This is all true, perhaps - but unless most Americans can read and think about things and come to smart conclusions about all of this, about half will vote for Republicans, as they have in the past, sure that they can fix the deficit and everything else that ails this country. I think nothing will change except we will move more and more toward being a country with increasingly wealthy and increasingly needy and a tiny middle class. To change this course would take too much effort, intelligence, energy and cohesiveness. FDR tried to turn things around with his Great Society, and did a pretty good job. But his ideas are exactly what Repugs want to undo and if they succeed and we go along with it, it will be a mess. We will be, and already are fast becoming - the opposite of a socialist country. Maybe some sort of catastrophe would get people thinking, or an incredible leader. Or if jobs don't come back people might start to aggitate. Right now, corporations are doing extremely well, increasing dividends, have money to burn, pay CEO's a fortune every year, and still are not hiring. There are many articles out there lately with all this info about how the top 1% control so much wealth, pay almost nothing in taxes, etc - but there seems to be no organized means to change it. And the national attention span is too short to digest this type of information. I guess you could say I am not optimistic today.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <rick@...> wrote: > > From Thom Hartmann's blog: > > Today - America has wealth inequality levels higher than at any other time > since right before the Great Depression. In other words - the rich have a > lot more money than everyone else. The problem is - most Americans have no > idea just how unequal this nation is. Looking at a new study out of Duke and > Harvard Universities - the vast majority of Americans incorrectly guessed > that the top 20% of richest Americans own roughly 60% of the wealth - the > real figure is that they own more like 84% of the wealth. > > > > And when respondents were asked how much wealth the top 20% SHOULD own - 92% > of respondents turned out to be complete SOCIALISTS - preferring a wealth > distribution like Sweden where the top 20% only own 36% of the wealth. > Again, that's 92% of respondents preferring a Swedish economic model to the > American model. So why is it that Republicans refuse to budge on raising > taxes for millionaires and billionaires just a few points to 38% - whereas > in Sweden - the top income tax rate is 56%? > > > > Americans have been duped for too long by the Republican Party - and today - > the truth about wealth inequality in America is becoming so glaringly > painful that it can't be ignored any longer. > > > > -Thom >
