Stand Together To Overcome The Divide And Conquer Strategy

We have been through the worst of our latest economic downturn. The numbers have stopped their drastic decline and slight improvements are reported almost daily. Just yesterday the word came out that Real Estate sales figures were up 6% from last year at this time, although it still languishes at 80% less than four years ago. I hope that we have not forgotten how we got to where we are now. I also wish that the majority of people take time to sift through the lies that are told in defense of business as usual for the wealthiest among us. I'm sick and tired of being called names and abused because I want to help others. Our greed inspired, capitalist system is on the ropes as surely as the "communist" system that focused on a strong central government controlling all aspects of daily life. If we do not begin to treat one another better and find ways to help each other, there is little hope of turning the corner on this terrible tragedy that was the logical outcome of Reagan's "Trickle-down Economics".
The big money is still riding on the old way that business has been done in the past. This male dominated, good old boys network survives by beating down others, keeping them at odds with one another and a plethora of lies perpetrated by mass media. One of the biggest lies perpetrated by the rich is that of race. It seems to me that the only reason that racism continues is to facilitate the divide and conquer method of command and control. Calvinism too is a veiled attempt to blame the victims of capitalism. People who love to consider themselves enlightened have no problem blaming those whose blood sweat and tears make their way of life possible, for all manner of ills. This election cycle, the "conservatives" have outspent "liberals" by a factor of five to one. Considering that their cohorts helped bring our economy to it's knees, perhaps it is like a tithe, designed to placate their troubled conscience.
When we look critically at the varied and diverse populations around the world, we find that we are much more similar than different. There are those who I personally see as different, but that is mostly because I don't really know them. No matter who I take the time to get to know, I find their struggles, feelings and ideas are more and more similar to my own. I'm not saying that there are no differences, but that they are far fewer and less important than the ideas, beliefs and understandings that are similar between us. I have lost track of the number of bullies that I have become "friends" with after I fought back. Somehow, my own weakness mirrored their own. It seems that by showing them that I too could be driven to hate made them respect me.
It is high time that we the people stand together with one voice to say that we won't be lied to any longer. It is time that most of the most wealthy among us stop pitting one group against another. It is time for a maximum wage, and the people need to express their desires clearly. Not one of us is "worth" more than 100 times what someone else might be. Say that you could meet your needs with ten dollars per hour, if someone made one thousand dollars for the same hour, that would seem excessive. The most influential people are not the movie stars or sports heroes that command millions per performance, but those who make these excessive sums as corporate executives, eclipsing the rates of pay of even the most enduring stars. Together, the non-financial S&P 500 companies (forgive me this rant once more before the election) hold enough cash on hand and short term debt owed them to create a second stimulus plan, that's right, 764 Billion! (or so) Now why would the wealth builders just hold pat? It isn't hard to see, they have enough capital to create the second dip in our economy, strangling even more folks out of their wealth and leaving themselves sitting pretty to swoop in and absorb even more rices resources for cheaper prices and eventually luring ever more desperate workers for ever lower salaries. Don't be naive, there is good reason that people make a distinction between old and new money. While there has been a recent flush of folks entering the billionaire category, they are still a pitiful minority amongst their peers.
Big money has gotten used to getting everything that they want, Don't give them Congress too! This has been what has fought Obama at every turn, the moneyed interests. We need so many things right now, that to put any of them off will only inspire chaos. Our babies, especially those born in hospital, are not born gracefully into our families any longer.Instead, doctors intervene more often and achieve poorer outcomes than in many other nations. The care that we give at any age is more expensive and of poorer quality here than in most industrialized nations. By the time we send our children to school, in The U.S., many of them have already been diagnosed with environmentally caused illnesses, or in some cases, inability to utilize the resource that is school. Many of our schools are failing our children. The Black Market Economy swallows up many of our young people and we put some of them in prison. Every step of the way, the largest corporations are given welfare, and all the while our infrastructure is looking more and more like a tattered old quilt. With so many crises to attend to is it any wonder that our presidents always go gray?
We all know the same things to be true. The lying bastards who want your vote will stop at nothing to regain control even if the ship is sinking from their weight. The bloated corporations need to live like the rest of us and pay their way entirely. I hate seeing people who live off the sweat of my labors, but have not a care about paying me a living wage with at least a few days off to relish with my loved ones, the security of knowing that if I get sick, I won't lose my house and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that my air and water are clean and that my food won't make me sick or die. You don't have to answer, but I'm sure we're all thinking the same thing. I just had to say it.