"It's not just income
disparity that's a problem.
"Consider how this all started.
"A bunch of smart people
set up a kind of scam
using complex financial instruments
that no one can understand.
They got rich beyond all imagination,
while the rest of us lost our jobs,
lost our retirement money,
lost, in some cases, our homes.
"And then we were told that
there was no money for our cops,
no money for our firefighters,
our nurses, our teachers.
"And next we'll be told
that our Social Security check
will be smaller and we'll have to wait
another year or two
to get our Medicare.
"Meanwhile, the rich,
represented ably by the Republicans,
refuse to pay one dime in extra taxes."
-- Over in England, the elites are debating the causes of the
widespread looting and property destruction that has been
spreading throughout the country like a wildfire.
Roving packs of young people from the underclass are breaking
into high-end stores and taking whatever they want. They're
robbing people in broad daylight with no concern that most of
their actions are being captured by the ubiquitous cameras that
film nearly every square-inch of England's cities. They're
lighting cars and shops ablaze and then attacking the firefighters
and police with projectiles.
We know the spark that lit the match was the shooting death of a
black man in the Tottenham section of North London, but that
doesn't explain why people are rioting in South London and
Nottingham and Birmingham and Manchester, and even in Glouchester.
It's hard to come up with one single answer.
First of all, the same thing has been happening right here
in Philadelphia all year long. It's just on a smaller scale. For
example, this is from late June.
UPPER DARBY A mob of about 40 people stormed into the Sears
department store on 69th Street Thursday, and in a flash stole
thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, officials said.
Police were able to round up 15 juveniles and one adult, 19, all
from West Philadelphia.
"They came in on the El train and hit Sears," police
Superintendent
Michael Chitwood said. "They stole sneakers, socks, watches,
whatever they could get their hands on, and left."
I think these girls in England [links below] have as good
an explanation as you're going to find. Having looted alcohol from
a local shop, they calmly explained to a BBC reporter that the
riots were all about showing the rich, the government, and the
police that they could do whatever they want.
When asked why they were destroying their own community, they said
they were attacking the shop owners and people with money. And
they thought the whole enterprise was a great deal of fun.
Sometimes people say that there is no real left-wing in America,
and that's kind of true in Britain, too. But we *do* have a
left-wing. It's just a left-wing designed to kill the seductive
power of communism and to build a bulwark against anarchism.
Different countries chose different ways of responding to the
economic catastrophes of the 1920's and 1930's. The Russians
became totalitarian. Europe succumbed to fascism. We chose a
New Deal.
It was a middle road. It provided a safety net and tolerable
working conditions. It created a huge middle class. It didn't
arouse the far right or far left instincts of the nation, but put
them into sleep mode.
Now we're back to 1920's level of income disparity. Conservatives
are attacking every aspect of the New Deal.
What rich people seem to be forgetting is that the opposite of the
New Deal is not some idyllic paradise of free-market bliss.
The opposite is rampaging mobs who light shit on fire just to show
you that they can do whatever they want. Eventually, that can
include burning down your business or your house, or, maybe,
even taking your life.
And it's not just income disparity that's a problem.
Consider how this all started.
A bunch of smart people set up a kind of scam using complex
financial instruments that no one can understand. They got rich
beyond all imagination, while the rest of us lost our jobs, lost
our retirement money, lost, in some cases, our homes.
And then we were told that there was no money for our cops, no
money for our firefighters, our nurses, our teachers.
And next we'll be told that our Social Security check will be
smaller and we'll have to wait another year or two to get our
Medicare.
Meanwhile, the rich, represented ably by the Republicans, refuse to
pay one dime in extra taxes.
With that kind of attitude and that lack of accountability, it's
not hard to see why some people might start losing hope and might
start losing respect for "the system."
If the rich don't wise up quick, the scenes from England will be
coming to America. Bet on it.
Links included here:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/8/10/114513/417
<http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/8/10/114513/417>
