attitude. A sense of community has been replaced by sectarianism and greed.
Respect for our political system and institutions have been replaced by a convenient cynicism that is used to justify doing nothing, because after all what is the point?
Attempts to address serious issues like the destruction of the environment, the destruction of the middle class by the exporting of manufacturing and service jobs, the exploitation of the working class by credit card companies and mortgage scams are dismissed as unfounded left wing rhetoric that is not supported by science or just good business practices or problems that could be solved with a simple caveat emptor argument.
We have become a sound bite culture that is faced with complex issues and problems that will have long term effects, its time we grow up and find a common ground that will give us back a sense of national identity and community that is not based on the Marlboro man as a faux cultural icon.
If you think it's ok for 1% of the population to control 50% of the wealth in this country, then please explain to me how this is somehow different from have a noble class, the very structure that the founding fathers sought to escape to create a place where all people are recognized as equal and given the same chance to succeed.
If you think that we are all given the same chance to succeed and that money has no influence on the outcome I'll ask you the questions Chris Rock posed in one of his comedy routines.
Where can a black man who graduated college with a C average expect to find a job?
Where can a white man who graduated college with a C average expect to find a job?
And to add to his questions, it seems we have to ask what can a man of mixed heritage, an impeccable academic record and a history of public service expect from our political system?
Rant over.
I don't have the answers, and my questions and viewpoint may be flawed, but I felt the need to express myself honestly in the hopes of learning something in the process.
Good post, Walter.
I don't have all the answers, either, but I do feel rather uncomfortable when people in Japan (for example) note to me how they have seen many American companies do very draconian/self-serving things... This in Japan, where (in my opinion) they mostly lack a strong sense of morality/ethics (instead, they have a shame-based society). I am not old, even if I am a bit old fashioned, but I do imagine Americans as having a strong individual morality (own beliefs, sense of guilt, etc.) - or at least we did. Or didn't we? Either way, I do think we SHOULD have this.
As for me...
Where can a yellow man who graduated college with a B+ average expect to find a (better) job?