No One is "Entitled" to Anything, but that's not the point ...
A great article I read in Newsweek, You Say You Want a Revolution,, compares the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street in that both extremes are shouting their disenfranchisement with government and demanding a reckoning. I disagree that Tea Partyists have any kind of workable answer but, yes, even I can realize that two such divergent groups have something in common.
The status quo needs to be abandoned. Not, as tea partyists argue by less government, and not as OWS'ers argue by, well, not arguing. Hell, I'm an atheist socialist so, yes, I want the OWS protesters to prevail. But I am also a realist.
The 1%'s riches have accumulated at an astounding rate since Reagan's economic policies of the 1980's. Given enough freedom (argued Reagan), the ultra rich, the corporations and the bankers would provide economic security by job growth, humanitarian contributions to infra-structure, yadda, yadda.
That was in 1980. All that happened is that the (then) middle class spent like crazy, amassed huge credit debt, and partied. Now they, and all of us, are paying the price.
I knew 15 years ago that there would come a time of nothing for the poor, elderly poor, and disabled poor. I knew that by refusing to alter the "no taxes" credo that began in 1978 there would be much worse crises than abandoned school programs.
That's why I, a disabled adult who depends on MediCare and Medi-Cal for medical care, has only one prescription that is mandatory; who sees a doctor only once a year (whenever possible); and who realizes that no once is "entitled" to anything.
Still, I would give up the small amount of government assistance I have if the 1% and the corporations would pay the taxes they rightfully owe. And if the government would use those taxes to -- not only pay the debt but improve schools, create jobs by improving infrastructure, allow the middle class to exist again.
I'm sorry but "trickle down" economics doesn't work. Paying off banks who don't give a shit who pays their bloated bonuses doesn't work. A central banking system may not be the best way in the future.
What are the 1% and the corporations willing to give up? Or, how can "we, the people" impel them? I admit that OWS is one hell of a good starting point. But, what comes next?
*******
"It's not so much a matter of left or right, but of balance. ... Tax revenues, after all, haven’t been this low in half a century; tax rates remain well below what they were under that radical, Eisenhower. And the only way we will achieve serious cuts in entitlements-the other half of the equation for fiscal balance-is if people believe that everyone is sacrificing something. That includes the rich. That isn’t ideology. It’s common sense." - Andrew Sullivan
** I've read the community's rules and guidelines and hope this is acceptable.
The status quo needs to be abandoned. Not, as tea partyists argue by less government, and not as OWS'ers argue by, well, not arguing. Hell, I'm an atheist socialist so, yes, I want the OWS protesters to prevail. But I am also a realist.
The 1%'s riches have accumulated at an astounding rate since Reagan's economic policies of the 1980's. Given enough freedom (argued Reagan), the ultra rich, the corporations and the bankers would provide economic security by job growth, humanitarian contributions to infra-structure, yadda, yadda.
That was in 1980. All that happened is that the (then) middle class spent like crazy, amassed huge credit debt, and partied. Now they, and all of us, are paying the price.
I knew 15 years ago that there would come a time of nothing for the poor, elderly poor, and disabled poor. I knew that by refusing to alter the "no taxes" credo that began in 1978 there would be much worse crises than abandoned school programs.
That's why I, a disabled adult who depends on MediCare and Medi-Cal for medical care, has only one prescription that is mandatory; who sees a doctor only once a year (whenever possible); and who realizes that no once is "entitled" to anything.
Still, I would give up the small amount of government assistance I have if the 1% and the corporations would pay the taxes they rightfully owe. And if the government would use those taxes to -- not only pay the debt but improve schools, create jobs by improving infrastructure, allow the middle class to exist again.
I'm sorry but "trickle down" economics doesn't work. Paying off banks who don't give a shit who pays their bloated bonuses doesn't work. A central banking system may not be the best way in the future.
What are the 1% and the corporations willing to give up? Or, how can "we, the people" impel them? I admit that OWS is one hell of a good starting point. But, what comes next?
*******
"It's not so much a matter of left or right, but of balance. ... Tax revenues, after all, haven’t been this low in half a century; tax rates remain well below what they were under that radical, Eisenhower. And the only way we will achieve serious cuts in entitlements-the other half of the equation for fiscal balance-is if people believe that everyone is sacrificing something. That includes the rich. That isn’t ideology. It’s common sense." - Andrew Sullivan
** I've read the community's rules and guidelines and hope this is acceptable.