Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
After the news over the past few months about the global uprisings against tyrannical and non-responsive governments, I have pondered why the United States has not had more people in the street protesting the economic inequality that we are facing here at home?
We have seen uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Spain, Greece and many more places, but at best we have seen large numbers in Wisconsin and Ohio protesting about State governments trying to remove collective bargaining rights away from state employees. One group of dedicated and non-violent protesters is especially interesting to me since they have taken to the streets and they have stayed there to press their fight. It is a group in Spain called the Indignados. They are camped out in various areas of Spain in an attempt to draw the country’s and the world’s attention to what they see as the Spanish government’s attempts to cater to the bankers and not to Main Street.
“Thursday night Madrid’s city centre offered a glimpse of what Western democracies have become, as thousands of unarmed nonviolent civilians with their hands up in the air shouting “these are our weapons” and “this is a dictatorship” were beaten by police commandos in full riot gear. This event was the culmination of a month of intense mobilizations across the country by the popular movement known as the ‘Indignados’. People, whom despite being ignored by the government have made their voices heard, as banking cartels, European bureaucrats, rating agencies and the country’s elites continue in their frantic push to sell-off Spain’s remaining public wealth, and persist in the implementation of drastic cuts to the welfare state. The ‘Indignados’ are fully aware of the fact that their government does not represent them, whenever they congregate they shout that loud and clear. They know that only popular unity will salvage them from the train wreck, which complicit speculators and politicians have created, and as they read the financial news, they know things can only get worse. When the EU announced today that the economic crisis is no longer restricted to the Euro-zone periphery countries, people in the movement understood that this could only mean bad news for them.” Truthout
Now, we have had some Tea Party protests, but their numbers were paltry in comparison to the Spanish protests. The numbers in Wisconsin and Ohio were the closest to the Spain numbers, but those protesters were not met with wide-spread beatings at the hands of the government and police and they are still not camping out in Madison and Columbus as they are in Madrid.
Would protestors in the United States ever commit to a continuing protest for months in Washington, D.C.? These Indignados in Spain, are continuing to protest what they see as government attempts to balance their budgets on the backs of the poor and the middle class. Why haven’t we seen tent cities springing up in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals across the country? Many progressives and liberals have claimed that Washington is working only for the bankers and Wall Street barons, so why aren’t our streets filled with dedicated people who are willing to nonviolently protest against the Rich getting richer, while the middle class and poor seem to get poorer? Is the claim of rising inequality between the rich and poor true?
Where is the evidence that the income disparity is growing in the United States? … “in dollar terms, the rich are still getting richer, and the poor are falling further behind them. The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its largest margin ever, a stark divide as Democrats and Republicans spar over whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. The top-earning 20 percent of Americans – those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent made by the bottom 20 percent of earners, those who fell below the poverty line, according to the new figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.At the top, the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, who earn more than $180,000, added slightly to their annual incomes last year, the data show. Families at the $50,000 median level slipped lower.” Huffington Post
With those depressing numbers, why haven’t American “Indignados” taken over Washington, D.C. like their Spanish counterparts did in Madrid? Are Americans just too lazy or indifferent to their plight? Have they given up being able to make a real difference in Washington? Why aren’t you and I there in Washington pressing our claims for economic equality? Finally, what will it take for the American poor and jobless to stand up and say, enough is enough? Maybe you have the answer for these American Indignados!
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
I put this story up on another thread, but here is Political Carnival’s take on it–this time with “Dr” Bachmann showing her how it is done properly. I don’t think I need to comment further. Sometimes the jokes write themselves.
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2011/08/13/photos-of-the-day-mebbe-week-marcus-bachmann-shows-michele-how-its-done/
I’m in line behind AY. Well said, Bob Esq.
I could not agree with you more Bob,Esq…..
Joe Scarborough: “Michele Bachmann’s first answer was, I wish the federal government had defaulted. Had defaulted! A week after Americans lost–some of them perhaps lost half of their pensions. Lost half of their 401ks. When trillions of dollars went down the drain with Americans suffering, she said that and got applause, and if anybody thinks that guys like my dad are going to be voting that way…they are out of their mind and they are too stupid not only to prognosticate, they are too stupid to run Slurpee machines in Des Moines…Michele Bachmann is a joke. She is a joke. Her answer is a joke. Her candidacy is a joke…Iowa, if you let her win, you prove your irrelevance once again.”
Delicious.
I may have heard this someplace or been thinking about the world markets: What if China was buying US Dollars in the market when they are lowered and then turns to invest them in US Bonds etc….when they are low in price….
Now, because of the down grade more interest must be paid….They are in a better position to bargain and negotiate trade and tariff agreements, which keeps jobs here in the US lowered….because even with all the added costs of making it, shipping it…the corporations make a higher profit…..
They have us by the proverbial balls, how can we get out of this cycle if we wanted too?
Mike,
With Roco’s definition of labels….How about this….All Oranges are orange…All oranges are fruit…Bananas are fruit therefore they must be orange…..
ekeyra,
“Incestuous” with all shades of its definition is exactly the right word.
“I like labels, they explain my world to me”
“It really is pretty simple, complexity is for people who do not understand.”
Roco,
Your two statements clearly sum up your conceptual inability. One of the most irrational aspects of a human’s psychology is the belief that naming something (labeling), is the same thing as understanding it. It fits things into categories in one’s mind and these categories are loaded with connotations
derived from the individual’s own experience. This was helpful in our species earliest experiences of existence when lightening fast decisions had to be made to insure an individual’s safety. As society became more complex this propensity to label became problematic and in effect one of the prime bases of war and xenophobia.
People who do not understand are those with an ability to think beyond labels, thus on a more sophisticated level. The most intelligent people are those who understand that with all their knowledge, existence and the Universe are still far beyond human’s capacity to understand. On a global scale this is true with societies and their individual denizens. We have labels, we have theories and we have philosophies, but nothing explains our lives and our individual interactions with each other with a precision that makes for true certainty.
The need to use labels and to eschew the obvious complexity around us all is the reaction of a mind closed to all possible options of existence, though aware of the variety of choices. The choice to use labels thus relieves individuals from anxiety at the complexity surrounding them, by offering simplistic “answers” to comfort them in their confusion. This is not what occam’s razor is used for and William of Ockham was a far wiser man than to believe his dictum could be used to explain the world.
http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2011/08/12/295185/economists-say-republinomics-is-hurting-growth/
ekeyra,
I can see the government is doing its part to not make you happy….Gotta give em that…..
Kd,
Reading the Son of Flubber as we speak….So far he has left out the .com bubble…if its in there I’ll most certainly let you know….I do recall the delay on acting in Katrina….and HIS NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND…..that was where he and Kennedy had an agreement….the only part that they divided over was the funding…Bush took the money to go to war….and never used any of the money to actually fund it….There are some states that have on the constitution that unfunded mandates can not be foster on the backs of the designee….Title IX…well…It is a monkey on the state and school systems backs…Believe it or not….School Districts cut between county, city and municipal lines…The reason why? Oh, to keep them from being politicized….Yeah go figure….
“I agree with many of the points you made and since I trust neither government or large corporations”
Theyre making it so hard to even distinguish between the two anymore. Did the government give handouts to politically connected financial firms? Absolutely. Didnt they borrow the money to do that from the fed, who is the lender of last resort to the same companies they were bailing out? Sort of… Its just a giant shell game, but the pieces keep moving faster and faster. Incestuous is the only word I find even comes close to describing their relationship.
KD,
Hmmm im not familiar with your personal perspective on the housing crisis, but mine would be that the “fed’s voodoo” is precisely what led to both the dot com bubble and the housing bubble. It is not ineffective, it is the single root cause, not any president’s particular policies. Any president would have a hard time servicing the interest payments on a trillion dollar decifits if rates were at even 10 or 15 percent instead of the artificially suppressed near zero .
Blouise,
Im actually in stunned amazement. Last time i changed my tire, i was late for work and only had two criteria: cost me less than fifty bucks and get it on my car in less than half an hour. And im the one going around advocating financial responsibility. Go figure.
However, I still have to dispute your assertion that we need government “acting in the interests of all consumers” . I think your story coupled with mine should tell you all you need to know to see that there is no way for the government to satisfy all consumers.
You were very picky and spent plenty of time. Im sure you felt your time well spent and were very satisfied when you made your decision. I, on the other hand was pressed for time and money and was much less discerning. Currently we are both free to pursue both avenues of purchase, quickly and cheaply, or time intensive and well-researched. Yet government regulation would bind us both to the same course of action, and in doing so will make one of us dissatisfied. If regulations are too lax they will fall below your threshhold of safety or customers service since all providers will have the same standards. If regulations are too restrictive, they will drive up my costs for the same reason, noone will be able to offer a cheaper alternative. Or the worst case scenario, and the most likely, is that we will both be dissatisfied because you may find the threshhold of customer safety too low and at the same time I may find the cost of the product too high.
ekeyra,
You’re welcome … and no, I don’t really consider it a character flaw, that was just a touch of false humility.
I agree with many of the points you made and since I trust neither government or large corporations, I try to do my own research (made much simpler by the vastness of the internet) and stick with small businesses who take pride in something besides profit.
Example: I replaced my Firestone tires with Cooper tires. Cooper Tire is based in Findlay, Ohio and their CEO, Roy V. Armes, came from Whirlpool where he had a successful track record of developing customer relationships and consumer oriented products. Good reviews on the product and a CEO who emphasizes customer and consumer relationships. Then I researched to find the best small business from whom to buy the tires. Most important was their record of servicing their customers and if the cost of alignment was included in the price quoted.
Gyges is also correct for regulations and standards need to be set and enforced by government acting in the interests of all consumers simply because there are those corporations whose sole concern is profit.
The problem, as I see it, is the government bureaucracy with which the honest, small business owner must deal. It is stifling and harms more than helps.
Ekeyra, I didn’t mean to have that come off as a praise of Bush; however, Bush’s policies weren’t so awful that even the Fed’s voodoo would be ineffective as it is today. The President’s job in such a situation is to make sure he doesn’t get in the way of the economy rebounding on it’s own, a la, Hoover, FDR, and now Obama. Even Carter didn’t screw up completely when in the same predicament.
Gyges
“Do you propose that before eating out we all go to all the hospitals in a 60 mile radius and ask everyone with food poisoning “did you eat at that new Chinese place?” When we buy tires should we be expected to call up everyone that’s had an accident in the last 90 days and ask “Did you get in an accident because you lost control due to an inferior tire? No, what about the other person? Did you happen to catch the brand of that tire?”
So how do government bureaucrats gather their information, considering they are expected to do it BEFORE consumers are harmed?
I also owe blouise a thank you for so perfectly making my point. She may consider it a character flaw, but that is exactly the behavoir I would expect from someone who valued the end result of her transaction more than the convenience of an expedited purchase. Their is no internal contradiction between “people lie” and “you should do your homework”. Considering the hostility towards most corporate entities around here I dont see why thats such a hard concept to grasp. It simply a cost/benefit analysis of your time spent researching your purchase beforehand versus the possible time you may have to spend trying to collect damages. What is so strange about suggesting that this decision should be left to individuals rather than have it decided collectively, especially given the recent explosion in the amount of information available via smartphones?
KD,
You really think bush got out of the dot com collapse? No… no… no… thank alan greenspan for inflating that nasty housing bubble we recently watched decimate an entire global economy thanks to the dollar being the world reserve currency. That would be why the top five countries holding dollar reserves have begun making massive gold purchases. His monkey looking ass is lucky his term was up when the shit hit the fan.
There are no places where you’d want to stay at least. Although, I believe there is a B&B on Chester Road and College Ave next to the Episcopal Church.
Al Bloom talked about the inn but since the crash in 2008, I have not heard anything. There is no where to stay nearby not even in Media.
Too bad they still haven’t gotten around to building the Inn. I doubt they ever will.
AY I think nal would dislike Keller/ Watauga as much or more than I do. I will go to Boulder in the summer and Austin in the winter. I was once in Swarthmore when it was 100 and humid. I was buying things for the dorm at the Target on the pike.
I was there in 2010 for the college graduation. Stayed in Radnor.