Make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the U.S. middle class.

[kpete]

The Economic Elite Have Engineered an Extraordinary Coup,
Threatening the Very Existence of the Middle Class
The economic elite have robbed us all. The amount of suffering in the United States of America is literally a crime against humanity.
February 15, 2010 |

................................

It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99 percent of the U.S. population no longer has political representation. The U.S. economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us.

Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99 percent of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep...and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the U.S. middle class.

................

A Crime Against Humanity

The mainstream news media will numb us to this horrifying reality by endlessly talking about the latest numbers, but they never piece them together to show you the whole devastating picture, and they rarely show you all the immense individual suffering behind them. This is how they "normalize the unthinkable" and make us become passive in the face of such a high causality count.

Behind each of these numbers, is a tremendous amount of misery; the physical toll is only outdone by the severe psychological toll. Anyone who has had to put off medical care, or who couldn't get medical care for one of their family members due to financial circumstances, can tell you about the psychological toll that is on top of the physical suffering. Anyone who has felt the stress of wondering how they were going to get their child's next meal or their own, or the stress of not knowing how they are going to pay the mortgage, rent, electricity or heat bill, let alone the car payment, gas, phone, cable or Internet bill.

more:
http://www.alternet.org/story/145667/the_economic_elite_have_engineered_an_extraordinary_coup%2C_threatening_the_very_existence_of_the_middle_class

[Locrian]

1. they've already won

The dollar is essentially worthless, subject to any whim of the elite.

[Kablooie]

17. The only question left is which party will they establish their base in?

The GOP has a running start in this and they hang together while the Democrats are a leaderless, rudderless mess.

[defendandprotect]

30. BOTH parties have been taken over --

[pocoloco]

128. Short answer......

Can't have wimps running this big of an operation!

[theFrankFactor]

87. A Beginning - A Place to Start

The Collusion of Government & Big Business Spells the Death of Democracy
http://thefrankfactorspace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/restoring-democracy-and-taking

It may be helpful to you or your friends that have been disillusioned by what we are witnessing in our Federal government. Please feel free to share and forward the article. Please bear in mind, the thrust of this article is not an action plan but and admission and examination of the problems.
I am requesting your help to draft some ideas that we can push that will actually help initiate the change that must take pace. So let's brain storm and set our sights on the job ahead.

Here is my quickly drafted outline:

Restoring Democracy and Taking Control of Our Nation Away From Corporations

Thesis: Elected officials from the present two party system represent the interests of corporations over and above the Constitution and the electorate. America has been lead into a dangerous and unstable condition due to the exploitation of the People’s government by corporate influence. There must be an accountability system that punishes public servant behavior that subverts electorate representation for corporate favoritism. The separation of corporations, as well as church and state, must be initiated and enforced.


Objectives

1. Make elected representatives answer to the electorate.
2. Remove corporate influence from all levels of public governance


Suggested Goals to Accomplish These Objectives

1. Publicly fund elections
2. Eliminate corporate person-hood
3. Initiate instant runoff voting
4. Eliminate electoral college
5. Ban exiting public officials from accepting lobbyist positions
6. Oversight of the Federal Reserve
7. Tax reformation
8. Budget reformation


Citizen Actions to Accomplish These Objectives

1. Strengthen and expand alternate media
2. Infiltrate existing party systems to affect changes
3. Exploit current means to pressure representatives
4. Prepare, support, and run Liberal/Progressive candidates

[rhett o rick]

97. I am in. nt

[hay rick]

100. comments

Concerning your thesis. I agree that corporate influence is perverting our democratic process. I think it is also important to understand that this process goes hand in hand with the transfer of wealth from the many to the few. "Corporate" interests are, more often than not, proxies for the interests of our wealthiest citizens.

Among your suggested goals, I see 1)the public funding of elections and 5)banning public officials from accepting lobbyist positions as crucial. I would expand 5) to include any kind of employment in any industry which the lawmaker has dealt with regulating through committee jurisdiction or legislation. It might be easier to just provide a generous pension for all congress critters, regardless of years of service, and ban most post-electoral employment. Those who found the restrictions too onerous would avoid seeking office in the first place. Item 2), eliminating corporate person-hood is also important- particularly the first amendment "free speech" right in elections. Legislation establishing 1) should also place restrictions on 2).

Concerning citizen actions:
We obviously need to strengthen alternate media. I would observe that strength is a relative concept. An equal part of that task is discrediting the existing commercial media. This will make more people look for an alternative. I would like to see more of the journalistic media function in a non-profit mode. They should be attached to academic institutions or be supported by an endowment, similar to the way private universities are partially funded.

As for infiltrating existing parties, the Republican Party is beyond hope. We should be trying to reform the Democratic Party- by purging blue dogs, by running more progressive candidates, or by forcing it to the left via pressure from third party competition.

[lonestarnot]

124. Sounds like a good outline, however way to slow.

[rhett o rick]

132. k & r

[Larry Ogg]

133. Excellent place to start, except for one little oversight...

your showing a fatal double standard towards one of the most criminal elements in our social infrastructure, i.e. “The Federal Reserve.”

So here’s the problem I see:

Objectives
2. Remove corporate influence from all levels of public governance

Suggested Goals to Accomplish These Objectives
6. Oversight of the Federal Reserve

What we need is a Constitutional amendment overturning the unconstitutional Federal Reserve act of 1913, (not oversight) which would then restore the control of our money supply back into the hands of Congress; in other words we need too nationalize the banking system; of course that would require that we start electing congressmen that are smarter then a fifth grader. In addition, the amendment should prohibit Congress from ever passing any laws that gives control of the money supply back too private interest.

We also need constitutional amendments separating church and state along with the fairness doctrine in media reform, prohibiting censorship and propaganda in the media.

[theFrankFactor]

137. I Defer...

Yes, I am not very well versed on this particular aspect of this issue. I am under the impression that The Fed is good in principal but, like the rest of the mess, not governed properly. I am open to learning of alternate economic strategies.

[Larry Ogg]

140. I think most people defer their opinion when it comes to our money system;

maybe it has something to do with it just wasn't important enough to teach in our public schools, leaving the sense that it is some how monolithic or to complicated to understand. Or maybe the real reason that it's not taught is that it was created by and is still controlled by legalized crime.

But if anyone doesn't know the history of our money system and what a scam it is, there is a couple of video's that they could watch that could add some much needed perspective to their opinion.

The first is "Money as Debt" http://www.google.com/search?q=money+as+debt+video&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

And the second is "The Money Masters" http://www.google.com/search?q=the+money+masters+video&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

At the end of the Money Masters it talks about an asset based economy that would replace our current debt based economy. Just keep an open mind, the system we are forced to use is not monolithic, it just enslaves the many to the few.

This is the kind of stuff people need to know about if we are to ever take our country back from financial predators, and have economic and social justice for all.

[Blue Owl]

2. all the money that could fix our problems

is being sucked into unwinnable wars. What a tragic waste.

[The Doctor.]

43. That's part of the plan.

War is the best way to eliminate and siphon off surplus wealth.

[swilton]

62. It also serves as an outlet for the surpluss unemployed

(potentially) violent-prone segments of the population....young, aggressive males.

I've long believed that classism was replacing racism...

My solution is to boycott the corporate economy by (trying) to grow my own vegetables when possible, I'm going to start making my own durable and less trendy clothing and apparel, and when I'm unable to do the previous, solve what I need through local mom and pop businesses....

[Sherman A1]

79. Precisely

and to continue support for the MIC

[Enthusiast]

105. It would be "unpatriotic" to do otherwise.

[cali]

3. literally a crime against humanity? hyperbole.

and it cheapens very real crimes against humanity. And no, "Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched..." do not prove that a strategic attack has been launched. And yes, I do think the author's rhetoric is extreme. He counts the stess of not knowing if you can pay your next electric bill as a crime against humanity.

The greed of many of the economic elite is indeed horrifying and contemptible but he doesn't provide evidence that there is a cabal engineering the demise of the middle class and he doesn't speculate as to the motives of said cabal. Frankly, I think it's more likely that it's just stupidity and unfettered greed- not that that makes it any better.

[asdjrocky]

11. You wouldn't say that if you saw the way my neighborhood used to be-

and the way it is now.

There is a war and the People are losing.

I know you don't believe it, but weather it's on purpose or not, it's happening.

[cali]

14. you didn't read my post very carefully

I'm quite clear in my belief that it's happening- I just don't believe that it's being done on purpose.

[rhett o rick]

25. So you think "unfettered greed" is accidental? There may not be a specially name

group with a handshake, but there is a cabal. There is a very concerted effort to buy politicians and change laws to allow the top 1% wealthiest to profit at the expense of the middle class. It's practically the definition of capitalism.

[bulloney]

33. Once the middle class is officially eliminated, those remaining will turn on each other.

Just because the little guy is no longer in their way, it doesn't mean their insatiable appetite for more money and power will end. The only way they can satisfy that craving is by going after each other.

[rhett o rick]

64. I totally agree. Capitalism will eat itself eventually. But it doesnt help us much. nt

[Patchuli]

73. Their biggest problem is however

that there are way more of us than them...

:popcorn:

[The Doctor.]

83. Yes, but they've already taken full advantage of so many ingnorant people...

who will believe that all the problems are the fault of 'liberals', and no amount of reason, no proof having sought to avert disaster, no facts of any kind will get through to them because they have been fully programmed to ignore anything rational.

[Patchuli]

85. The realists outnumber the dumbed down

I truly believe this in my heart of hearts. We will not be destroyed by the few.

[arcadian]

104. cool tesseract

:thumbsup:

[rhett o rick]

96. And how is that a problem? nt

[Patchuli]

145. I believe the rich were

put in their place in other times and places in history. If enough people get tired of this shit, it could happen again. They are taking away people's jobs, homes, security, etc. Eventually, the ripped-off won't give a shit and will do something.

[tigereye]

92. it's just foolish greed- there's no plan to destroy - which is even more

alarming. There is no thought as to consequences - banks, etc. have no thought of the effects and that's why there needs to be more regulation - they are unable to police themselves.

If you destroy the middle class- who will be able to buy anything? A "plot or plan" makes no sense. :shrug:


As my grandmother used to say, "Whom, my dear, are they?"

[laughingliberal]

127. I have to disagree

It's not like this has not happened before. It was totally predictable what several decades of deregulation and the destruction of the rights of workers would do. All anyone had to do was look at where we were before the regulations and the workers' rights existed to know where we would be once they were eliminated. A ruling class is never happy to see a strong middle class develop.

[Hannah Bell]

148. The economy is global. The "middle class" is also, these days. A global middle class means

smaller national middle classes.

[LanternWaste]

38. Unfettered greed is the...

As I see it, unfettered greed is little more than the purchase of an I-Pod or a PC game whilst someone else in the world goes hungry-- it plays precisely off the implications of your own arguments. The only differences being in degrees...

[rhett o rick]

72. I think I understand what you are saying and I am not happy about it. Reality is a bitch. nt

[tigereye]

142. no, buying something for pleasure is not the same as institutional and

large scale greed. I think there is room in our culture for people to enjoy pleasure and technology and still try to ameliorate the suffering of others. Where would the money to help others come from if not from fruits of labors and work - the US, despite all it's political confusion and support of fascism over the years, still has the good sense of it's people who work hard to help those less fortunate.


There are always differences in degrees, intervening shards of grey.

[Hannah Bell]

147. There's a difference. The person purchasing an i-pod doesn't see the entire chain of events

that led to the i-pod being manufactured & him being in a position to purchase it, & he has, as an individual, no control over those events.

The people making the i-pod, the people making the laws -- do have. It's not simply degrees.

[laughingliberal]

123. Accidental greed? Lol

Yes, they've 'accidentally' moved the country's wealth to the top 1% and 'accidentally' broken the power of the unions so workers are left with whatever, if any, crumbs the elite deign to throw us. It is well known that a wealthy, ruling class views a strong middle class as a threat and seeks to destroy it wherever it may emerge.

I wonder what it will take before the majority of people see what has been done to us.

Good response!

[CoffeeCat]

60. You make the same distinction my husband does...

My husband and I were discussing the economic disparity in this country and loads
of other problems. We started talking about the outsourcing of jobs and what that
has done to our economy. We mentioned the bank bailouts, paid with our dollars. We
also talked about big Pharma paying off our politicians to speed up FDA approval
of drugs, and the deaths and injuries that has meant to people.

I said, "It's like they're trying to kill us."

My husband said, "You've got it all wrong. They aren't TRYING to kill us. They just
don't care if we die."

I thought that was an incredible insight.

[rhett o rick]

70. Excellent point. I do think that's what the poster was trying to say.

He said they arent doing it on purpose. Of course they are doing what they do on purpose, but factoring in your husbands thoughts, they just arent concerned with the consequences. While I agree with that completely, I really doesnt make any difference. We are in a war for our lives against "them", whether they mean us ill or not.

Dick Cheney can torture people in the lower classes because he has no feeling for them. The wealthiest 1% may feel badly that poor people are starving, but not enough to affect their life styles. It's not personal.

Tell you husband that I am going to use that line. I dont think he will mind.

[Beartracks]

129. If I could rec a Reply, this would be the one. n/t

[laughingliberal]

125. Right. They just stumbled into buying off the politicians to make sure all the laws favor wealthy

over the workers. Who could have know all those laws doing away with workers' rights and regulations on business and such would have resulted in this kind of destruction of the working and middle classes? Is this "no one could have predicted?" Cause I think anyone who has studied economic policies throughout the history of the country could have predicted it. This is not a new thing that has happened here. It is just the same old thing that has happened here before and in many other places. They dress it up, wrap a pretty bow on it, give it a new name and sell it. My brother, working as an intelligence agent in 1988, told me this was where we were heading and that it was about the haves vs the have nots and how the haves work day and night to get all the laws passed in their favor and make sure the 'others' never get a leg up. It is not an accident.

[girl gone mad]

54. Don't waste your time.

It's like talking to a brick wall with a guru complex.

[Goldstein1984]

81. Listen to girl gone mad

And spend your energy trying to convert better candidates into believers. There is a class war; it is by design; and the working class is losing. The say it's just the way things are camouflages those responsible for creating this mess.

I stopped into a local grocery today. A woman stopped me to compliment me on a basket without a single prepared food. I explained that I was boycotting all nonessential spending, and processed foods were nonessential. That lead to a conversation about why I was doing it, and that led to a small crowd joining in the conversation. The result was five other people returning to the aisles to put back prepared foods and a few unnecessary-but-nice things to have. We discussed my son, who deploys to Iraq tomorrow, and I explained all the reasons I was opposed to the wars, and how Obama's policies are no better and possibly worse than Bush's. A Czech man joined the conversation, and offered his perspective as an outsider looking in.

My point is, it really isn't very likely that you're going to change the minds of those faithful to the President, the party, and the status quo. Forget Democratic voters and focus on democratic voters--they're not always the same thing anymore. The party has gone to the Right, so unequal distribution of wealth, trickle-down and free-trade economics, deregulation, and militarism as foreign policy seem normal to them. There are a lot of people out there with dissatisfaction and anger and a sense of helplessness that can be harnessed. I think I harnessed a few today.

[asdjrocky]

144. I hear you.

But Cali and I have a thing. Well, I have a thing since she put me in my place when I first got here a few years ago. She makes me feel kind of like the way rich girls made me feel when I was in high school... but I digress.

I hear what you are saying, and I'm doing much of what you're doing.

My new weapon against the ptb is satire and ridicule. I'm hoping to talking a thousand people into writing in Donald Duck, that'll get some air play.

Good luck to your son, I wish him well.

And good job at the store, tiny pebbles become shinny stones.

[Vinnie From Indy]

13. Well, here are a few indicators and cabal members

Goldman-Sachs, BOA, Exxon-Mobil, Halliburton et al, G.E., Wellpoint et al, Monsanto, Wal-Mart etc. Those are just off the top of my head. I agree that the author of the OP was a bit remiss in providing information that would support the position being offered, but the general thrust of the piece is more right than wrong.

It seems inconceivable to me that anyone that is reasonably intelligent and paying attention would not come to the conclusion that our government no longer represents the interests of the American people. Our democracy has been, for all intents and purposes, "acquired" by the interests of the corporate and wealthy elite.

I agree that there is not a comprehensive plan being implemented by a single entity to destroy the middle class in America. We are simply collateral damage. The argument that "unrestrained" capitalism, corporate personhood and a race to the bottom for the cheapest global labor pool is still valid when considering the demise of the American middle class.

[cali]

15. It's clear that the gov't doesn't represent the interests of the people

and it rarely has. I think your third paragraph sums things up well.

[Enthusiast]

106. Yes, it's a nice post.

"I agree that there is not a comprehensive plan being implemented by a single entity to destroy the middle class in America. We are simply collateral damage. The argument that "unrestrained" capitalism, corporate personhood and a race to the bottom for the cheapest global labor pool is still valid when considering the demise of the American middle class."

They did not plan our destruction. But there are profits to be made. Let no mere human being stand in the way of profit.

[bvar22]

37. Crime against Humanity?....YES!

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."
---President Dwight Eisenhower

Boy, I really miss those great Old Democrats like Eisenhower.
.
.
.
.
Oh wait.
My bad.

[boppers]

58. Equating gas chambers, machete mutilation, with.... not affording cable?

Yeah, this piece is waaaaaay over the top. The author is unfamiliar with actual, brutal, suffering, or is so disrespectful of it that they can honestly equate serious violence and abuse with paying bills late.

[freddie mertz]

116. People are living (and freezing to death) in cars.

In Obama's America, 2010.

It is not about cable.

[boppers]

146. I've lived in a car.

I did not have purity troops who were authorized to kill me hunting me down for sport.

This is hyperbole of the worst sort, the kind that equates poverty with systemic, intentional, mass murder.

[Hannah Bell]

149. Yet people die of it.

[boppers]

151. 1 person dying of cold = millions dying.

There's a failure of scope there.

[Hannah Bell]

155. Globally, there are millions dying. And even in the US, it's more than one person dying of cold, &

more dying of poverty-related causes.

[boppers]

156. Cold people dying in cars = Machete rape?

"let them eat cake" comes to mind.

[Hannah Bell]

157. death = death.

[boppers]

158. 17 million = 1?

Math doesn't work that way.

[Hannah Bell]

159. it's not one, & i'm not sure where you get 17 million.

The fact is, the economic decisions of elites kill people, & often that result is a predictable one. = crime against humanity.

End of story. Despite your attempt to blur the issue by bringing machetes into it.

Sure, I'd much rather die of exposure than by being hacked to pieces. But deliberately putting people into a position of death by exposure is nevertheless every bit as much a crime against humanity as funding a war where people are hacked to death.

[boppers]

160. 17 million to 19 million is the WII nazi and socialist death toll.

Being "poor" in America doesn't compare, by a long shot.

It strains credulity to compare the two.

Going back to the OP, "cable" is mentioned.

Obviously, this is somebody rich enough that they couldn't afford a TV, let alone custom channels to them... oh, wait.

This is somebody complaining that the wealthy upper classes aren't getting rich fast enough.

Do you make over $50k a year?

Congratulations, you are living off of the 75% who don't.

edit: accurate nuumbers

[Hannah Bell]

161. oh for god's sake. If 17 million die from exposure due to the deliberate economic

choice of elites to enrich themselves at the expense of the masses, it's every bit as much a crime against humanity as what the russians or nazis did. And what the russians & nazis did was in all ways connected to the economic circuits of capital.

A crime against humanity isn't defined by machetes or gulags. That simply makes it more obvious.

You're quite confused about who lives off who as well.

People in homeless shelters have TVs, as do Mexican peasants. That doesn't mean they're living at the expense of others. Someone's individual decision to have or not have a TV does not affect the universe in the least, does not increase or decrease economic exploitation one whit. This line, whereby anyone who owns consumer goods has the same status as the owners of the factories which produce the consumer goods, hire & fire the workers, & their bought off political lackeys - is pap. And it's pap purposefully circulated to confuse the real issues.

Nor is a person making $51K living at the expense of someone making $49K, or $39K, or $10K, or $5K or $0K. One's income per se has no relation to one's control over productive capital & ability to affect the lives of others.

[freddie mertz]

163. "Socialist" death toll? You refer then to the mass murders in Sweden?

The fact that you make no distinction between Communist crimes and "socialism" tells me a lot about your political leanings.

[freddie mertz]

162. Crimes of neglect vs. crimes of violence?

It's not always the black and white distinction you are struggling so mightily to sustain.

Crimes committed by the administration's banker pals are killing people and destroying families and communities.

Situations like this also contribute to rising violence, especially domestic violence, street-crime, and suicide.

You seem to be more concerned with propping up your "hero" than you are with human suffering caused by bad policy and inept government.

[laughingliberal]

121. Sure feels like a crime to me

Having gone from a relatively secure financial situation after working our asses off our whole lives to worrying about feeding ourselves and secure shelter in 2 years time at an age when we are unlikely to be able to find employment again and being without health insurance for a husband with serious medical conditions, it feels like a crime against humanity to me. OTOH, those who are unaffected, for the time being, would not think so. Economic policy since Reagan has been designed to move the country's wealth to the top and it has succeeded. It does seem to have been strategic. Leaving people without the means to provide for the essentials is, IMO, a crime against humanity. Are there worse crimes against humanity in the world? Of course. But they're not done with us, yet.

[emsimon33]

141. It's planned--look at the Supreme Court

That alone should be a major clue

[fascisthunter]

4. and Yet We are to feel bad for them for Paying their Fair Share of Taxes

[sui generis]

5. that makes no economic sense

the middle class spends money. People who have investments need people to spend money. It's like saying Wendy's is getting rid of the beef. :P

What it DOES mean though is that other thing you said - political representation is centered on monetary interests, not populist interests.

The article seems really gloom and doom - there is nothing that will make people feel more helpless than telling them they are helpless and don't have a choice. I wonder . . . if I were an evil empire turd blossom like Rove - I might have written that article so people would just throw their hands in the air, give up and slash their wrists.

Or, I may just be mildly undercaffeinated today - could go either way.

[Subdivisions]

22. Who's going to spend more money...

2 billion up-and-coming Chinese and Indians, or 300 million Americans? What you're missing is the fundamental shift of wealth away from the United States and towards lower wage, but unpwardly mobile, countries with massive populations compared to the U.S. The East and Far East are fertile grounds for new, much more massive, corporate profits.

[sui generis]

26. that sword has two edges though

Sustainability is one of them. Everywhere we've gone to outsource our economy, we've ended up increasing the basic demands of workers in pay and working conditions as they find themselves with choices. Once things start costing more to produce the money that USED as an artifact of the lower production cost from poorer manufacturing economies will eventually become "level".

You want to know what I think is the stupidest thing we're doing? We're focusing on small business tax credits and glorifying the "next wave" of innovation in small business, but small businesses are typically not foreign trade grade - and also mostly oriented on contractual service, resale or specialty manufacturing.

If we want to compete as middle class americans we need to demand a reasonable balance of foreign trade. It's that simple. If you walk into an electronics store in Germany you won't recognize hardly a single brand, and they're all manufactured in the EU and not in China. It's more expensive to purchase, but people have more money to spend and a better foreign exchange.

But we won't do that because controlling manufacturing smacks of socialism . . . .

[sendero]

52. What he..

... said. + 1000.

It astounds me that Obama thinks (or acts like he thinks) that more business tax credit nonsense will help the economy.

THE PROBLEM IS ON THE DEMAND SIDE, SUPPLY SIDE SOLUTIONS ARE NO LONGER EFFECTIVE.

Small business can't do shit until people BUY STUFF FROM THEM.

[Enthusiast]

109. Since Reagan, Democrats have

to give credence to this supply side notion. Unless they want to be pummeled by the M$M noise machine.

Obama seems to have embraced "trickle down" wholeheartedly. Quite the socialist, Obama.

[Fire1]

59. That is so humerous to me when PO talks about small

business tax credits and expansion. That'd be fine in the 50's and 60's when Mom and Pop businesses were thriving.

[Enthusiast]

108. It's just another instance of

killing the golden egg laying goose. They won't recognize it until it's too late.

[tavalon]

115. You're undercaffeinated

Frank of the FrankFactor is one of the good guys.

[Hannah Bell]

150. Americans aren't the only people who spend money, & US corps no longer need to protect

the buying power of the US middle class.

They can create "middle classes" simply by moving their production. As they've done in China.

When production goes global, & is dominated by a few global corporate entities, the "middle class" of consuming workers can also be a global entity.

Which means national middle classes shrink. There are more "middle classes" in total, but fewer in the older "middle class" countries.

[sharesunited]

6. Actually, the death of Mao in 1976 was the big bang of the American economic decline.

[pampango]

7. In the sense that he kept China out of the world economy? n/t

[sharesunited]

12. Exactly. All of that nation's human resources and entrepreneurial spirit were unleashed.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Totally understandable. After all, Middle Class sounds like Middle East

And we all know that the Middle East is our enemy.

At least we still have our Middle Fingers...

[GiveMeFreedom]

34. one of these?

kids say the darn-est things!

[Xenotime]

9. Is there any way to strip economic elite of their wealth?

Seems to be part of the problem right there.

[cali]

10. raise taxes on the uber wealthy- a lot.

[defendandprotect]

32. As long as they control government and our elected officials -- No . . .

Business is less profitable than controlling the wealth and natural resources of the nation directly --

and direct access to taxpayer funds/Treasury printing press -- !!

[GiveMeFreedom]

36. Yes there is a way...

it's called revolution. Many people die and it levels the playing field again.

[Hugabear]

93. The French people managed to do it nearly 200 years ago

The solution won't be very pretty

[Art_from_Ark]

101. Actually, it was more than 200 years ago

and the Republique lasted only a decade or so, until Napoleon had himself crowned Empereur and built the short-lived French Empire, which was replaced by a return to the monarchy by 1815. In other words, in a little more than 20 years, France had gone full circle-- from Monarchy, to Republic, to Empire, and back to Monarchy.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Prescott Bush, Harriman, and all the corporate leaders from before the days of

of corporate personhood are laughing in their graves today.

They are on the verge of victory.

[Bonhomme Richard]

18. They are grabbing all they can now that the tit is dry. n/t

[formercia]

74. The Middle Class are the only ones with money left

The poor have not enough left, if anything, to make it worthwhile. If they can get rid of entitlements, that would be icing on the cake.

[jsmithsen]

19. Contradictions

Its not a conspiracy - its capitalism. You people need to read some Marx (or Marxian economics) - seriously. The race to the bottom is part of the "laws of motion" of capitalism. In real life terms - your boss has to make you scared - and his boss has to do the same to him - and so on. Does that undermine the consumer base? Of course it does. Which is we had the New Deal and Regulated Fordism for so long. But this is a game everyone has to play - and there were plenty of cheaters (starting with our own South). Naomi Klein has a good understanding - the CDS against Greece; the fights being picked with public sector unions - the financial crisis is being used to "short" social democracy and the unions.

[Subdivisions]

23. Yep. Welcome to DU. n/t

[maryf]

84. Welcome to DU!!!

Thanks for your post!

[MadHound]

20. They launched it about forty years ago,

What we're seeing now is just the end game.

[upi402]

21. It's not a conspiracy theory, and you're not paranoid

if it really IS class warfare.

remember the phony name-calling of even "Democrats" lambasting the idea of class warfare? Maddening.

[Echo In Light]

24. Amazing the % of ass-smooching dim bulbs who insist criminal collusion among the wealthy doesn't exi

- st

[4 t 4]

29. Can President Obama use Excecutive Order to ( roll back) taxes

on the top 1% to where they were when Nixon was Pres. ?

[theFrankFactor]

86. You said it!

[dajoki]

27. It started a long time ago, now they are perfecting it n/t

[Orsino]

28. The war's not new, and is not just on the middle class. n/t

[chrisa]

31. It's not just about being rich.

It's about competition. The rich hate a richer society, because they want to be the only ones that have a good quality of life. They want to be the "superior ones," even though most of them did nothing to earn their wealth.

They will do anything to not only make themselves richer, but make us poorer, because they don't see a point in being rich if other people are rich too. It's a weird aspect of human psychology.

[Beartracks]

130. It's built into our society.

Like sports, where there are winners and losers, so must there be in capitalism; that is, to a successful (i.e. rich) capitalist player, the success may not be sweet enough if there aren't "losers" to intimidate with one's endzone dance of exclusive living. I would bet many such rich folks aren't aware or consciously trying to keep everyone else down, but rather it's just the result of their wielding influence to grow their fortunes. Come to think of it, they may simply not care about others (beyond the guilt-absolving action of charitable donations), so long as they are still "winning."

[tonysam]

35. It's been going on for over 30 years

Bartlett and Steele wrote three books about the war against the middle class, primarily motivated by corrupt Washington officials, way back in the 1990s.

Their books still are relevant today.

[struggle4progress]

112. Indeed it has

[kleec]

39. It's also known as

the never enough syndrome. They will always want more and it doesn't matter who gets hurt in the process to feed their greed.

[BigBearJohn]

40. So what are we going to do about it?

[mistertrickster]

41. I disagree that the rich elites WANT to destroy the middle class. They just

pursue policies that enrich themselves and the consequences are that the pieces of the pie they CONfiscate come from the poorer classes.

The goal is their own enrichment. If that comes at the cost of making everyone else poorer, then so be it.

[Tim01]

42. Nailed it. nt

[jaybeat]

46. I think they want to protect their priviledge

One of the best ways of doing that is to reduce the sharing of resources for the greater good. If each of us is in it for ourselves, and we don't have the power or wisdom to band together to make ourselves stronger, then the rich and the powerful will always be able to make themselves richer and more powerful, at the expense of everyone else, and no one will have the power to stop them.

FDR put an explicit stop to that in a big way. He said, "No, you can't screw the rest of us in your relentless pursuit of wealth and power." Reagan made "government" out to be the cause of the middle class's problems so he could get people to go along with dismantling the parts of it that help and protect people, and enlarging the parts that help and enrich the already rich and powerful.

Now, with the election of Obama, we have (as pathetic as that is) the biggest threat to the oligarchy's complete freedom to enrich themselves since the 1970s. So the co-optation of Democrats (encouraged by the manufactured "threat" of Palin and the teabaggers) kicks into high gear, making sure that nothing can be put in place or rebuilt that would threaten the unbridled power of of those who have unbridled power.

As far as they are concerned, the notion of a "middle class" may simply have outlived its usefulness. They didn't need it before the 1930s and they are more than happy to get rid of it if it helps serve their own interests. No matter how much they redefine "middle," we'll still need to buy stuff, and they'll still be able to get rich selling it to us, especially if they don't have to pay us decent wages to make any of it!

[Junkdrawer]

63. A group of 5 are in a lifeboat and will be rescued in 5 days...

There's just enough food and water to keep 5 alive for 5 days.

The first night, while the other 4 were sleeping, one person eats all the food and drinks all the water. The other four die of thirst.

Question: Did the survivor commit murder?

[democracy1st]

44. K & R

[GreenTea]

45. Republicans & corporations have always hated the middle class - they hate paying the wages,

and especially the middle classes health care benefits, vacation & sick pay.....they hate that the middle class are mostly educated (republicans in particular hate an educated voters & populace, dumb them down) The middle class are more open to progressive ideas and want their elected leaders to be accountable for their sliminess.

[Celtic Merlin]

47. THERE . IS . A . WAY . TO . STOP . THIS

Public Campaign Finance completely nullifies corporate money and special-interest lobbyists.

Take the money incentive away and the rich folks end up on the same level playing field as the rest of us. One person, one vote will mean something again.

When 100% of campaign money comes from We, The People - all of this bullshit goes away.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[bc3000]

56. yeah... you know they people that would have to change those laws are the ones profiting, right?

[kgnu_fan]

66. knr ---- we can do this as soon as we wake up

[rhett o rick]

95. Yes, but how can we change the laws? congress dont listen to us. nt

[Enthusiast]

110. And after that

a politician receiving corporate money could be prosecuted for taking a bribe? I mean, if we had publicly financed elections there would be NO need for corporate money to taint our elections.

I'm going to convert to Carlinism.

[kjackson227]

48. I've been feeling this way for a long time now. The rich get...

richer and the poor get poorer. I see this play out as ceo's of companies (mine included), abundantly line their pockets, while their employees are being layed off, and other employees are barely scraping by.

I'm beginning to think that a lot these companies are not hiring because of economic constraints, but because of greed (why pay additional employees to do a job when they can lay-off workers, work the remaining employees to death, and still receive their exorbitant CEO pay???). Yep, the middle-class has become a modern form of indentured servants/slaves for sure. The question is, what can we do about it??? I'm beginning to think that just about every politician is bought and paid for in one way or another ~SIGH~

[leeroysphitz]

49. The American consumer is being replaced as the engine of economic growth.

We are too high maintenance. In the current, sort of, "wild west" environment of rampant UN-regulation we simply cost too much to compete with the eager billions in Asia who want to fill our shoes.

[bridgit]

50. Well yeah, by eliminating the U.S. altogether

[jtuck004]

51. That would be, and probably is, very shortsighted of them

There are lots of stories of the poor revolting against the very rich in the early history of our nation. In some places the elites seem to have kept their wealth by leaving enough for the middle class to be comfortable (thank you Howard Zinn). They then used the middle classes as a buffer between those with the most assets and the people with holes in the elbows of their sweaters.

Could history repeat? If those with most of the wealth continue their seeming quest, the poor will, of course, fight among themselves, until someone begins to organize and does a little consciousness raising, (maybe as people with good liberal educations join the group?). The result might redirect that aggression at the people with the real assets and result in a very unsafe place for some. Unless all the spark has been civilized out...or maybe aggression could be replaced by teaching people how to compete with ESOPs that work toward community employment.

That said, I think we are quite a ways from that, because there is a real difference between being truly poor and not being able to pay your mortgage, but negotiating while still living in your home. Innovation, which leads to consumer demand and thus to jobs, (in a word, our economy)seems to have taken a real back seat to profits and monopolizing industries, so we may be more on the edge than it seems. There are lots of potential tipping points out there which could push an unbalanced economy over the cliff in a hurry.

And thank you, someone, for the heart. Happy Valentines Day, even if a bit late ;)

[AzDar]

53. K & R

[jsmithsen]

55. They hate Unions; they are indifferent to everyone else

The Big Business Establishment absolutely hates unions and always has. I'm from Cleveland originally. You would have to visit to get a sense of how important Cleveland was at one time to the Ruling Class - and how quickly they were willing to see it wrecked in the name of crushing Labor.
As for the rest of us - they are simply indifferent at this point. There is some reality to the environmentalism which is attached to Corporate Liberalism - they would prefer most of us simply went away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTafZRecy2k

[1776Forever]

57. I heard about this in 1982 from an Accountant/Professor but I never thought it could happen!

After all wasn't this the "greatest" country in the world? Isn't this where everyone around the world comes to find the "American Dream"? Yeah, maybe they used too. Now it is only the rich who are able to keep the dream going. They paid off most of our politicians and those that aren't keep fighting daily to even win a small victory.

This is so sad and I can see why so many have given up hope!

[kgnu_fan]

61. It is their "harvest time".... nt

[Skittles]

68. KGNU_FAN NAILS IT

YUP

[BlancheSplanchnik]

65. also makes me wonder

who are they selling their goods and services to in the endless stream of commercials that litter every public contact point, if they're destroying their target market?


this is a crime against humanity!!!!!

bring back regulations! no wait, before that, get rid of the corrupt govt-corp umbilical cords

[Vidar]

67. K&R.

[burrowowl]

69. The Middle Class has already been eliminated

and the Lower Middle Class is being enslaved and of course let the Lower Class die!
When are the American People going to rise up!?

[Patchuli]

71. EAT THE RICH!

Heartless scum...I guess they think we should just "eat cake?"

[bridgit]

77. I dunno, they're so gassy as it is, maybe its Beano time. And I'd eat cake...

But they won't even let the cake trickle down :rant:

[Patchuli]

80. You may be right

Eating the rich might cause a serious case of indigestion....being slime balls and all. This would be one case where I definitely would not want to be what I eat!

[Quantess]

75. People have been to slow to catch on. Back in, say, 1980

very few people would have believed that the middle class would be shrinking.

[patrice]

76. Change. REAL. Change.

[Cetacea]

78. To the dungeon!

Where are all of the Coincidence Theorists?

[troubledamerican]

82. No unions = no middle class = no democracy = no General Strike capacity = military coup

[Fool Count]

88. Who needs the "middle class" anyway?

It was allowed to emerge and exist only to placate the populace at the time when an alternative social and economic arrangement
appeared viable and could even seem attractive. Those time are long gone, making the "middle class" idea an unnecessary and
expensive anachronism. Now there is no need to pay the workers a penny more than is needed to keep them alive and reproducing-
the value of workforce commodity postulated in Das Kapital. What are they gonna do, elect someone who would fight for their
interests? Too funny. In all fairness, it couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving class. What a bunch of narrow-minded self-important
whiners they are. "Middle class this" and "middle class that", like they are some kind of chosen people pre-ordained by God to rule the
Universe forever after the end of History, and not just an horde of the Man's lackeys, who outlived their usefulness and must be
disposed of. Hello, anybody home? Did you think the elite would continue to finance your comforts out of kindness of their hearts?
You are not even a class in a strict sense of the word, since you don't have any class consciousness of your own. Yours is transplanted
directly into your brains by your masters. Without it, how do you expect to have your interests represented politically? By what party?
What are your interests, other than your own survival? A house with a two-car garage? What is your slogan gonna be? "Please, let us
keep our yoga classes"? If you want to keep your income and some dignity it brings, the first thing to do would be to give up
that ridiculous moniker you so proudly assign yourselves and finally take a side. I mean, to take the side other than the one you've
been so loyally taking all along. The status quo is no longer viable, if only because the elite lost interest in maintaining it. They think
they can now force and control a new paradigm. And, frankly, I don't see how anyone could prove them wrong. So prepare for extinction
and say goodbye to your overseas vacations, suckers.

[rhett o rick]

94. Yes, the middle class existed at the whim of the wealthy elitists. Now they are bored with us. Time

for change. Bye bye American Pie (dream).

[eecumings]

89. 1984

George Orwell...read the book. The endless war began under RayGun and will continue..read Ike's final speech and realize his warning has happened...the military-industrial complex owns Congress, the Supreme Court, and the executive branch. What else is there?

[sohndrsmith]

90. As much as I fully agree, I am just as confused. How does our (or any)

economy or formula for wealth... succeed - with no foundation or value other than itself? i don't get that...

How do the wealthiest/most powerful remain so without *any* reliance on the strength (much less existence) of the vast number of those who provide the menial, managerial and/or productive tasks that either maintain production or create goods - or ensure the circuits work, etc.?

Even if much of our 'economy' and wealth of such is based on financial products alone... don't those products ultimately require some basis in value of true goods - unless they're false (and valueless?).

I just don't see how banking, insurance, mortgage (choose your poison) profits exist in a vacuum absent the lowly majority (us) participating, producing, ensuring function - from stocking shelves to transporting goods or documents.

I don't think any economy (good, bad or ugly) can survive or exist without a functioning 'productive class', much less thrive without a healthy one.

How does the top, tiny percent of the wealthy and powerful become/maintain that wealth in the absence of those paid to do work? I don't get it.
---
(Sorry kpete - I'd give you my heart, but I think you're pretty much set for a while. : )

[maryf]

107. Capitalism...

where the profit mongers don't care where the money comes from. It is based on a faulty premise! As someone said above, read some non-capitalist stuff, Marx etc. Here's the part we all need to think about most, IMHO: "don't those products ultimately require some basis in value of true goods - unless they're false (and valueless?)."

[havbrush]

139. Economy or formula for wealth

The only thing needed is labor and a consumer base. American workers are becoming too expensive and China and India have billions of workers who are now becoming consumers, a match made in capitalist heaven. Capitalists don't need to stay national anymore, they've already gone international by seeking out cheaper labor and exporting jobs. Their consumer base will also be found internationally. All that has to done is to set up their factories whereever there is cheap labor and sell their goods to whatever nation has the largest pool of consumers with money in their pockets. It's fast becoming China and India instead of the U.S. What do the capitalist care where their profits come from.

[Hannah Bell]

152. "The miracle of productivity" means lots of goods can be produced with fewer people working.

A global economy means production facilities can be located anywhere on the globe, & goods transported anywhere.

A relative handful of workers in every country is all that's needed for the production work, much like the relative handful that does the agricultural work.

That leaves a lot of people with nothing much in the way of renumerative possibilities.

[lunasun]

91. you can't eat the rich!

They are not on your menu. They are behind closed doors,gates,compounds.islands etc. with private security extending far beyond their personal space. The lower middle class will probably attack the upper middle class , easier access and of course the corporate owned media could help. The middle class will implode

[etong]

143. Well,can we eat the rich ?

I like the title of this message. It made me think, HMMM. Take it from a single hard working mom, I have some meat tederizer in my cabinet,by God i will try. "Donner, party of ME!"

[pundaint]

98. This isn't a "new" war, this is only the mopping up operation.

And this certainly has been and continues to be a crime against humanity.

[upi402]

99. Does this mean I wont be accused of having a tinfoil hat on?

"The mainstream news media will numb us to this horrifying reality"

These are the worst, the trigger-man of democracy's assassination team.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

102. not a war, it just seams that way. it is merely the end of a delusion.

the average man had a small taste of the good life post WWII, now it is back to serfdom.
it sucks. but it was never real.

[Hannah Bell]

153. But it was, quite real. Only people's beliefs about the causes were unreal.

[Greyhound]

103. K&R.

[liberal N proud]

111. It started with Reaganomics

And Newt Gingrich's Contract ON America was a surge.

The bu$h regime and their assault was just the definitive battle. All that remains is the clean up and the Republicans left in Congress are working overtime to insure that nothing changes this path to destruction.

[Larry Ogg]

138. As long as progressives and liberals think that the puppet Reagan was, "when it all started,"

they will never be able to help solve the problem.

Even the Federal Reserve act of 1913 was not the beginning; of the which a hand full of puppet democrats unconstitutionally slipped it through the cracks.

The truth is that the assaults from financial predators have paralleled every civilization whether ancient or modern, regardless of political tool, they are why empires fall into ruin, and America has been in their cross hairs from the very beginning, and venal politicians are always quick to give them what they want. And I think it would be safe to say that Republicans don't have a monopoly on venal politicians; if ya know what I mean...

[adamuu]

113. The Middle Class produced many Republican voters

The "Keep your grubby hands off my money" crowd who is happy as long as there is someone poorer than they are.

[geckosfeet]

114. The primary goal is to transfer all the wealth held by the middle class

to the business and elite classes.

Eventually the business and elite classes will duke it out using the impoverished ex-middle class as cannon fodder for their wars.

This will effectively create a single ruling class with a massive slave and labor class.

Only partial sarcasm.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

117. Time to change our thinking

How are we going to change America if we don't change the way we think?

Reading all the responses some have great ideas.

A change in the election process? Corporate owned, can't see it happening.
A change to corporate personhood. Who the hell is going to change that? See above.
The same idea goes with any idea that would have "change" begin in Washington.
We can't even get Health Care Reform *discussed* with any truth. Basic, or so you would think.

We are going to be left with only one choice, the "R" word.
Violent or peaceful, it may be the only choice we have left in our arsenal.

Doom and gloom? Come to my beautiful Michigan neighborhood.
Once a great working class place to be, is now the poster child for unemployment.
People are getting real pissed. Losing homes, wives, children ... Hope.
They are armed, right now, only to protect their property .... from each other, friends and neighbors.

It will take no stretch of the imagination to have them mount a war on this nation.
There will be nothing to lose in the current future for some, the near future for many more.

This summer will be a very interesting time, more foreclosures, more unemployment, less or money just flat running out.
Remember when, back in the race riot days, when the weather got hot, peoples tempers got even hotter.

I hate to even think about this in what I considered "My America".
But I think the writing is on the wall.

[rhett o rick]

118. We know we are at war. We need a leader and strategies. nt

[starzdust]

119. In Reply to the 3rd poster...

Have you recently had your electricity cut off for not being able to afford to pay it? I have..

Have you recently accessed your health insurance due to mental and physical chronic illness and been to told you have to pay X, Y and Z BEFORE you can be treated? I have and was released too soon from the hospital because my insurance company cut off the money.

Have you recently had to eat peanut butter and crackers for a solid week because you have no money to buy food? I have...

Have you been forced to miss doctor's visits because you didn't have the money for gas for the trip? I have...

Have you been audited for 6 straight years by the IRS even though I have filed and paid my taxes each and every year. I take home under 30K per year and I still get the audit.

I have a job and so called health insurance. I am a federal worker, single and work in the middle of now where. Our union is weak, we pay about 40% of our medical insurance plus every conceivable deduction under the Sun the feds can think of to pull out of our paychecks...

I have serious depression, anxiety disorder and chronic physical illness that will never go away. Do you think either my employer or anyone else for that matter gives a damn? Of coarse not.

So, yes, you're damn right I do feel that I am under siege by all three branches of this government.

[Paper Roses]

120. I think some of the big whigs ought to rethink their aims.

If they eliminate the middle class, who is left to keep them supplied with an never-ending bankroll?

If all of us can just get by paying our bills, we will make no unnecessary purchases made, no extra treats, no new TV's, low end cars, thrift shops will be our main source of clothing. We'll all have to change our way of living to such a degree that the money we spend will go only for survival

The coffers of the rich will take a big hit. They will have only themselves from whom to buy.

I have already started my bare-bones living. Just paid my bills and guess what, I have precious little left for any other purchases.

I talked to my home town banker a few days ago. This is a tiny bank with a stellar reputation. As much as I don't trust banking as a general entity, these folks have always done well by the townspeople here and is on sound financial footing.

My banker has given me a lot of time and attention with advice and help through a very bad time in my life, the death of my husband. Never has he given me any advice that was not logical. My accountant and the estate lawyer agree. If you have to use an bank and not a Credit Union, go to your local, small bank. You'll have a big surprise, after one ot two meetings, they'll even know your name!

I bet if there was a poll done on how many people have started to take anti-depressants, the count would be huge. At least there are some generic Anti-D's available for $4.00 a month at Target.

Speaking of pills, do you all check the big discounts offered on Generic drugs through Target, and other big chains. I will not go to "you know who", they messed one up on me.(never mind that they messed up every retail business in just about every town in the country.Always bring your new paper script and check the list before filling a prescription. All the big guys want your $4.00 business.

I just hope I never need anything that costs much more than $4.00. I'm sure many of us who have to take expensive meds are distraught. If we can't afford the pills, big pharma will suffer, they will have to taste their own medicine, the rest of us can't.



Getting old is not something I am enjoying but more than that factor, I find myself worrying about me children and grandchildren. Where is this all going?

As far as I can see, for us un the middle, it is going nowhere but down...and fast.

[Uben]

122. Uh, it's been happening for 30 years!

This is one article that's a little late in coming. It's like reporting on the attack at Pearl Harbor
in 1972! Not only have they robbed us through taxation, but through lack of regulation, lack of representation and outright election fraud.

As long as you hold no one accountable, they will go along on their merry way of raping and pillaging America.

I think the general feeling in congress is, "If you can't beat em, be one of them!" Everyone wants to be rich, including elected officials, and the rich want to be richer. The poor? Well, you can only be so poor. No money is no money! They will continue to find pockets of the public where they can bilk money. They've hit homeowners, investors, and small businesses. Who's next? Take your pick. If they have money, they are on the list.

[fascisthunter]

126. It's Ironic Because People Came to this Country for the Opportunity

to become part of a middle class.

[uberllama42]

131. Why would the elite want to radicalize people?

Wouldn't the powers that be want people to be fat and happy, so they don't rock the boat? People in the middle class have a stake in society continuing on the way it is. If people are desperate, they try to change things. The rich, by definition, are doing rather well for themselves. If there's a huge body of radicals calling for change, their gravy train is at risk.

The idea that everything that happens to force the middle class into poverty is a big conspiracy doesn't make any sense.

[kgnu_fan]

135. Nobody wants to be holding the bag at the end of Ponzi scheme

So cashing in now makes sense to some who still have some.

[Uncle Joe]

136. Ask the the 18th century French why their kings and queens spent that nation's precious resources on

opulent palaces while the people were oppressed and starved.

When FDR tried to lift the nation out of the Great Republican Depression of the 30s, his wealthy peers said he was a "traitor to his class."

Extreme power and wealth corrupts because it separates and disconnects people from the vast majority of humanity's afflictions, a few can overcome this bubble but the dynamic is ongoing and powerful, successive generations born to wealth and power have even less connection to the people and thus less concern for their welfare.

What's wrong with a CEO making 26 times their average worker's salary as they did in the late 80s, apparently that wasn't enough to satisfy their greed lust, today they make 300 times. I view greed lust in the same light as being addicted to crack and that 300 to 1 ratio will not be enough for some of them. This is a direct result from conflict of interest laden boards more concerned about their own pay and bonuses than representing the best long term interests of their company, employees and stockholders.

Whether the conspiracy; is a conscious one or committed by the collective subconscious, the effect is the same.

[Hannah Bell]

154. "The rich" don't have to live here. They have the whole globe.

And without cash, it's hard to get a revolution started.

Historical revolutions typically had behind the scenes backers with lots of green. This includes even social revolutions, i.e. the civil rights movement.

[Leopolds Ghost]

134. Wealth has to come from somewhere, you know. $$ value is relative. You can only be relatively richer

The rich can only get richer by lowering the relative purchasing power of the non-rich. This is because value (as measured in currency) is a unit of EXCHANGE.

People who imagine that wealth is an absolute don't understand that.

The rich have masked this for decades by increasing absolute standard of living for the middle class by deluging them in credit purchases for luxury items that would have been considered profligate spending a generation ago (multiple cars in every garage, 6,000 sf houses, etc.) but this system can only last so long before they have to either collect on the middle class debt or LOSE their relative wealth ($trillions) that is marked to future collection of said debt.