See:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/08/01/how-the-billionaires-broke-the-system/
Mr. George Monbiot’s first premise is in error in that there are only two ways of cutting the deficit. It is not how you slice up the pie (or the economy in this case) but the size of the pie (the economy) that matters. If taxes and spending were frozen as they are today but our economy was to grow at the rate of China’s, the USA would not have a deficit issue. I have never worked for, or been paid by an “ordinary citizen”, it is the “banks, arms companies, oil barons, farmers” and other corporations that have always paid me. A poor person has never hired, paid me, or grown the national production of goods and services yet.
MR. George Monbiot’s claim that “blue collar” pay has decreased by 18% is as much due to technological advances and the lack need for ‘blue collar” workers. Today’s blue collar jobs are being filled by illegal visitors that work for the best pay alternative they can get. He fails to mention that 320,000 top 1%ers were added to the tax rolls in the last 10 years. The top 1 percent of tax returns paid 38.0 percent of all federal individual income taxes and they vote and participate in our politics regularly.. Most of the middle class do not understand or participate deeply in the political system. If there is someone richer or poorer than you are, then you are “middle class”. Republican members of Congress, supported by the Tea Party movement won’t budge nor should they. The government should not take on the responsibilities that we, our families, neighbors, friends, churches and local organizations should be doing.
It is unclear to me why, if we think like Richard Murdock, MR. George Monbiot thinks that is a bad thing. How does Murdock’s own interests differ from mine?
Our problems today will not be solved by class war fare or partisanism. We live in a government of the PEOPLE who for the most part cannot tell you who represents them, by the PEOPLE the majority of whom don’t vote, and for the people who seldom if ever write to tell their congressmen and senator what they are for. It is time we stop rationalizing and stand strongly on our moral, economic and ethical principals we were known for as AMERICANS.
