Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Rich And Poor

All the measures of the government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer amd the poor poorer.

President William Henry Harrison
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"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

President Harrison (1773 - 1841) made the above statement 3 centuries ago. Imagine the prescience. He spoke those words before the robber barons came on the scene in full force, before the Civil War, before labor union organizers were shot, before both world wars, before Karl Marx, before the threat of Communism, before Reaganomics, before the Tea Party started running away frightened from an imaginary ogre called Socialism, and here we are in the 21st Century facing the same dilemma about how our country is run as Harrison did so many years ago.

The purpose of any business, enterprise, industry, manufacturing or agriculture is to create wealth. But why should that wealth only go to the wealthy? Why must the wealthy ride on the backs of the lower and middle classes? Why do they want to disestablish the unions that take care of the working person? Why do they want to deprive health care to those who can't afford the exorbitant premiums and whimsical reimbursement policies of the insurance companies? Why do the wealthy say that people are homeless because they refuse to work when their jabs are taken away and sent overseas and the buildings they could afford to live in are taken down and replaced by towers of apartments only wealthy yuppies can afford? Why do they want to deprive older Americans of financial security, men and women who can't work any more? Why do they want to deprive veterans of the compensations they need? Why do major corporations manipulate their fees and prices for the sake of mere shareholder value? Why don't the wealthy pay their fare share of taxes? Why is Congress playing checkers with our future? IT'S NOT A GAME.

We've been through the ridiculous charade of trickle down economy. Even a Conservative friend of mine had to admit that the bottom never even got damp.

There is nothing ethically wrong with the rich getting richer. It's the other end of the equation we should all be fighting against, rich and poor. We should all be getting wealthier. This is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, but it is slowly becoming, or has already become, two nations: the land of the rich and the home of the poor.

Never give up
Dana Bate
Vagabond
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SUMMER QUESTION

It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.

Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

12 answers so far.

You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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4 comments:

pacifica62 said...

Perhaps what is needed is a good old fashioned revolution. This entry offers a lot of food for thought. I know I am getting sick of being taxed to death so that the rich can get even richer. I will go out on a limb and say that we would be much better off under socialism. Everyone would have what they needed but no one class would be taking advantage of the poor.

Geo. said...

"Even a Conservative friend of mine had to admit that the bottom never even got damp"

Having often been close to the bottom, especially in the early '70s, I must differ with your friend's opinion. Trickle-down economics did get me damp but it smelled awful.

Big Mark 243 said...

Ah... the tyranny of power... what surprises me is how the success of the brainwashing that has taken place among the masses... how many people mistakenly believe that the tax burden that is being asked of the wealthy is too great, even when compared to the burden placed upon the other classes? Power is just as disproportionately distributed as wealth but it could be corrected if there was leadership willing to make the choices that are necessary for balance in America.

Unfortunately, it seems that leadership goes to the highest bidder... and our vaunted democracy is merely a shell of itself....

Ken Riches said...

It is tragic that the bottom rung is being ignored through what little negotiation is taking place.