We've already fallen prey to the shift of enormous wealth into the hands of a few. Tax cuts, purported to equally cut everyones taxes, have become ever increasing largesse to the wealthy few with a couple of pennies thrown back to appease everyone else into the illusion of a "tax cut". Add to that the often enormous subsidies given to rich, corporate farmers and mega corporations of every stripe, and you have working people carrying the tax burden for the whole country without burdening the wealthy to kick in anything close to a minor share of their own.
Too many bought into the meme that "you, too, can be rich" if you give up your guarenteed pension in order to "invest your own money" for your own retirement. You can have a lavish retirement - just look at those advertisements for the investment companies where the graying 50ish senior off golfing or on vacation or sunning by the pool behind his luxury McMansion. The ads left you thinking that this could be you. An easy idea to sell to the all too gullible Ralph Cramdens of the world who fall for every get rich quick scheme to come along.
And business was all in, too. After all, it would cost them less (and nothing for the first 5 or so years), cost their employees more, and the amount the company paid in could be reduced as years passed. And who's to say if employees who were finally vested with enough years of service to qualify for employer matching funds would be "needed" when that time came. Perhaps, they could be laid off or their job eliminated.
The only ones who got rich were the bankers and Wall street investers who took your money, peeled off fees for themselves, and used the rest to hedge bets they made with their own funds. They got richer while you got poorer. And what didn't go in fees got gambled away by the very people you trusted (and paid) to invest your retirement funds. You got nothing but the realization that you'd have to work until the day you died.
And now they want you to look at your own dismal lot in life where retirement is a pipe dream funded with an empty account and demand that those who kept guarenteed pensions give them up, too. A bastardization of the "I Got Mine, You Get Yours" mentality to "I Gave Up Mine, So You Have to Give Up Yours, Too". It's the opposite of the way we've looked at these things in the past.
In the past, we looked at what others had with envy. We wanted that, too. So we organized, unionized, fought for a better portion of the pie. We got ourselves and our kids educated and trained for those better jobs with the better benefits. We wanted to do better; wanted our kids to do better. We were willing to work hard, save money, postpone purchases. We knew that hard work paid off in the end.
We sacrificed to ensure our kids went to college. We made sure schools were well-funded, state universities were well-subsidized so our kids could get the education that was necessary for a great job or career. We pushed our kids to work hard and dream big. This is America where anything is possible if you work hard enough.
We've changed. Or, perhaps, we've been changed.
At work for 3 decades is a new way of looking at ourselves and our neighbors. A baser, meaner look that should be beneath us as Americans. We have become resentful of others.
We now look at the most poor and vulnerable with resentment. We approve stripping what little they have as if it will spur them to get a job that isn't there except in the minds of those who resent paying the taxes that keep minimal food in their stomachs or a leaking roof over their heads. We resent their food stamps and housing assistance as if making them hungry 100% of the time and homeless will change the lack of opportuniy they face every day.
We look at the unemployed as if not having a job is their own fault and if they worked harder, or looked more, or prayed with more intensity a great job would come their way. We resent paying them to not work even when there are no jobs to be had.
Our politicians like having us think this way because it makes it easier for them to strip away the very last vestiges of a social safety net that wasn't so great even when it was supposed to be. With a resentful public, it's easy to take the last piece of bread from a hungry child so a nickle more can be given to a billionaire.
Unionized workers, who have fought to retain living wages and benefits, are among the most resented. Why aren't they working for Wal Mart wages and no benefits like the rest of us? And those public workers, they work for us, the taxpayers! Look at those rich benefits and salaries. Why, they should be grateful for minimum wage just to have a job!
The monied elite have stripped and stripped from workers everywhere. And they have used that to make those workers resentful and angry at any worker doing better than they are. And that's just the way the monied elite likes it - keep them fighting among themselves and no one will notice that they've stolen everything.
There's a great story about 3 people sitting at a table. A wealthy man, a union worker, and a Tea Bagger sit at a table when a dozen cookies are brought. The wealthy man scoops up 11 of them, pocketing them quickly, then turns to the Tea Bagger and says:
That union guy over there wants a bite of your cookie.
They keep us fighting for a scrap so we won't notice the big theft going on all around us.
Until we change from the politics of resentment, no one but the wealthy will have anything. We need to return the dialogue from stripping everyone down to one which brings everyone up. Until workers say "I deserve a better salary and benefits like that union guy over there" or "I need a guarenteed pension like that sanitation worker over there", we'll continue to have an environment where workers will will be pulled down to ever lower levels instead of bringing everyone up to a salary and benefit level that supports a vibrant and growing middle class.
We start by changing the dialogue from the politics of resentment to one in which hard work is once again valued and rewarded. Continuing to bring each other down by fighting over scraps only enables the rich to take everything from us.
We need to pay attention to the dozen cookies and stop fighting over only one that gets left on the plate.
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On a personal note, I am slowly recovering from pneumonia. Not yet well enough to leave the house or do much of anything, but I am less short of breath when I have to walk to the bathroom or kitchen and am now able to lay down to sleep in my own bed. Hallelujah! I do try to be patient since I realize that asthma and old age do slow my recovery. I pray for patience, but always ask God to hurry with my request for aid.
In particular, I want to be well enough to get out for real grocery shopping, some (yuck) housework, and to join my fellow holders for Overpass Light Brigade (yeah, we're needed now more than ever).
Thanks for all your private messages and support.
My computer guy has set up my brand new computer (happily purchased with my income tax refund to replace the 7 year old tower of misery). He came by again today to do couple of tweaks to my resoution today has fixed the tiny pop up screens that I got on one of my sites so I'm looking forward to spending more time online with less eyestrain.
For those of you that thought I only write about Wisconsin, this diary has been kicking around in my brain for quite some time - along with other topics I have not found time to articulate since I was preoccupied with matters closer to home. We're not done here by a long shot, but I'll now be able to expand the things that get my attention.
Thanks all for your support and help in Wisconsin. You may not have been here, but your presence and support have been felt and appreciated. We couldn't have come so far without you.
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