Yesterday I managed to get into a discussion with a couple of conservative voters who read and commented online about the same Sentinel story. The net result was that I was accused of engaging in class warfare. No denying it. I am. I am sick of those who “have” always getting more and those who have nothing doing without.
Over my lifetime salaries for ordinary working people have left them in the same old rut while the richest Americans saw their incomes constantly increasing. The income gap has been increasing for decades, not decreasing. We thought the American Dream was real and we could be good citizens and work our way up the socioeconomic ladder. We thought that the income gap would decrease. We thought all we had to do was study hard and work hard and we’d find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Except that’s a fairy tale.
But here’s what really torques my jaws: the Republican Party has convinced people who are at the bottom of the ladder that it is their own fault that they can’t get ahead. They are convinced that only the wealthy create jobs. (News alert: teachers and firemen and cops are real jobs that are created by governments.) “If we tax the wealthy, there won’t be any jobs for us, and we’ll never get ahead.” They’ve taught us to fear our own strength in numbers. “Don’t rock the boat, those rich bastards won’t give us jobs.” The wealthy have divided working people. We need to unite. There is strength in numbers.
The reality is that we’ll never get ahead until we start demanding the same benefits that accrue to those at the top. Damn it, I paid into Social Security and Medicare my whole life. We should be calling Social Security an annuity, not an entitlement. I also put as much as I could afford into deferred payment plans. I worked long hours at a very good job for a very long time. Yet I am only marginally better off than my parents were. I had two strikes against me, being born with girl parts and being born into a poor family. And now some assholes in Washington are trying to take away my Social Security and Medicare so that the wealthy can keep their wealth and the military industrial complex can wage war all over the planet, assuring that even more money trickles up, not down.
You bet I’m ready to engage in class warfare. It is time for middle class Americans to stop pandering to the extremely greedy oil and gas companies and hedge fund managers and financial giants, and demand that they share in the sacrifices that we’ve been making for at least the past 40 years. It is time for ordinary Americans to cast their lots with the unions and other workers and tell the Koch Brothers and the National Chamber of Commerce and Dick Armey and Americans for Prosperity (what a joke!) and the corporate funders of ALEC and the richest companies this planet has ever known to stop being unpatriotic, greedy bastards. It is time to share the wealth instead of hoarding it. And keep your Cut, Cap and Balance crap away from my Social Security and Medicare.
Homework:
History of Wage Inequality
Record Gap Between Rich and Poor
Workers Keep Getting More Productive
Racial Wealth Gap
Over my lifetime salaries for ordinary working people have left them in the same old rut while the richest Americans saw their incomes constantly increasing. The income gap has been increasing for decades, not decreasing. We thought the American Dream was real and we could be good citizens and work our way up the socioeconomic ladder. We thought that the income gap would decrease. We thought all we had to do was study hard and work hard and we’d find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Except that’s a fairy tale.
But here’s what really torques my jaws: the Republican Party has convinced people who are at the bottom of the ladder that it is their own fault that they can’t get ahead. They are convinced that only the wealthy create jobs. (News alert: teachers and firemen and cops are real jobs that are created by governments.) “If we tax the wealthy, there won’t be any jobs for us, and we’ll never get ahead.” They’ve taught us to fear our own strength in numbers. “Don’t rock the boat, those rich bastards won’t give us jobs.” The wealthy have divided working people. We need to unite. There is strength in numbers.
The reality is that we’ll never get ahead until we start demanding the same benefits that accrue to those at the top. Damn it, I paid into Social Security and Medicare my whole life. We should be calling Social Security an annuity, not an entitlement. I also put as much as I could afford into deferred payment plans. I worked long hours at a very good job for a very long time. Yet I am only marginally better off than my parents were. I had two strikes against me, being born with girl parts and being born into a poor family. And now some assholes in Washington are trying to take away my Social Security and Medicare so that the wealthy can keep their wealth and the military industrial complex can wage war all over the planet, assuring that even more money trickles up, not down.
You bet I’m ready to engage in class warfare. It is time for middle class Americans to stop pandering to the extremely greedy oil and gas companies and hedge fund managers and financial giants, and demand that they share in the sacrifices that we’ve been making for at least the past 40 years. It is time for ordinary Americans to cast their lots with the unions and other workers and tell the Koch Brothers and the National Chamber of Commerce and Dick Armey and Americans for Prosperity (what a joke!) and the corporate funders of ALEC and the richest companies this planet has ever known to stop being unpatriotic, greedy bastards. It is time to share the wealth instead of hoarding it. And keep your Cut, Cap and Balance crap away from my Social Security and Medicare.
Homework:
History of Wage Inequality
Record Gap Between Rich and Poor
Workers Keep Getting More Productive
Racial Wealth Gap
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