Ah, elections! The time when we should be discussing issues but instead focus on birth certificates and dogs on roofs of cars. When the latest inadvertent misstatement is more important than the direction they'll take the country. When the election of the other guy will lead to a thousand years of darkness. In the face of that, I will continue to try to focus on some basic issues and what I believe is the direction we should take. And yes, I am taking a sacrifice in number of page views by going this route instead of the Mittbot Thurston Howell route or that darn Kenyan Socialist route.
I believe that the growing divide between rich and poor is very dangerous, and threatens the democratic foundations of this country. The social and economic mobility has become the worst of any industrialized nation. More and more money is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. We are rapidly marching towards a kind of feudalistic society.
It is true that many statistics bear out the fact that wealth in this country is becoming more and more concentrated at the top. Generational wealth is coming into play too, as the estate tax is weakened and vilified. America, which used to brag about it's social and economic mobility, now finds itself ranked near the bottom in industrial nations.
So families that are at the top are increasingly having the means to retain and grow their money and power, often aided by politicians they have bought and paid for. I don't know how far away we are from just giving these people titles. Sir Donald Trump? Lady Kim Kardashian?
It's easy enough to check and reverse. Restore progressive taxation. Increase the ability of unions to organize. Establish campaign finance reform that diminishes the controlling influence of wealthy donors.
The Republicans are sinfully awful on this score. The Democrats are only marginally better. The power to do something about this is in the hands of everyday citizens. Whether it is Occupy Wall Street, or just simply refusing to do business with a bank that has made billions off questionable financial instruments, it is up to us. What are we going to do?
What are we going to do??? We are going to vote. And we are going to vote for the person we know is the best choice in the long run. This election, more than any I can remember in recent times, is one that everyone needs to make every effort to get to the polls. The right man for the job will prevail. Of course, we know who that is! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI agree! Are there any big state races in Michigan?
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