Month: February 2018

Who is the majority in America?  There are approximately 124.6 million households in the United States and each household averages three people.  58.2% of households make less than $50,000 per year and more than half of those households make $25,000 a year or less.  This means that 72 million households or approximately 70-140 million voters making $50,000 a year or less are the majority of Americans.  This should be the most powerful voting block in the United States!

So why are wages for average Americans so low?  Why is healthcare so expensive?  Why are many companies no longer offering pension plans?  For a family to live comfortably in my working class neighborhood based on a 2 bedroom apartment costing $1000 per month, they would need to earn $52,000 per year plus another $20,000 to cover healthcare and pension.  Many unions that offered the power of collective bargaining have been broken by corporate American.  Workers need a fair shake and opportunities for advanced training.  I don’t have a clear answer to these questions, but I do know that if the majority of Americans voted together for better wages and benefits they would win.

It seems that many of the wealthy want to blame this majority for their own circumstances.  However, I believe they don’t consider many factors that affect income levels.  For instance, opportunity, cognitive, emotional, social, and physical abilities, and moral consciousness (meaning ethical business practices).  Also they seem to devalue physical labor which is essential to the maintenance of our collective infrastructure.  Increased wages would decrease government dependence!  Ironically, government spends about $668 billion annually to help the poor, while the wealthy cost the government $910 billion dollars a year in lost tax revenue due to holding their portion of America’s wealth in offshore accounts.

Before you vote for a candidate, make sure they truly represent your best interests.  And, remember that trickle down has been proven not to work!  Please view “The Big Picture: How We Got Into This Mess” at robertreich.org 

 

FYI:  Over 100,000,000 eligible American voters did not vote in the 2016 Presidential election and half the voters that actually cast a ballot may have been influenced by the Russians.

PLEASE VOTE!  

YOU MAY BE OUR ONLY HOPE!  

IT IS UP TO YOU TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY!

 

Radicalization is a process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideals and aspirations that reject or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of the nation.

This radicalization by some Republicans has become apparent to me so I reviewed the Republican principles that I posted in a previous blog.

1. Smaller government to preserve the sanctity of the individual.
2. Support the federalist system of government meaning less federal government and more state control.  Against centralized government.
3. Fiscal conservatism, limited taxation and government spending to ensure greater individual liberty.
4. Strong national defence.
5. Individual liberties, responsibilities and duties.
6. Tolerance, inclusiveness and responsibilities.

Also, free enterprise, and equal rights, justice and opportunity for all including persons with disabilities, and human rights.

So, when did these principles become conflated with Conservative Christians “…not extending rights to LGBTQ citizens” and “racial resentment” that sees the government as taking money from working whites and giving it to lazy “…black and brown people?” (See  “Yes, The Republican Party has become Pathological.  But Why?” by Lee Drutman in Vox 9/22/2017)  When did science and honorable American institutions become suspect?  What happened to the overlapping values between Republicans and Democrats?

In my view, Republicans became radicalized by Conservative Media over the last 30 years.  With the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine (a policy of the Federal Communications Commission which required holders of broadcast licenses to put forth honest, equitable and balanced news) in 1987, news sources became one-sided and unaccountable to the truth.  Without the enforcement of the FCC, it is up to us to know which sources are honest, equitable and balanced.  There is a highly informative chart rating news services by their political leanings, whether they provide straight news or opinions and whether their news is fair and truthful or false connected to the following link.  Please check it out so that you can be an informed consumer of news.

ALLGENERALIZATIONSAREFALSE.COM 

 

 

…more than a hundred million hard-working Americans who are proud of their livable wage jobs or a few who get to live in lavish, opulent, garish penthouses?  Which is more important, being the greatest country in the world or the greatest individual in the world, succumbing to the myth of rugged individualism?

Some are caught up in the social constructs of appearance, affluence and accomplishment at all costs including ethics, morals, relationships, the environment, and the exploitation of others. Competition at all costs is not healthy for our country.  It is sad to give up your humanity for excess and conspicuous consumption.

We don’t need another multi-billionaire, what we need is a 100,000,000 more jobs that pay a living wage for American families.  Fair pay for a fair day’s work.  Our industry leaders must invest in America’s human capital to make America great again.  We need to lower taxes on companies that pay Americans a livable wage for entry-level jobs that include pension, healthcare and technical or higher education benefits.  The greatest country in the world should be first in science and technology, healthcare, human and civil rights, standard of living, opportunity, education and tolerance for everyone not just the few.