One talks about the Social Security going broke, Medicare and Medicaid are too expensive, Union after union is lost through preplanned bankruptcies. Student aid programs, both public school and college loans were never adequate and are continually reduced in budgets.
The retirement class will rise 12 percent by 2025. A significant number of factory workers remain unemployed or earning a pittance of their factory job. Computerization/Internet will remove another group of people from the workforce.
Armageddon is near
Easing the basic need of the workforce, poor and students is a huge issue. Easing workers who ever more rapidly lose their jobs to technology and global economy have no place to reposition themselves in the world of work. The masses no longer participate in capitalist growth.
If salaries remained comparable to the wages fifty years ago and pension plans remained untouchable, as they were before Reagan, and right-to-work laws had not weakened unions, it would be possible to be laid off in one’s fifties and still have a decent financial position. That second job would make a comfortable lifestyle instead of barely keeping enough food on the table.
This juggernaught of cash flowing toward five percent of the population, unfairly lifted from the deserving population in the economy will only increase. That is 18 million individuals out of 317 million citizens. If one prefers the one percent claim, it is 3 million out of 317 million. These differences do not reflect the algebraic curve of wealth as one nears the top; the wealthiest are really, really wealthy compared to the really wealthy below them.
One may agree with the conservatives that the government is too large. This has nothing to do with taxes. Taxes must be raised by incomparable amounts to offset the disappearance of middle and lower class economy. The taxes should be collected by the IRS and flow back to the public in the form of support for the general public. For example, if the Taiwanese government can pay 100% of college tuition, there is no reason the United States cannot do the same. Most developed nations have free or virtually free health care for every citizen. Why can’t the United States do that?
Capitalism has not been kept under control by the Federal Government; it runs rampant and is becoming unbelievably destructive to the general citizenry.
The mariner sees chaos coming.
Ancient Mariner
I absolutely agree with your last few posts. So, you’ve identified some of the problems facing us. How about a few ideas for what we can do to fix things or at least make a start. I don’t like the idea of just sitting back and watching the world crumble around me. Is all lost? OK, I voted Democratic; what else can I do? Keep up these posts, Ancient Mariner, they make us think.
In reply to Robert Headley: As a rule, the wealthy are the educated. Their power over the masses at the ballot boxes is their ability to manipulate them, primarily with Fox News. It never ceases to amaze me what comes out of the mouths of people who simply parrot the positions of the folks at Fox.
Our only recourse is to try and educate them as to what’s really in their best interest. It’s not easy, hell – it’s maddening. I just try to get them to see all angles, all sides of the issue.
Take for instance health care. It has been repeated so often and for so long that the US has the greatest health care system in the world that they believe it. I know several people who have required medical attention overseas and they tell me the attention they received was first rate ( and they weren’t even charged for the services rendered!). Because the propaganda tells the illiterate masses otherwise, these people are not to be believed. That’s what Fox News is, propaganda. If you repeat something loud enough and long enough it is accepted as truth.
Have you ever seen the commercial where the girl says,” Everything on the internet is true.” as she leaves with some guy pretending to be French she met on an internet dating site.
One of my customers told me that all college professors should be shot because they were Communists teaching the students to follow in their footsteps. That ought to set back higher education a bit.
I just walk away, shaking my head….
I’m not sure what your solution is, Marc, but I certainly agree about Fox News. Didn’t I hear not so long ago that watching Fox News actually lowers your IQ? I think we do have the best health care system with the major caveat — If you can afford it. My wife and I have had the opportunity to use health care in Belgium, France and England; we found them absolutely first rate and affordable. The doctor in Belgium actually returned our fee (16 Euros) because he said that all he did was put a bandaid on a blister. So, I hope ,while we’re walking away shaking our heads,that we’re on our way to do something constructive to make this a better country. I guess the whole problem is education, and I do wonder if we’re not getting dumber. Maybe the Ancient Mariner will tackle that on of these days.