Planet Waves | June 15, 2005 Money is not the root of all evil, according to the Christian good book ... the LOVE of money is. Uh oh! We DO love money, don't we? Our nation has grown, thrived, prospered over the years -- we thought we'd never bottom out, there would always be opportunity and money money money! There must still be plenty -- our President is spending it like a drunken sailor [er ... oh dear ... well, scratch that -- to be fair, he was never a sailor.] "Greed is Good" was the mantra of the 90's. Good capitalists, we don't find that too morally reprehensible a statement. In the back of every American mind, they say, is the hope to win the lotto, write the Great American Novel, invent the killer gadget that Ronco will promote, or discover gold in the backyard ... it's a somewhat naive but endearing quality of the American psyche. The American Dream -- security, comfort, opportunity, wealth. A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage. The most recent iteration of the American Dream was the product of our post-WWII years -- the education provided by the GI bill, the advance of technology, labor laws, civil rights legislation, housing underwritten by government loans. And all of this was done without credit cards, my dears [and their abhorrant interest traps -- a system which might make us think twice about Henry David Thoreau's potent statement a hundred years earlier, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." ] Those happy days of prosperity and opportunity are on the wane -- no, let me say that differently. We're in serious trouble in this nation, we hear voices crying in the wilderness about big spending, big borrowing, astronomical deficit, tax cuts for the rich, entitlement cuts for the poor, corporate culpability and cronyism. And what of the middle class, upon who's backs the nation is funded? It's shrinking ... too much of the bill is being passed to them, too many policies are being written to limit them. Make no mistake, the American public is in a Class War with the government of the good old U.S. of A. and it is leading us to disaster. Maybe we got too much, too soon in the "good years" -- maybe we got side-tracked by all the shiny consumerism out there -- but as long as we "get ours," it's been convenient to forget about the class struggles that have defined this nation over the years. If we're struggling ourselves, now ... if we're in that state of "quiet desperation" ... we're inclined to think that it's luck or the times or ... whatever -- we seldom connect the dots to see that this might be part of a national pattern. John Edwards gave us a potent heads-up in his run for the presidency -- his "two America's" speech got redundant at the end, but he got it right on. There ARE two America's -- and the void between them is growing by the minute. Surely you've noticed that the corporations favored by our government always win, always profit and, even with their hands caught in the cookie jar, escape unscathed? The lower and middle-class is "accountable" in every way, dearhearts -- the rest are above the fray. And there are a lot of people getting downright paranoid about it ... rightfully. Odd isn't it? Pappy Bush lost his bid for re-election because he flubbed an estimate on a gallon of milk in front of the camera's, thereby convincing the electorate that he had no idea what their lives were about. His son has the same blind spot -- and nobody compains. "I don't understand how poor people think," George confided to the Rev. Jim Wallis. [New York Times, 08-26-03] I think it's safe to say that "poor" in George's lexicon means anyone not in the top 1 or 2%. I only say that because he's done nothing meaningful for anyone else in the last five years. The nation is beginning to complain that "the president isn't paying attention to their needs." Now, there's an understatment -- don't know what took them so long to notice. Times are harder than they used to be, but still vibrant on the coasts, so it's hard to tell how they will be impacted by the financial issues of our day. I live in the heartland -- so let me make my observations brief and to the point: it's going down hill quickly. The placid and unassuming grace of middle-America, never too fat in the wallet to begin with, has become shopworn, disadvantaged and increasingly desperate. Many of my neighbors voted on the "values" issues instead of their own economic wellbeing -- now we reap the whirwind. From the Vanden Huevel piece, linked below: "As Vermont Senate candidate Bernie Sanders says, the corporate-owned media tend to ignore the economic problems that face millions of people on a daily basis. The press doesn't cover, he argues, things like the fact that Americans are "working longer hours for lower wages," living standards have declined, and "we have the most unequal distribution of wealth of any major country on earth.[and] we are the only industrialized country in the world without a national health care system." One result of people not seeing their lives reflected in the media, Sanders argues, is that they think their problems are unique to them, and are not social or political problems that we as a nation can solve by working together." This is a difficult post to write because there's so much out there you should know -- google "class war" for a startling amount of information. I'll post some links for you to explore, below. Note: ALWAYS read Paul Krugman of the New York Times -- an economist who can write is a rarity, and he'll scare the pants off you. Best to know how serious this is. And a word to my neighbors who voted religious values to trump pragmatic ones -- THE ECONOMY IS A MORAL ISSUE. Gutting bankruptcy IS a moral issue -- seeking to privatize social security without fixing it's basic flaws IS a moral issue -- rubber-stamping judges who cooperate fully with corporations at the expense of the people of the United States IS a moral issue -- allowing pharamceutical companies to suck up half of a seniors tiny income or price a prescription for antibiotics over $100 for a growing family with little kids, IS a moral issue -- withholding money for education and school lunches and Head Start programs IS a moral issue -- refusing to invest in alternative-energy programs as the peak oil argument rages on IS a moral issue -- Bush's saying in 2000 that "there's not enough information on global warming" and repeating that lame argument in 2005 IS a moral issue -- continual borrowing to run up a deficit that will be passed to our children and THEIR children IS a moral issue. And finally, finding a way to side-step international law to attack another country IS A MORAL ISSUE. Please take a moment to read this connect-the-dots article from an academic -- it will reveal much about our current sense of "desperation." In the American Bunker -- David Michael Green -- http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0614-31.htm There are too many moral issues going unaddressed in this administration to list, while stem cells, gay marriage and reproductive choice take up all the "moral" oxygen. And WAAAY too much "happy talk" about how well it's all going from people who have plenty to eat, no problem buying their meds, and who don't send their kids to public school anyway. I expect many of them live in manicured neighborhoods and gated communities ... because they CAN. The big question is -- can YOU? Not so easily, these days, although the [shrinking] American Dream lives on -- we're always "movin on up ... to the East Side." In our dreams. Whoever runs in '08 will get my vote if s/he can stand in front of the camera's and say -- we're morally bankrupt in this country, and here's why. How so many of us have missed this point keeps me up nights, pondering the emotional workings of my nation and her people. Peace ~ Jude It's Class, Stupid! -- Katrina Vanden Huevel -- http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=3249 Edwards Builds New Platform, U.S. Poverty Called Great Moral Issue -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401435.html Class and the American Dream http://www.proudliberal.thinkingpeace.com/class-and-the-american-dream/ The Return of Class War -- Bush and the new tyranny of the rich -- http://slate.msn.com/id/2084002/ America's Corporate Benedict Arnolds -- http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0614-25.htm Human Toll of a Pension Default -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201367.html Jude, the editor of Political Waves, is currently standing in for Eric Franics on his daily blog. You can subscribe to Political Waves (our all-politics news distribution list) for free at the link below. You'll receive between five and 10 news articles each day. 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