Can We Stop the Continuing Decimation of America's Middle Class in Time? If So, How?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Can-We-Stop-the-Continuing-by-Richard-Clark-110209-102.html

As Bob Herbert recently observed in the N.Y. Times, the Ronald Reagan crowd loved to talk about "morning in America." But for millions of individuals and families, perhaps the majority, it's more like twilight -- with nighttime coming on fast.

Look out the window. More and more Americans are being left behind in an economy that is being divided ever more starkly between the haves and have-nots. Not only are millions of people jobless and millions more underemployed, but more and more of the so-called fringe benefits and public services that help make life livable, or even bearable, in a modern society, are being put to the torch.

Employer-based pensions, paid vacations, health benefits and the like are going the way of phone booths and VCRs. As poverty increases and reliable employment becomes less and less the norm, the number of workers with any sort of job security or guaranteed pension continues to dwindle.

As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities tells us:

More at the link --

Or at least, not until enough people are severely impacted enough to be sincerely desperate for dramatic change. How many are just holding on and treading water, still? They would be the ones who might still have enough resources to lay down the gauntlet, if they could wake-up from the illusory dream world that media is crafting in order to manage the crumbling and descent into chaos we are riding. It won't be long though, before more and more of the middle-class see their number come-up on the "Now Served" display. Next! See you in the milling throngs who wander a land called Aftermath.

No, we will watch the debacle unfold now, wondering just how deep and dark the dismantling-for-profit will continue. We will watch mass evictions from the American lifestyle, (well, it is non-negotiable) as growing numbers of the disenfranchised wander amidst the heartless elements with dismay and shock branded in their sad, sour expressions as smug bankers and pampered corporate players pull another drive-by on their way to the the luxuries of gated communities lined with streets of gold.

Losers are losers, not matter how many, and the winners are few and the owners of the Casino are loving the Las Vegas economy.

This reality show is scripted, too. It won't be televised, though. You may not be able to avoid watching it though. You might be starring in it soon as one of a cast of millions.

I would say they have at least three things that we would need: a strong safety net (including effective national health care), higher (and more progressive) taxation to fund the safety net, and strong labor unions.

All three of these seem to be almost impossible politically now and have been for some time. (The howls that go up at every mention of higher taxes, at the "socialist" health care reform, etc.) If most Americans don't seem to realize that the repubs' "cut taxes, cut regulations, and cut the safety net" is not going to solve our problems, it means that we have a huge educational campaign ahead of us.

My guess is that in the sixties conservatives thought they had a huge "educational" campaign ahead of them to convince people that government, taxes, regulation and welfare were evil. Unfortunately for everyone, they have been very effective at getting their "message" across.

Is there a shortcut by which we can convince the American people that the repubs' "cut, cut, cut" strategy just makes things worse? None that I know of, but I hope there is.

There are many things we should have done to slow down the rise of income inequality long ago. Our options are shrinking daily. Please read Paradigm Shift. Thank you.

<http://www.e-tabitha.com/>

can agree on we could do it. I believe it must be a movement outside of party. The Dems and Reps are both in corporate pockets. Boomers need to fight for our lives and if we can save ourselves we can save the country and everybody else. Demand green jobs, good jobs, clean air, clean water, safe food, Social Security, Medicare, safe infrastructure, etc. Put the pressure on! Scream bloody murder!

The PTB (The Very Rich) and their mouthpieces in The Media have successfully framed Obama & Hillary as the Liberal Left edge in the psyche of 95% (my guess) of Americans.
The national debate is now framed as a contest between :
1) Pro-WAR, Anti-Working Class "Democrats"
&
2)Pro-WAR, Anti-Working Class Republicans
Anything outside that box is ridiculed and discounted by the leadership of BOTH political parties, and all the corporate owned Talking Heads.

As long as the national dialog can be kept inside that box,
no "change" is possible.

When the Working Class & The Poor realize we have more in common with each other than we have in common with the rich, elite leadership of BOTH parties, THEN we can demand "change".
Until that time, the only choices that will be offered to the American voting public will be in appearance & brand only.

BTW: The The Working Class & The Poor HAVE successfully joined forces and thrown the Oligarchs out in many Latin American countries over the last 10 years.
"They" have given us the blue print for successful "change".

Viva Democracy!
and open, transparent, verifiable elections
(If you don't have that, you don't have a democracy,
and we don't have that in the US)