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Why aren’t Americans saying: “I’m mad as hell and I won’t take it any more!”?
The mainstream media and our politicians are not telling us the truth. We are being told that we just need to accept our lower standard of living and most Americans seem willing to accept that reality because they keep sending most of the exact same bozos back to Washington D.C….[Why are they not screaming to their political “representatives” that they are as mad as hell and not willing to take it any more?] Words: 1270
So says Michael Snyder (www.TheEconomicCollapse.com) in edited excerpts from an article* which Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (It’s all about Money!), has further edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and reformatted below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement. Snyder goes on to say:
To make ends meet many American families are going into even more debt and more American families than ever are turning to government assistance. [In fact,] right now, more Americans than at any other point since World War II are flat broke and have lost hope. Until this changes, the frustration level in this country is going to continue to grow.
Below are 10 facts about the financial condition of American families that will blow your mind:
- Only 58% have a job
- Only 56% are currently covered by employer-provided health insurance
- The median yearly wage is $26,261
- The average household debt is $75,600
- Only 5% of households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975
- Families are approximately $7.7 trillion poorer than they were back in early 2007
- The poorest 50% now own just 2.5% of all the wealth in the United States
- Approximately 21% of all children in the United States were living below the poverty line in 2010
- More than 44 million are living on food stamps, and nearly half of them are children
- Close to 20% of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 do not have a job
Where in the world did all of the good jobs go? Well, the truth is that millions of them have been shipped overseas. Our politicians promised us that merging our economy with the economies of other nations where it is legal to pay slave labor wages to workers would not create more unemployment inside America. They were dead wrong – the job losses continue to get worse – and as the U.S. economy has started to slow down again we are starting to see another huge wave of layoffs all over America.
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It is not just the globalization of the economy that is destroying our jobs. The federal government bureaucracy has become so oppressive that hiring workers has become so complicated and so expensive that many small business owners want to avoid it at all cost. [Frankly,] it is amazing that anyone is still willing to hire workers in this day and age…[Indeed,] if you are a blue collar worker, you should give up hope that things are going to get better. The system has failed you – and you can stop waiting for the “good jobs” to come back. They aren’t coming back.
As our economic system continues to degenerate, Americans are going to become increasingly desperate and, sadly, desperate people do desperate things. Already we are beginning to see signs that the fabric of American society is starting to be ripped to shreds.
There is a limit to how many people we can actually put in prison. The reality is that the number of Americans in prison has nearly tripled since 1987. Our prisons are already dangerously overcrowded. As society falls apart, many communities will simply not be able to shove more people behind bars. Even with our prisons stuffed to the gills, many of our largest cities continue to be transformed into absolute hellholes. Detroit is now the 3rd most dangerous city on the entire planet and New Orleans is now the 9th most dangerous city on the entire planet. What are our leaders doing about all of this? What is going to happen if the economy gets even worse? Well, they appear to be too busy fighting with each other and cheating on their wives to do much about our problems…
This country is a complete and total mess. Tens of millions of American families are flat broke and are about to slip into poverty. Meanwhile, our politicians continue to prove that they are some of the most corrupt on the planet.
[Gus Lubin, also of www.TheEconomicCollapse.com, goes on to say in another article** that] there are many out there that still believe that America has a bright future ahead – but it is getting really hard to see why anyone could possibly believe that. While politicians gloat about our “recovery,” our poor are getting poorer, our average wages are still falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low… [While it is true that] if you are in the top 1%, life in America is grand [but a look at some facts about life in the United States reveal some disturbing realities:]1. The gap between the top 0.01% and everyone else hasn’t been this big since the Roaring Twenties
This chart shows average income of the top 1% as a multiple of average income of the bottom 90% (via The Nation).
4. The wealth gap has spread dramatically in the past 20 years!
5. The disparity in pay of the average CEO and both that of the average production worker and the Federal minimum wage has expoded over the past two decades.
6. Real average earnings have not increased in 50 years – that’s HALF A CENTURY!
7. Savings rates have declined since 1982 as Americans borrow money to keep up although they’re rising now.
8. Poor Americans have a SLIM CHANCE of rising to the upper middle class despite the myth of social mobility.
9. The wealth gap has been significantly increased by Republican tax cuts.
10. Income taxes keeps getting lower and lower for the rich.
11. America redistributes its wealth FAR LESS than other developed countries (via government transfers)
12. America’s income spread is nearly twice the OECD average.
13. The income gap is NOT growing in other countries, like France
14. Income inequality is worst in the South, South West, South East and North East.
15. Normalized to 1979, the top 1% have seen their share of America’s income more than double. The bottom 90% have seen their portion shrink. Source: Afferent Input
Conclusion
[As mentioned previously,] most Americans don’t understand what is happening because neither the mainstream media nor our politicians are telling them the truth. We are being told that we just need to accept a lower standard of living and most Americans seem willing to accept that reality because they keep sending most of the exact same bozos back to Washington D.C….
*http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/broke-10-facts-about-the-financial-condition-of-american-families-that-will-blow-your-mind
**http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-inequality-in-america-2011-11#ixzz1TEUUSZ9s
Related Articles:
- America: The 42nd Most Unequal Country in the World! https://www.munknee.com/2011/03/america-the-42nd-most-unequal-country-in-the-world/
- Are America’s Wealthy Unpatriotic? https://www.munknee.com/2011/03/in-this-time-of-economic-crisis-are-americas-wealthy-unpatriotic/
- “Financial Repression” May Soon Become Our Worst Nightmare! Here’s Why https://www.munknee.com/2011/06/%e2%80%9cfinancial-repression%e2%80%9d-may-soon-become-our-worst-nightmare-heres-why/
- Get Ready: Economic Hell is Coming! https://www.munknee.com/2011/06/get-ready-economic-hell-is-coming/
- Americans Are Hurting And It’s Going To Get Worse – Here’s Why https://www.munknee.com/2011/02/americans-are-hurting-and-its-going-to-get-worse-much-worse-heres-why/
- 22 Statistics That Prove the Middle Class is Being Systematically Wiped Out of Existence in America http://www.businessinsider.com/22-statistics-that-prove-the-middle-class-is-being-systematically-wiped-out-of-existence-in-america-2010-7#83-percent-of-all-us-stocks-are-in-the-hands-of-1-percent-of-the-people-1
Editor’s Note:
- The above article consists of reformatted edited excerpts from the original for the sake of brevity, clarity and to ensure a fast and easy read. The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered.
- Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given as per paragraph 2 above.
Editor’s Comments:
Surely this situation can not continue. Surely, greater income equality must come about to fulfill the country’s meme of “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all and not just the priviledged few. If not, it begs the following questions:
1.What will the event be that causes the average poor, disadvantaged and down-trodden American to finally scream out loud of their frustrations with the current ”American way?”
2.When will he/she get the courage to tell his/her political representative is Washington and in his/her state capital that “I am mad as hell at being taken advantage of and can not – and will not – take it any more!”?
3.When will he/she get the courage to say, “You are now on notice to stop playing politics and do what you were elected to do – represent my best interests. If you don’t you won’t get re-elected and that is not a threat – just a promise!”
4.When will he/she go so far as to convey the consequences of political inaction or self-serving action by saying via every means available, “If my next representative fails to do what he/she was elected to do then social unrest will naturally follow. Our country was founded on the refusal to accept injustice and oppression in its many forms. We rebelled once in our history and we will do it again – if necessary!”?