I was watching a program called Q and A last night and the problem with real wage growth. Was very interesting. Whilst min and avg wages have remained pretty stagnant in the last decade around the world the top wages have climbed something like 40% and the 1% have had massive monetary gains. Unless the pollies can narrow that gap fairly soon then the top 1% could see their lives changed for the worse. History shows us that the minority doesn't stand for that for to long until their is a revolt.
While the pain for the average person has been growing for decades, the sheeple have shown a remarkable tolerance for pain over time, much of which, imo, is because the powers that be have kept them supplied with enough diversions (sports, soaps and reality TV), legal drugs to dull said pain (BEER, liquor, anti-depressants and sleeping pills) along with a healthy dose of brain-washing (Fox News, conservative talk radio and more recently all the bullshit online, conservative, fake news sites like Breitbart and Drudge).
The majority have been so well-controlled that, like the story of the frog placed in a pot of water and slowly boiled to death, they haven't realized what's happening, or have been made so cynical and apathetic that they don't believe they can do anything about it. But the pain is beginning to get to a level that is getting their attention, I think, and hopefully the pendulum will finally start to swing the other way. And the rich had better realize this, that for their own survival it is better to tax the rich than have to eat them, lol.
And btw, before any conservatives start frothing at the mouth ranting about the typical libtard bullshit let me explain one way of looking at it.
Between the two "camps" you have:
Conservatives and Libertarians largely believe that all the systems financial problems are created by big government stealing money from hard-working Americans in order to redistribute wealth to the lazy, poor, moocher-class who are happy to exist simply as leaches on society (because they live sooo comfortably at the poverty level ;?).
And their solution is to give more tax breaks to the wealthy and benevolent corporations so that they will run out and spend that money creating jobs (where no demand exists) which will create more products which people (who don't have any more money to spend) will buy and THAT grows the economy. Meanwhile the poor, the disabled, the physically/mentally handicapped, the single mom's, the elderly and all the rest of the moocher class will be forced to get jobs and stop leaching off society so the government will be able to cut entitlements and give more tax cuts, etc.
Their core beliefs are that we are a nation of strong independent, hardworking people, that we're the best in the world at everything we do. They also believe that there is plenty of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard enough for it, which conversely means that while some in need may be deserving of financial help, the majority of poor are poor simply due to their unwillingness to work hard enough (ergo lazy), and that poverty, for the most part, is a condition that you most likely deserve.
Btw, I've always found conservatives attitudes towards the poor to be hypocritical considering how they also boast so loudly about their strong Christian beliefs. I believe Christ did admonish his followers quite frequently that they are their brothers keeper, that their concern should INDEED be for the welfare of their poorer brethren, and that any who turned a blind eye to the plight of the poor would not enter the gates of heaven. Amazingly unChristian-like attitude, lol.
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Liberals and Independents for the most part, have a more complex view of the problems, and do not tend to believe that big government is the problem in and of itself, but do want government to spend taxpayer's money wisely and not waste it. They understand that a nation as large and complex as ours (which in NO WAY resembles the America of the 50s and 60's and never will again) NEEDS a strong central government, but not an invasive one (perhaps an oxymoron).
As such they understand, as apparently MOST other highly developed nations do, that while higher taxes are a necessary evil, that money must be spent in ways that DIRECTLY BENEFIT THE PEOPLE and NOT to give away or shrink the National Budget by handing out welfare to corporations and the rich! Nor should it be spent on bloated government waste, excessive military spending or exorbitant salaries and perks (i.e. free first class travel, platinum healthcare and outrageous retirement salaries) for elected officials.
That means that corporations MUST be fairly taxed because they depend absolutely on the infrastructure that is built and maintained at taxpayers expense. And FAIRLY may indeed mean lower corporate tax rates, BUT with zero loopholes to avoid said taxes. Same for the rich - know what the tax rate for the top 1% was in the 1940's? It was NINETY PERCENT (on income over $200k or the modern equivalent of $2MM), but now due to all the tax cuts for the wealthy, they are paying less taxes than ever before (save for a period under Reagan)!!
Yet between them and us, the shrinking middle class, who THE FUCK and better afford to pay more taxes??? Sure ain't me, and millionaires and billionaires aren't going to disappear if their taxes were returned to say the 50% level (remember Reagan started this mess by cutting top tax rates from 70% to 28%) AND invented VOODOO ECONOMICS, otherwise known as trickle-down theory of giving huge tax breaks to the rich in order to stimulate the economy, which instead massively ballooned the national debt (btw which Bush Jr. tried and failed and as the Idiot in Chief Trump is trying AGAIN, and doomed to fail as well).
And today the government needs more not less money, in order to sustain our growing/crumbling infrastructure (bridges, road, power grid, telecommunications and a thousand others important items) and YES to maintain an adequate system to protect the poor and elderly so that they are not forced to live in poverty, forced to choose between food or medication or DIE because they couldn't afford health care.
This is actually a core belief for a majority in this country when asked about these questions, that as a nation of compassionate and caring people, we believe that the RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH should not allow it's citizens to suffer needlessly. That's why we did away with things like poor houses and debtors prisons, because we as a whole understand that financial hardship can befall ANY ONE OF US, and that we will stand together and help those in need.
Of course liberals and independents are not blind to the fact that money gets wasted even in these programs, there's ALWAYS those who will game the system and look for a free ride at taxpayers expense, but the answer is to find ways TO IMPROVE these programs, not cut or destroy them and throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Millions of Americans should not be punished and forced to live in desperate poverty simply because 10% of them do so fraudulently.
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Bottom line - we all know that corporations are NOT benevolent powerful entities who have our best interests at heart. We've all seen countless examples that their one and only concern is $$$. That is their God, their sole driving priority, and if people get crushed under the heel of progress, that's just the cost of doing business. So WHO are you going to trust - those who the biggest and wealthiest corporations on Earth openly support, or those who are fighting for the rights and benefit of the average person??? Flawed as some of their ideas may be, certainly with room for improvement, the underlying idea of compassion and fairness for all, as opposed to the harsh conservative ideals of economic Darwinism, i.e. to those deserving goes everything, and to those undeserving nothing.
Well I could continue this rant, lol, but it's a waste of breath. Those who get it do, and those that don't are simply brain-washed tools of the rich and powerful, in my opinion, lol.
