Rock_nj > sometimes things have ebbed in favor of the small guy like in the 1930s and 1960s, but all in all the big boys have kept their hand on the throttle of democracy and not let it get out of hand
That's true, in fact, capitalism has been a central theme of the US I imagine since its inception. At the times when the system seemed to favor the small guy it became more socialist until the US even seemed to be a socialist country. Now, of course, it is truly capitalist again and for the first time for most of us we see the ugly face of capitalism. One had read about it but never seen it because it hasn't existed since the 1930s.
In my opinion, the reason why the pendulum has swung so far back from socialism or quasi-socialism to extreme or fascist capitalism is because of profound anxieties about the economy -- and, as you know better than I do, with good reason. Burgeoning debt, adverse balance of payments, foreign ownership of more than 50% of national debt, unemployment, loss of manufacturing capability, loss of jobs overseas, Mexicans and other Hispanics pouring in all the time through "porous" borders and all this leading to the collapse of the dollar. It is for some years now that Americans have told me that middle class people cannot survive on just the husband and wife working but that both needed at least two jobs, especially the husband, and this has made me cognisant of the difficulty that is confronting the ordinary person. I have witnessed (on TV etc) how the rich have become super-rich while, at the same time, the condition of the poor has gotten worse. Frankly, I think this is obscene.
I don't believe I'm a socialist but I do believe there has to be a balance in the society and that a priority is that there shouldn't be poverty -- even if it means having to tax the very wealthy to achieve it. I know one can't make the poor rich by making the rich poor but there has to be a solution.
As I see it, what is happening with the new Amerikan Empire is an attempt to find that solution by grabbing someone else's oil -- thereby making the American rich even richer in the hope that some of the lolly will trickle down to the poor. Of course, I don't believe that will ever happen. In fact, I don't believe the wars will make the rich richer -- the whole nation will become poorer -- and especially the poor, if that is at all possible. And, while this is going on the nation will be hated by others.
I have to tell you I am actually very sorry for what is going on in the US. I have always had the greatest respect and fondness for America and Americans. Indeed, much of what I hold dear -- jazz, education, ideas of liberty -- have derived from America. But I do feel this administration has gone the wrong way about finding a solution to the national problems. That is why I am so outspoken and so critical. |
