Letters to the Editor
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Jobs
Another factor is the job situation. Whenever people talk about job reductions, it's always in terms of the blue collar factory worker. But the once-secure middle class white collar jobs are being reduced as well - it's just happening one by one instead of in a big chunk, so it doesn't get covered on the news. We've become a "service economy", and those jobs, even if they pay decently, are often less secure. (If the economy really goes downhill, those jobs will be the first to go.) You will have to change jobs, change cities, change career fields - it never stops. You may have periods of unemployment. That may give you more freedom, but it may also add to your financial insecurity and take big chunks out of your savings. I talk to my Dad, who had a rock solid job he could count on for his entire career, and I think "wow, what would that be like?"
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Bunch of socialist nonsense
Nan Mooney is full of socialist nonsense. Collective responsibility? Federal spending? Next we'll be hearing about how the government is responsible for the general welfare, or for securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves — or even our posterity!
If Americans really believed any of that commie nonsense, they would have learned some basic economics, gotten involved in politics, and fought for it themselves 10 or 20 or even 30 years ago. Instead we let professional economists tell us everything we need to know in Time magazine. Much less work!
That should show Nan Mooney and these socialist fifth columnists at Salon that they're out of step with the values of real Americans, who are proud to stand around some more and scratch their heads in confusion while being screwed into submission by the rich, rather than give in to some dumb ideal of government.
Stupid government. Like that's ever done anyone any good.
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Concerted effort to stamp out the middle class
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I feel that there is a concerted effort afoot to stamp out the majority of the American middle class permanently and transform the USA into a 3rd-world country.
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Through the Looking-Glass
It's called indentured servitude. We fell behind our parents 20-30 years ago. The banks own an increasingly large part of homes which are priced astronomically beyond any possible value. Mega-corporations rake in the rest. Value is an artificial construct, and if it's stretched beyond reason, it starts to lose its appearance of inevitability.
How can houses made of cheaper and cheaper materials skyrocket in price? How can a CEO's daily worth be 100 times that of the average worker? When does the quest for the good life become a lifetime of usury?
(Or, at what point do the Top 1% wonder about the exact value of 20% of paper?)
"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
Guess which character is the Republican.
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In 2008 most Americans who have enough money did not earn that money
But they still have this, "If I have it, I must deserve it," attitude. And we who do not have enough money still believe, "If I deserved it, I would have it, so I must not deserve it."
People who have enough dough are lucky, but few of them understand. People who do not have enough are unlucky, but few of them understand. (They need more money, so of course, they cannot relax.)
Hard-working people get laid off becasue their bosses messed up. Smart people get fired because their stupid bosses resent them. People who get money from their moms and dads act as if they are successful American archetypes.
Work hard. Good luck. Try for joy. Never believe anybody who tries to give you career advice. The world is not as our dads told us it would be.
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Great article
Everything she says here is so spot fcuking on it's not even funny. The high level of communicative skill on display here about this all-important topic for middle class people like me make this article *must-reading* for all.
Including your representative in Congress:
http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm
NB: I'm not a conservative, FYI, but this page is really useful for contacting members of Congress!
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Law not as lucrative as billed.
Law was at one time a meritocracy that allowed attorneys to earn a comfortable upper-class income. However, extreme saturation in large markets like Chicago and New York has resulted in private practice salaries falling below $60,000 a year. Lawyers are now increasingly falling into the middle class while struggling with $100,000+ student loan debts. The Wall Street Journal wrote about it last fall. http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB119040786780835602.html
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Jim1967
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I feel that there is a concerted effort afoot to stamp out the majority of the American middle class permanently and transform the USA into a 3rd-world country.
Sometimes it really isn't paranoia, and in this case you're right. They are out to get you.
The US is nothing special to most of the wealthy elite. They can live anywhere they please, and there are much nicer places to live than the US. Places with very low taxes, and very low servant wages.
For many of the wealthy elite the US is mostly useful as a corpse to be relieved of its wealth and as a staging ground for military adventurism. The military does not actually have to win any wars. It's modern purpose is to make militarism outrageously lucrative. Militarism costs the federal government at least 70% of the budget.
The US middle class gets to pay for it. Iraq alone costs every person in the country $10,000. Don't be fooled by statistics showing how much the wealthy pay in taxes - they get it all back with interest in sweetheart agreements. You can tell because the rich get richer, while the poor and middle class do not.
In the battle between the wealthy and powerful elite and everybody else, the rich are bound to win. They can afford better weapons, and with modern information technology they can now have detailed control, something they didn't have before. They can afford all the politicians they need. And they have resorted to large-scale coercion.
Their adversary has only its numbers, its dependence, and its ignorance.
Welcome to the Matrix.