American Greed

I've just read an article about how we should repeal the Tax Cuts and cut Defense Spending to balance the budget. Sounds like the right track as millions of middle-class Americans are tightening their collective belt to weather the storm. But what of the ultra-rich? You know, the ones getting the tax cuts that are amounting to trillions (yes, trillions) of dollars. Do we have to endure feeling their pain as well?

Let's get something straight here.Do the rich really need those trillions of dollars? Are they using them in some sort of good way? You know, like taking the money and investing in America's infrastructure and making their beloved "trickle-down economy" really work. Most of these uber-rich people are doing what with the huge amounts of money they're making? Reports that I hear are they're investing in off-shore accounts and the money is just sitting there. Hmmm......trillions of dollars wasting away while some folks are going hungry. Something very morally wrong here. Wait we're forgetting a word that most rich folks hate. Philanthropy. With the obvious exception of Bill Gates, who of you can name anyone who is a modern day philanthropist? I guess it's an outdated word. But I use it because some of these folks need to be made aware of their own mortality.

I see it like this. You are put on this planet and born in a bed like every other baby in the world. It just usually depends on your parents and who they are in the world as to how much you'll be worth when you come of age. Now don't misunderstand me, I'm all for the American Dream and attaining it. I've seen middle-class kids come out of college and make something wonderful of their lives but not to the tune of millions of dollars. It also seems to me that they're just as happy. That said, the ultra-rich live their lives through and do what with the legacy money (millions and millions of dollars)? Usually, it's left to their heirs, who in turn squander it away on lottery-type spending spree or use it to buy what they want and invest the rest to keep the money stream going.

I hear all this talk about the "working man". I really don't believe that folks that do a hard days work really get paid enough. Not when some guy who sits at a desk and pours over figures and charts makes millions a year for doing what? Making their company so viable that they have to borrow money from our tax dollars so they can attain their beloved bonus? Again, this is morally wrong. Don't misunderstand me. I believe business executives should make executive money but control of  it would keep us from having to pay their bonus.. I think it should apply to sports personalities as well. Millions of dollars per year for a guy who is doing something he loves seems a bit of an oxymoron to me. The guys who paved the way for him to make those millions certainly didn't make those millions themselves.

Which leads me to the question of how much money does it take to make you happy? 100 thousand per year? 250 thousand or half a million or a million, would that do the trick? What does the trick is only a few things. Like the roof over your head, paid for? Getting a shower and clean, respectable clothes? Paid for? How about going hungry? Paid for? These are the questions homeless people ask. This is the bottom of social barrel. Do these people want to work? I bet given the chance for gainful employment most of them would take it.

Imagine You're Vladimir Putin

I quick reference to those who think the Russians have nothing to do with our recent election. If not directly involved he must be very interested in what's going on....

Give this a read. I had a conservative friend read it and related that most was true....he gagged a bit on the liberal web site it came from but understood the truth when presented to him....

Kind of a read but worth it to understand the world in a larger scale....

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/12/1640475/-Imagine-you-are-Vladimir-Putin?detail=email&link_id=12&can_id=604db1130ff555278a229d5f2ecae382&source=email-why-hasnt-anyone-asked-donald-trump-this-one-question-2&email_referrer=why-hasnt-anyone-asked-donald-trump-this-one-question-2&email_subject=why-hasnt-anyone-asked-donald-trump-this-one-question

My apologies for not posting anything in like 2 years but I got a life and it took me awhile to get back to this. That said, I found an article  by David Noise on Huff Post that confirms my belief that our country has gone down the tubes, this time once and for all. We are now all corporately owned and getting back will not be an easy task as this has been going on since the 19th century. Here's and excerpt from the article on the making our way back:

This is a reality that liberal reformists rarely address, but it is a critically important issue that highlights the level of focus and commitment needed for real people to wrestle control. This isn’t a problem that can be solved with one or two ambitious pieces of legislation—it is deep and systemic, relating to the very nature of power within the republic. What’s needed is constitutional action put corporate power in its proper place for good, beneath the interests of real people.

Despite the lip service Americans pay to democracy, the apparatus of government is very much in the hands of corporate interests: almost all the lawyers and lobbyists in Washington, DC, work directly or indirectly for corporate interests, with real human beings enjoying no corresponding power or access. With a 24/7 focus on the singular goal of maximizing profit (and worse yet, short-term profit), combined with assets and resources far beyond those of ordinary citizens—and now with even direct influence on the electoral process—corporate interests are the real obstacle to both effective democracy and progressive public policy. If corporations are persons with constitutional rights akin to those of real humans, we must bear in mind that they are extremely powerful, narcissistic, amoral, psychopathic persons. And to the extent that their interests conflict with those of real people, they will fight relentlessly for themselves and they will usually win.
There isn’t one major area of public policy that is not greatly influenced by corporate power. It’s the reason universal healthcare has been such a struggle and the reason the Affordable Care Act doesn’t offer a public option. It’s the reason for massive military budgets. It’s the reason we are privatizing everything from prisons to schools and even, if Wall Street gets its way, Social Security. It’s the reason we’re still “debating” climate change. It’s the reason a vulnerable public is exploited to elect wing-nut politicians who will serve corporate interests when they get into office. It’s the reason labor has been crushed, temporary employment agencies are thriving, and executive pay is absurdly high. It’s the reason that critically important, major regulations (such as the Glass-Steagall Act that was passed to regulate banking during the Great Depression) can be relentlessly attacked and eroded, until they are eventually overturned. In short, it’s the reason progressivism is dead.

Of course it would be nice to think that the United States is slowly becoming less racist, and we can hope that such trends will have some positive effects on public policy. But we would be delusional, and guilty of misleading ourselves, to suggest that such social enlightenment alone will result in a reversal of Wall Street domination and a proliferation of progressive, human-centered policy. As progressives lick their wounds in 2014 and consider the future, they must focus on limiting corporate power. Otherwise, the “liberal conscience” will have little impact on the policy flowing from Washington.


Read the full article here:  http://thehumanist.com/features/articles/paul-krugman-and-the-elephant-in-the-room

Explaining Socialism to a Republican

If you have ever had a hard time trying to explain to your Republican friend that Socialism is NOT a dirty word herein lies the story in which to convince them. Democratic Socialism is the answer and both sides need to embrace it........

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/11/explaining-socialism-to-a-republican/