Class Warfare: Who's really waging it?
Lately, both side of the political aisle have been talking about class warfare and I thought it interesting that the book I've been reading for about a week now discusses just this issue and what possibly lies beneath the claims made by both the Democrats and the Republicans. The book is entitled "Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists" and here is an excerpt:
The corporatocracy uses its money and power to try to persuade Americans that it is "populist demagoguery" to even bring up the subject of class war, and that populism means pandering to destructive prejudices. Fortunately, despite the corporactocracy's great efforts here, many don't buy it. In March 2009, a Rasmussen Reports poll reported that "55% of Americans Are Populist." They defined populist as trusting the American people's judgement more than America's political leaders, as seeing government and big business as political allies working against the interest of most people, and seeing the federal government as one more special-interest group that is primarily looking after its own needs. Specifically, they asked Americans three questions: 1. Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgement do you trust more - the American people or America's political leaders? 2. Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors? 3. Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?
As stated earlier the poll showed that 55% of respondents could be categorized as populists, which broke down to 52% of Democrats, 62% of Republicans and 51% not affiliated with either party.
I realize that polls can be made to say whatever people or groups want them to say, or at least appear to say, so you have to ask yourself: Do you personally feel that the federal government or the state government seem to be looking out for your best interests? Control of the governing bodies swings from democratic to republican control, but has it felt as if the people of this nation have been in control in the past decade? For an indication of how much control corporations have over our lives, visit this website: http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed, which details how corporations are responsible for all of the state legislation that deals with "voter suppression", "collective bargaining", "privatization of prisons" and so many other policies and bills that the GOP governors have passed around the country.
1) Corporations have benefited from large scale and long lasting wars that have had little REAL benefit to either country involved.
2) Corporations have benefited by pulling finite resources out of the planet, while leaving environmental disasters in their wake: The spill in the gulf and other, more recent spills that have affected the lives of so many Americans, the spread of fracking, which has contaminated the water supplies of entire communities, the coal mine collapses, which were avoidable had safety regulations been adhered to prior to the collapse.
3) Corporations have made record profits in a year when they are laying off people by the tens of thousands and demanding lower taxes, so they can hire people.
a) This article details how 25 of the highest paid U.S. CEOs made more money than their companies paid in taxes. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/31/us-usa-tax-ceopay-idUSTRE77U0KW20110831 and,
b) This article details those companies in which the CEOs not only received exorbitant compensation, while the company laid of tens of thousands of employees, but actually got bigger pay packages http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/ceos-cut-more-jobs-make-more-money.aspx JUST LISTEN TO THE GENTLEMAN HARRY BINSWNGER, WHO IS LISTED AS A LONG TIME ASSOCIATE OF AYN RAND WHO IS THE PHILOSOPHER THAT SO MANY GOP LEADERS IDOLIZE. THIS TYPE OF THINKING MIGHT BE OKAY FOR BUSINESS, BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE APPLIED TO LEADING A NATION. For more on Ayn Rand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ukJiBZ8_4k, but basically she believes that people should at all times only look out for themselves and she idolized serial killers because they epitomized this philosophy. She actually idolized a convicted murderer named William Hickman, who kidnapped and dismembered a 12 year old girl after receiving the randsom from the little girl's father. She was also an atheist.
One thing to think about as we move into the future is that while the cost of living has continued to increase over the years, wages have remained stagnant and have even started to reverse, as for the first time in decades, the median home income has been lowered to those levels seen in 1968. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/13/inflation-adjusted-income_n_960588.html. There is no logic in thinking that corporations which saw record profits this year, should be allowed to make more money by lowering taxes. It does not make since that millionaires should continue to pay less in taxes than the rest of us, because while it may not solve our deficit problem, it is fair. Many millionaires realize this, including Warren Buffett, but if more proof is required, here is a website that consists only of millionaires who believe that the Bush Era Tax cuts were unnecessary, unwise and unwanted: http://patrioticmillionaires.org/ The third video down is a compilation of millionaires who talk about why raising taxes on millionaires in right.
Something has to change and I don't foresee that change coming from the political leaders we have in office now. It's got to come from US.
The corporatocracy uses its money and power to try to persuade Americans that it is "populist demagoguery" to even bring up the subject of class war, and that populism means pandering to destructive prejudices. Fortunately, despite the corporactocracy's great efforts here, many don't buy it. In March 2009, a Rasmussen Reports poll reported that "55% of Americans Are Populist." They defined populist as trusting the American people's judgement more than America's political leaders, as seeing government and big business as political allies working against the interest of most people, and seeing the federal government as one more special-interest group that is primarily looking after its own needs. Specifically, they asked Americans three questions: 1. Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgement do you trust more - the American people or America's political leaders? 2. Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors? 3. Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?
As stated earlier the poll showed that 55% of respondents could be categorized as populists, which broke down to 52% of Democrats, 62% of Republicans and 51% not affiliated with either party.
I realize that polls can be made to say whatever people or groups want them to say, or at least appear to say, so you have to ask yourself: Do you personally feel that the federal government or the state government seem to be looking out for your best interests? Control of the governing bodies swings from democratic to republican control, but has it felt as if the people of this nation have been in control in the past decade? For an indication of how much control corporations have over our lives, visit this website: http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed, which details how corporations are responsible for all of the state legislation that deals with "voter suppression", "collective bargaining", "privatization of prisons" and so many other policies and bills that the GOP governors have passed around the country.
1) Corporations have benefited from large scale and long lasting wars that have had little REAL benefit to either country involved.
2) Corporations have benefited by pulling finite resources out of the planet, while leaving environmental disasters in their wake: The spill in the gulf and other, more recent spills that have affected the lives of so many Americans, the spread of fracking, which has contaminated the water supplies of entire communities, the coal mine collapses, which were avoidable had safety regulations been adhered to prior to the collapse.
3) Corporations have made record profits in a year when they are laying off people by the tens of thousands and demanding lower taxes, so they can hire people.
a) This article details how 25 of the highest paid U.S. CEOs made more money than their companies paid in taxes. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/31/us-usa-tax-ceopay-idUSTRE77U0KW20110831 and,
b) This article details those companies in which the CEOs not only received exorbitant compensation, while the company laid of tens of thousands of employees, but actually got bigger pay packages http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/ceos-cut-more-jobs-make-more-money.aspx JUST LISTEN TO THE GENTLEMAN HARRY BINSWNGER, WHO IS LISTED AS A LONG TIME ASSOCIATE OF AYN RAND WHO IS THE PHILOSOPHER THAT SO MANY GOP LEADERS IDOLIZE. THIS TYPE OF THINKING MIGHT BE OKAY FOR BUSINESS, BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE APPLIED TO LEADING A NATION. For more on Ayn Rand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ukJiBZ8_4k, but basically she believes that people should at all times only look out for themselves and she idolized serial killers because they epitomized this philosophy. She actually idolized a convicted murderer named William Hickman, who kidnapped and dismembered a 12 year old girl after receiving the randsom from the little girl's father. She was also an atheist.
One thing to think about as we move into the future is that while the cost of living has continued to increase over the years, wages have remained stagnant and have even started to reverse, as for the first time in decades, the median home income has been lowered to those levels seen in 1968. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/13/inflation-adjusted-income_n_960588.html. There is no logic in thinking that corporations which saw record profits this year, should be allowed to make more money by lowering taxes. It does not make since that millionaires should continue to pay less in taxes than the rest of us, because while it may not solve our deficit problem, it is fair. Many millionaires realize this, including Warren Buffett, but if more proof is required, here is a website that consists only of millionaires who believe that the Bush Era Tax cuts were unnecessary, unwise and unwanted: http://patrioticmillionaires.org/ The third video down is a compilation of millionaires who talk about why raising taxes on millionaires in right.
Something has to change and I don't foresee that change coming from the political leaders we have in office now. It's got to come from US.
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