Video - Speech delivered at Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, March 5, 2011
HuffPo | America is not broke.
Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.
Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.
And I can see why. For us to admit that we have let a small group of men abscond with and hoard the bulk of the wealth that runs our economy, would mean that we'd have to accept the humiliating acknowledgment that we have indeed surrendered our precious Democracy to the moneyed elite. Wall Street, the banks and the Fortune 500 now run this Republic -- and, until this past month, the rest of us have felt completely helpless, unable to find a way to do anything about it.
HuffPo | America is not broke.
Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.
Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.
And I can see why. For us to admit that we have let a small group of men abscond with and hoard the bulk of the wealth that runs our economy, would mean that we'd have to accept the humiliating acknowledgment that we have indeed surrendered our precious Democracy to the moneyed elite. Wall Street, the banks and the Fortune 500 now run this Republic -- and, until this past month, the rest of us have felt completely helpless, unable to find a way to do anything about it.
7 comments:
"Being honest about what (is known in BD's) heart to be true" half of America DOES NOT DESERVE any of that wealth because they are useless irresponsible parasites (IQ-75's, OOW breeding social services spongers, disabled drunks/druggies, etc.) and criminal predators. Those living off the labor fruits of the responsible productive half who do legitimate work, particularly the most wealthy of those who have created the enterprise that keeps the whole process functioning. Most more intelligent folks who have made wise decisions, postponed gratification, did not squander every dime on bling, substances,risky sexual relationships and fast living, and who invested prudently, are comfortable among the the wealthy half...
[CNBC had a terrific special last night about the huge shoplifting industry, nationwide teams looting chain stores and selling (toothpaste, OTC drugs, clothes, packaged food, other small expensive items, etc) at flea markets to customers who mostly know the stuff is stolen...]
Big Don is not very familiar with the Bell Curve nor how statistics work. IQ 75's (and less) only comprise 5% of the total population. Not HALF. I will say, however, that BD's heart is full of irrational honesty.
Those living off the labor fruits of the responsible productive half who do legitimate work, particularly the most wealthy of those who have created the enterprise that keeps the whole process functioning.
lol,
BD's conspicuously lawyer-like phrasing tickles me..., "legitimate work".
Funny thing will be watching how this qualified statement metastasizes in light of what we all know about which way "the enterprise that keeps the whole process functioning" is inevitably headed.
Hypertiger puts us at 1930 Weimar, with 2016-17 being the equivalent of 1933. He sets 1939 as 20 years from now - and only then will the rapid elimination of multitudes become narratively feasible. The kwestin begged here, however, is whether or not stable governance by the Top can be maintained for such an extended period of time in the context of decentralized Interweb communications?
i.e., are the Top's best laid plans at risk because of the variables that have given rise to bottom-up knowledge of the Top's existence and its machinations?
Regardless of the future of American enterprise, the whole rest of the world is doing their damnedest to get to America, if they can, which pretty much says it all regarding the qualities that provide the best living standards. Many of them lusting for the free ride...
BTW, how they doin' in Zimbabwe...yeah...
Dale,, if you read that carefully (the LOOZer classes listed in parentheses), the IQ-75's are just one component of the non-deserving half.
That is the problem Big Don, our citizens want to believe that it makes us feel superior, but it is not reality or recent truths. I even debate some of my closest Afro-American friends who are stuck on that. Those who are coming are smaller group and just want a steady income for short period of time, why most Africans get only 2 year work visa now. You really need to upgrade your thought list for a better play list on your ruminations. And all here should read the NY Times article : Armies of Expensive Lawyers, eplaced by Cheaper Software. This is an interesting take from http://www.theglobalist.com/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=8243
Over the centuries, this difference has become magnified and distorted, with the United States very much dominated by a strict orthodoxy protecting individual rights of property and ownership.
In Europe, on the other hand, the idea of the social contract has been extended to the notion that companies and businesses must earn their commercial rights by operating in a socially legitimate fashion and by accepting the responsibilities that accompany ownership.
In an age of globalization, this is a doctrine that has greater utility for the greatest number of people, since it provides the flexibility to fine-tune certain parts of a nation's economy.
Rather than being locked into rigid and even fundamentalist notions of property and commercial rights, a nation can subject these rights to negotiation and compromise via the vehicle of a pluralistic, representative government.
The political process then is what allows the economic process to be harnessed for the good of all, subject to ratification by a consensus of all sectors of society.
That's why the European approach of a society that balances property rights with social obligation is a better fit for today's world.
Ah, so those others total to 45%? Although it's been a while since I looked into it, I bet you'd be hard pressed to get your total past 20% with the LOOZERS you've represented. Now, however, if you include retired LOOZERS sponging off of hard working young people I bet you could easily get to 40%.
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