It’s Ignorance, Stupid

The greatest threat to the lives, safety, and welfare of Americans in not Taliban or al Qaeda terrorists, but the top 1% of wealthy Americans who are doing everything their money can buy to further the ignorance of Americans.  Their interest is totally self serving and aimed at keeping political reins on any and all politicians that might derail their quest for more and more wealth for themselves and their families.  These people are not satisfied with the reality that while they constitute 1 percent of the population, they control 40 percent of the wealth. Altogether, the top 20 percent of Americans have 93 percent of all of the wealth in America.  When one mentions this fact, those having this disproportionate share of American wealth cry class warfare.  Unfortunately for 80 percent of Americans, this is no longer class warfare as the war is over and 80 percent of Americans lost that war.  If you wonder why there are no jobs, you only have to look at the CEOs.  Today, on average, CEOs earn 531 times the pay of average hourly workers.  That is an increase up from 42 times the average hourly worker’s pay in 1980.  Rather than calling this envy, consider the fact that there is only so much money available for payroll and if such a disproportionate share is going to a few CEOs, what does that leave for other employees?  To make matters worse, when CEOs cannot squeeze enough concessions from domestic employees, they ship jobs off shore where they can "buy" cheaper labor and pay themselves an even larger share of the payroll.  Here is the number one reason the country is still in recession.  The average worker is barely able to keep up with inflation while the top 1 percent have tripled their income. The problem with this is very simple.  There are not enough consumers in the top 1 percent to grow the economy.  If everyone in the top 1 percent purchased a new car each and every month of the year there would not be enough demand to start another shift at the car factories.  While the richest 400 people have more wealth than the bottom 155 million people, the richest 400 cannot create anywhere the demand needed to reverse a recession.  Not satisfied with “almost having it all”, these people are now using their wealth to buy politicians who will continue to enact legislation that breeds inequality.  They have succeeded in convincing too many Americans that people employed by government do not deserve their jobs.  They have convinced Americans who would never have to pay a cent in inheritance tax to push for repeal of “the death tax” which would only affect them.  The wealthy 1 percent have financed the Tea Party, (Taxed Enough Already),  who presently enjoy the lowest tax rates in recent times,  that taxes are too high and government spends too much (except for defense!).  Rather than recognizing that a recession is caused by a lack of spending or making it known that when spending drops off in the private sector, only government can spend sufficiently to prevent or reverse an economic downturn, the top 1 percent and their puppets in political office, on talk radio, or on FOX TV spin lie that the problem in America is too much government and too much government spending.  All the while, America has fallen behind in educating American children in math, reading, and science and lags behind many other countries in percent of citizens graduating from college.  Today, America is only number 1 in percentage of citizens incarcerated in penal institutions.  Unfortunately, we are not getting smarter but more ignorant.  The country has failed to learn that a President with “business experience” is, in part, the cause of today’s unemployment, deficit, and recession.  There is a very good chance that the next President will be elected because less than 400 people contributed up enough money to convince 51 percent of people going to the polls that they would be better off if the wealthy kept more of their already inflated income.  These 400 people do not need nor will they ever need government to do anything but buy the products and services from their companies and not spend a dime on anything else.  They send their children to private schools so they do not need public education.  They can afford tuition for their children at the most expensive universities so they do not need low cost student loans or lower tuition at state colleges and universities.  They live in gated communities protected by private security so have little or no need for police protection.  And, if you are the average citizen getting your news from Rush, Glen, or Fox you will listen to their line of bullshit and vote to give them more while giving yourself less.  That, my friend, is what I call stupid.  That is what most would call ignorance.