America has fallen just like Egypt into the grips of ruthless despots. These despots have a rule of law unto themselves[see Frank Rich]. They have accrued huge wealth and unlimited risk insurance from taxpayers; yet the themselves barely pay taxes[see Bob Herbert]. They have accrued $trillions in no small part due to US Federal largesse yet they sit on these trillions not helping America in its time of need [see Bob Herbert again]. They work through their selected agents to “starve the beast” and wreak havoc in government for their own ends[see Paul Krugman]. And these despots have taken vaunted free, open and efficient markets and turned their most lucrative dens into closed, shadow, exclusive, and unaccountable parlours where only the elite get to win while everybody else but the despots pay the losing tabs[see Felix Salmon].
These despots rely on 2 basic facts of the 21st century -1) meaningful, paying work has become a scarce commodity and 2)a star system of compensation where the topmost players are rewarded extravagantly while earnings to others in an organization decline exponentially. As a scarce and declining commodity, meaningful work goes now to the lowest bidder. So the despots have bought their lock control of society where they accrue exponentially and extravagantly while having the masses pay for their excesses and wrong headness. At the sametime workers go begging for jobs and the unemployment rate lingers at levels close to 1 in 5 or worse. This sound like the conditions throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Egypt in particular that sparked a revolution.
And its is small percentage of the SuperWealthy, primarily from a closed sect on Wall Street, who are waging war on the middle and lower classes. Taking huge sums of taxpayers bailout money that rescued them several time from the brink of bankruptcy and financial ruin – yet demanding ever larger sacrifices from the middle and lower classes while they have neglected to pay back the Treasury for their super largesses. The SuperWealthy, already the lowest taxpayers rates as a % of income by means of the tax code, these accomplished tax dodgers have further lowered their fair share by securing not just the Bush Tax Cuts for 2 more years but also a lowering of Estate taxes as well.
These four articles say it all just about like my own Helliot Wave Theory
Frank Rich – About getting away Scott Free
Felix Salmon – Wall Street as a Dead End
Paul Krugman – Eat The Future
Bob Herbert – When Democracy Weakens
And now that both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, are so in hock to the SuperWealthy for campaign funds for the Presidential and National elections in 2012, can one reasonably expect any meaningful efforts to curb the Superwealthy and restore some semblence of of Income Equality in America? Ye Editor suspects not because with only 1 in 5 unemployed and grasping the Brass Ring so ingrained in the American psyche it will take closer to 1 in 3 unemployment to rile the masses. And by that time the Decline of America will be inevitable. As consolation, I have a 5th of the good stuff available for sale … at a good price.