Is America becoming a third world country?
Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 11:37 AM
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The main characteristics common to Third World countries are a high level of debt, an income distribution concentrated to the top 1% of the population, and an economy based on export of raw materials and import of manufactured products. (Source: Swans Commentary).By those yardsticks the United States is slowly slouching toward Third World status.
46 of 50 states are on the verge of bankruptcy, our cities are going dark at night, our asphalt roads are being returned to nature and sharp budget cuts are leaving our students without teachers and supplies, or even a full-time education.
Just this month, in shocking scenes of mass desperation, 30,000 people showed up to apply for public housing in East Point, Georgia for 455 available vouchers. The despair and chaos suggested a Third World nation, not the United States - but it was the United States.
Perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised. After all one out of every eight American adults and one out of four children now survive on government food stamps. And according to the US Department of Agriculture, 50 million Americans were unable to buy enough food to remain healthy at some point last year.
These are shameful numbers for the world's richest nation.
But none of this should be a mystery. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.
Whilst the conservative right keeps its voters hypnotized with the latest shell game involving God, Guns and Gays, the ordinary citizen has had his wallet pilfered or her purse snatched, over and over.
Of the $1.7 trillion in tax cuts taxpayers received through 2008, high-income households received by far the largest - not only in amount but also as a percentage of income - which dramatically shifted the concentration of after-tax income toward the top.
The income gap is expanding now not because the middle class is losing income, but because the incomes of the wealthiest are skyrocketing.
'If income growth had been shared equally among all income groups, the families at the bottom would have $6,000 per year more than they do now, and the middle would have $13,000 more,' says the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities this month.
It's a fact universally acknowledged that the most dramatic wealth gap in American history literally exploded during the eight years of the George W Bush administration. Now the top 1% owns a third of Americas wealth and 50% of its bonds. In fact, the gap between the top 1% and everyone else hasn't been this bad since the Roaring Twenties.
Meanwhile the real average earnings for middle class Americans have not increased in 50 years.
That's half a century.
Republican tax cuts have significantly increased the wealth gap, of course. Income tax just keeps getting lower and lower for the rich. It's a champagne and caviar party that never ends, if you're one of the elite few with a golden ticket, that is.
If you aren't in the top 1% of America's earners, you're pretty much screwed.
If the 80% of American households are unable to take back the power that they have gradually conceded, then it will continue like this for the vast majority, who have become the financial minority.
Republican tax cuts have significantly increased the wealth gap, of course. Income tax just keeps getting lower and lower for the rich. It's a champagne and caviar party that never ends, if you're one of the elite few with a golden ticket, that is.
If you aren't in the top 1% of America's earners, you're pretty much screwed.
If the 80% of American households are unable to take back the power that they have gradually conceded, then it will continue like this for the vast majority, who have become the financial minority.
Voting for your prejudices and against your pocket book, just like all those broken asphalt roads, is leading us nowhere fast.
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Jessica8 | Nov 12, 2010, 03:35 PM EST
Thank you for the article and it has been an observation of mine since I was young.
Look at the comments, that's all that's being done here in the USA.
As a global traveller, most Americans are too arrogant to see that other nations have taken over the "American dream". The educational system in the USA is declining and hence, the population that it has produced -again, look at some of the comments.
The lifestyle that Americans have been enjoying are now going to be enjoyed by other nationalities. It's hard to see people trying to emulate themselves after pop figures we see on TV by going into debt.
The right, the left, the Republicans, the Democrats, they don't care about the average American and yet, Americans refuse to open their eyes and see that fact. I pity the ones who still hold onto the old thinking that America is indestructible. While Asia and the rest of the world are silently working, Americans are loudly spending.
It's going to take more than guns to change the economy. It's going to take more than the political parties, including the Tea Parties to change what's been brewing for decades, it's going to take a massive overhaul of the American culture and education to change this nation. The average American maybe educated, but not smart.
It's too late to wake up America, we are now wallowing in our nightmare.
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maloney | Sep 12, 2010, 11:23 PM EDT
marilyn...we won't be much longer with the trash that has been passed & the crap obummer has yet to push through. His time is running out but not fast enough.
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ssMarilyn | Sep 10, 2010, 09:48 AM EDT
I don't agree with this guy's comments at all. I'm an American and have been all my life. He makes it sound like we're a destitute, welfare country. We aren't. We still live the good life here.
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WatchingMedia | Sep 07, 2010, 06:42 AM EDT
The Democrats have been in power since Jan 2007 (House and Senate). Obama has just made things worse.
Spending binges with taxpayer dollars - ACORN; AIG; Stanley Morgan; Goldman Sachs; Freddie Mac; Fannie Mae; Wells Fargo; Citi-Group; US Bankcorp; GMAC; Captial One; BankAmerica; American Express; Sun Trust; Fifth Third; Commerica; Country-wide; JP Morgan Chase; GM; Chrysler; Cash for Clunkers.
They wanted a NEW ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM - Socialised Health Care; Now they want Cap & Trade. Who knows what they will decide to spend money on next. Nice try but you can't blame Conservatives, or blame Republicans because they are not and have not been in power. The Liberal/Progressive/Leftists have gotten us into this mess, its up to them to get us out.
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WatchingMedia | Sep 07, 2010, 06:25 AM EDT
When are you going to speak the truth. Conservatives are not, nor have they been in power. The Liberal/Progressive/Leftists have been in power since Jan.2007. Obama just made things worse.
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WatchingMedia | Sep 07, 2010, 06:22 AM EDT
Yes. The Dems have been in power since Jan 2007 (House and Senate).
Acorn; AIG;
Stanley Morgan;
Goldman Sachs;
Freddie Mac;
Fannie Mae;
Wells Fargo;
Citi-Group;
US Bankcorp;
GMAC;
Captial One;
BankAmerica;
American Express;
Sun Trust;
Fifth Third;
Commerica;
Country-wide;
JP Morgan Chase;
GM;
Chrysler;
Cash for Clunkers.
Wanted NEW entitlement program - Health Care even for those who don't need or want it;
Want Cap & Trade.
Who knows what they will decide to spend money on next.
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WatchingMedia | Sep 07, 2010, 05:42 AM EDT
The Progressive/Liberal/left wing Democratic Party has been in charge of the money and spending since Jan 2007, when they took control of the House and Senate.
Big and small businesses alike are afraid to expand, since they have no clue what the tax & spend Democrats will do next.
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maloney | Sep 03, 2010, 08:51 PM EDT
Progressives to the right, progressives to the left. The ones calling the shots now, obummer & his wootang clan will not except anything less than the total destruction of the USA. I wonder what muslim country he will slither off to when his job is done?
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DennisQ | Aug 29, 2010, 06:04 PM EDT
>>It is those few with brains, daring, single-mindedness, ambition, dedication and unafraid to work, who create jobs for themselves and others . . .
The problem with this statement is that America's upper classes haven't been doing that. When they got the big tax breaks they didn't go around creating jobs; they hoarded the money. I'd agree that capital is supposed to invest in projects, thereby creating jobs . . . but what's your solution when things don't work the way they're supposed to? That's the problem we're facing now.
If you were going to argue that Bush got people back working again, you'd be on solid ground to advocate more tax cuts. But the Obama bailout plan fell short because it didn't do enough to get people off the dole and back on the job.
Perhaps the thuggish-looking characters that make up the English Defence League are just misunderstood boys who just need some love. At this distance, however, I have to go by appearances. And the British tabloids call them thugs as well. They were looking to trashing the city of Bradford but the police shrewdly denied them a permit to march. Instead the EDL had to stand in place, chanting slogans like "We want our country back." They believe that the Muslims have taken their country away from them, but it's more likely they are fed up with no jobs and no futures.
This is coming to a theater near you because there are thugs galore in the Stop Islamization of America" movement. They are anxious to throw their weight around, they are undisciplined, and they drink a lot. This is why I'm predicting that we're going to start hearing from them, especially since people who should know better are cheering them on. Like the EDL, they want their country back too, but it wasn't the Muslims that took it from them.
If you were going to argue that Bush got people back working again, you'd be on solid ground to advocate more tax cuts. But the Obama bailout plan fell short because it didn't do enough to get people off the dole and back on the job.
Perhaps the thuggish-looking characters that make up the English Defence League are just misunderstood boys who just need some love. At this distance, however, I have to go by appearances. And the British tabloids call them thugs as well. They were looking to trashing the city of Bradford but the police shrewdly denied them a permit to march. Instead the EDL had to stand in place, chanting slogans like "We want our country back." They believe that the Muslims have taken their country away from them, but it's more likely they are fed up with no jobs and no futures.
This is coming to a theater near you because there are thugs galore in the Stop Islamization of America" movement. They are anxious to throw their weight around, they are undisciplined, and they drink a lot. This is why I'm predicting that we're going to start hearing from them, especially since people who should know better are cheering them on. Like the EDL, they want their country back too, but it wasn't the Muslims that took it from them.
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IrishLass127 | Aug 26, 2010, 04:16 PM EDT
As an American citizen for close to 70 years I am continually saddened by the State of America and the fact that so many complain and complain but do nothing. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words and I pray people will at least attempt to be heard using a fair and organized approach to a mess that only seems to worsen.
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2BorNot2B | Aug 26, 2010, 10:46 AM EDT
I'd like to know when DennisQ, or any of those in the 'lost generations' he frets about losing EVER got a job from a poor person, or from those living off the entitlements (at the expense of those of us who work and pay taxes) so 'generously' advocated for and spread around by the people presently holding the reins of government. -- It is those few with brains, daring, single-mindedness, ambition, dedication and unafraid to work, who create jobs for themselves and others; not the ones who wait on unemployment lines for 99 weeks, while jobs they are too lazy to do go either wanting, or to illegal aliens. -- California's fields and factories are brimming with employment opportunities, and many of us presently holding college degrees and running the businesses that are now laying off people because of the uncertainty and repressive tax laws created by this clueless administration, did our stint picking grapes, worked in strawberry fields and frozen food packing plants while on Summer vacations. -- The grape-vine pickers of Europe, and the rest of the wine producing world are not illegal aliens. Why is a certain class of American citizens allowed to collect unemployment benefits while they could be at work on our fields, as well as doing the rest of the jobs illegals are now being paid $12 to $15/hr to do?
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Monsoonman | Aug 25, 2010, 09:55 PM EDT
thugs????? Don't be such a drama queen, helen...why not enjoy your retirement.
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DennisQ | Aug 25, 2010, 07:59 PM EDT
One of the many undesirable consequences of mass unemployment is that dispossessed males look for other ways to validate their masculinity. Since they can't support a family, they turn to machismo, thuggishness and criminality.
Social stability doesn't deteriorate overnight, but as one generation with nothing at stake in the status quo is succeeded by another similarly hopeless generation, the bonds that hold society together weaken. They are seeing that in England, France and Germany, and we are starting to see it here.
The right wing cannily tries to exploit these young thugs as shock troops in its effort to promote apartheid. The difficulty is with the thugs themselves. Lacking sufficient life skills even to gain employment, they're unreliable allies because they lack self-discipline.
We've got to get young people working again before there's another lost generation. The deficits created by two out of control generations aren't linear; they're exponential. If we continue to indulge the Republicans in their fantasy that tax cuts to the rich will do the job, we'll get ourselves into a very deep hole indeed. The bugbear of socialism shouldn't stop us from preventing the kind of social collapse that Republicans seem to want.
Social stability doesn't deteriorate overnight, but as one generation with nothing at stake in the status quo is succeeded by another similarly hopeless generation, the bonds that hold society together weaken. They are seeing that in England, France and Germany, and we are starting to see it here.
The right wing cannily tries to exploit these young thugs as shock troops in its effort to promote apartheid. The difficulty is with the thugs themselves. Lacking sufficient life skills even to gain employment, they're unreliable allies because they lack self-discipline.
We've got to get young people working again before there's another lost generation. The deficits created by two out of control generations aren't linear; they're exponential. If we continue to indulge the Republicans in their fantasy that tax cuts to the rich will do the job, we'll get ourselves into a very deep hole indeed. The bugbear of socialism shouldn't stop us from preventing the kind of social collapse that Republicans seem to want.
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patrick1945 | Aug 25, 2010, 12:52 PM EDT
If these tax cuts are so bad why are they likely to be reinstated by a Democrat controlled congress?
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