[Vision2020] The Nation, 6/30/08

[keely emerinemix]

Visionaires,

I recently got ahold of The Nation and would commend the entire June 30 issue to all of you who are concerned about this country's economy.  Every article is devoted to wealth inequality, and of particular note is the article titled "The New Inequality," which introduces the idea of a "parallel universe" of haves and haves-not.  This, of course, is nothing new; most of us realize that wealth disparity and the bane of conservatives, "wealth distribution," is at record levels.  Consider this:

-- The richest one percent of Americans currently hold wealth worth $16.8 trillion dollars, nearly $2 trillion more than the bottom 90 percent.  

-- A worker earning ten bucks an hour would have to work for more than 10,000 years to earn what any of the 400 richest Americans pocketed in 2005.

-- Household debt is at its highest level since 1933

The article goes on to state that "wealth distribution," far from the scenario of taxing hardworking Americans to provide for social programs for the less well-off, is actually realized in the breaks given to corporations by conservatives who pretend that the market is working well, thanks, only when it shifts enormous resources to the wealthy.

"Our top-heavy era has evolved from a heavily bankrolled effort by conservatives and corporations to instill blind faith in the market as the magic elixir that can solve any problem.  This three-decade war against common sense has preached that tax cuts for the rich help the poor, that labor unions keep workers from prospering, that regulations protecting consumers attack freedom.  Duly inspired, our elected officials have rewritten the rules that run our economy -- on taxes and trade, on wage policies and public spending -- to benefit wealthy asset owners and global corporations."  (Cavanaugh and Collins, The Nation, June 30, 2008)

Then there's the Rod Stewart and $400-apiece crabs for lunch . . . 

In a world where justice reigns and has reigned since its inception, where all players have access to free markets and no one benefits from demographics and class and circumstances outside of the markets provence, the free market system is, in my mind, the most likely to enable prosperity.  But we don't live in that world.  Not by a long shot.  I read once where our socioeconomic system is much like a baseball game wherein one team leads 20-zip in the bottom of the ninth inning, and only then calls for "equality and justice," finally distributing bats, balls, and gloves to the other guys.  Until the playing field is truly level, until justice and equality are fully realized, an unfettered free market will only perpetuate the evils and divisions of the past.  

It's a fascinating article.  Get it!

Oh, and, by the way -- since it seems important to our Everlasting Blogstalker that someone from the liberal side condemn John Edwards for having a mistress, if in fact he does (the National Enquirer would not seem to be my idea of a credible source, but that's just me), I'll say it:

Cheating on your wife is wrong, and if Edwards did, shame on him.  

There, Dale -- are you satisfied?

Keely



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