13-03-2010, 11:41 PM
While the republicrats argue over such things as "In God We Trust" and prayer in school, EVERY person with a public forum ignores the overriding issue of our time. Wealth continues to be shifted towards a very small minority of plutocrats (maybe 1% of the population), with another 20% or so compensated very, very well in return for managing the sordid, monstrous mess. Meanwhile, 80% of Americans struggle from paycheck to paycheck (or from unemployment and/or homelessness). The situation is shameful.
EVERY crucial issue; health care, social security- you name it, is tied to the simple reality that the vast majority of our citizens do not make enough income to meet the costs of living. Yearly raises- where they exist- do not keep up with the rising costs of everything. It's so simple, and so obvious. Yet, why is no one even mentioning it? The debates about all these other issues are futile, if the crucial question of wages vs. cost of living isn't addressed. There are only two solutions; either wages must be significantly raised for all workers, or the costs of everything all workers need in order to survive must be cut drastically.
I have long proposed that the minimum wage be tied to a maximum wage. For every company employing a certain number of workers, the highest total compensation package (not merely income- the rich are notorious for not factoring in their six figure bonuses and other perks) at a given firm should not exceed, say, 20 times the lowest compensation package. So, if you're going to pay your CEO a million dollars a year, then your housekeeping crew is going to have make at least $50,000. That's just one possible solution.
Huey Long is my political hero. I urge you all to listen to, or read his speeches. They are incredible. No politician before him had ever proposed such radical actions, and no one has since. This man was advocating a 30 hour (or possibly less) work week in the mid-1930s! He must be whirling in his grave over the tragic fact that so many are forced to work two jobs just to make ends meet now. Huey's "share the wealth" proposals were actually detailed and well thought out. They made sense then. They make sense now. Why should Bill Gates, or any other individual, have over $50 billion? Think how many families that could save from divorce, forceclosure and bankruptcy. There is no reason why any person can't make do on a given, maximum amount (say $25 million). More importantly, there is no reason why any person should not have a place to live or food to eat.
Without the pressure Huey Long placed on FDR, I'm convinced that we would never have had such things as the 40 hour work week, sick and vacation leave, pensions, etc. I used to be more libertarian overall, but I'm now convinced that, left to their own devices, big business leaders would still be working children in the mines and mills, and would not be giving any of the unwashed masses who toiled for them a aingle fringe benefit.
We often hear it said, by enemies of reform, that we can't have "class envy," or "class warfare." I would suggest that the rich declared war on the rest of us a long, long time ago, and that, given the situation, we are all quite justified in being envious of them. Left and Right "debates" are bread and circuses; the reality is we have had a bloated bureaucracy for decades, and pay more than enough taxes. The problem is, we don't get anything substantive in return. With what we pay, we ought to have a first class national health care system, a first class national mass transit system and a fully funded Social Security System. Instead, we have an antiquated health care system that is an embarrassment, no national mass transit system, and a Social Security situation that is a ticking time bomb (when the boomers start to retire in large numbers, there will not be enough workers to pay for their benefits). Our leaders respond to these problems by accusing the timid and inactive Obama with doing "too much," and ignoring the obvious solutions to the Social Security mess- tax all income (right now, most citizens don't realize only the first $100,000 of income is taxed- a reverse graduated tax), and make all benefits means tested.
Nothing will be solved, as long as everyone with any influence (politicians, business leaders, journalists, entertainers) is wealthy. People act in their own self-interest, and everyone who can effect change in this country is in that top 20%. Thus, they aren't prone to the problems the 80% below them face, and will never enact the necessary reforms.
Okay, I've ranted long enough. I guess you can tell I don't like the rich.
EVERY crucial issue; health care, social security- you name it, is tied to the simple reality that the vast majority of our citizens do not make enough income to meet the costs of living. Yearly raises- where they exist- do not keep up with the rising costs of everything. It's so simple, and so obvious. Yet, why is no one even mentioning it? The debates about all these other issues are futile, if the crucial question of wages vs. cost of living isn't addressed. There are only two solutions; either wages must be significantly raised for all workers, or the costs of everything all workers need in order to survive must be cut drastically.
I have long proposed that the minimum wage be tied to a maximum wage. For every company employing a certain number of workers, the highest total compensation package (not merely income- the rich are notorious for not factoring in their six figure bonuses and other perks) at a given firm should not exceed, say, 20 times the lowest compensation package. So, if you're going to pay your CEO a million dollars a year, then your housekeeping crew is going to have make at least $50,000. That's just one possible solution.
Huey Long is my political hero. I urge you all to listen to, or read his speeches. They are incredible. No politician before him had ever proposed such radical actions, and no one has since. This man was advocating a 30 hour (or possibly less) work week in the mid-1930s! He must be whirling in his grave over the tragic fact that so many are forced to work two jobs just to make ends meet now. Huey's "share the wealth" proposals were actually detailed and well thought out. They made sense then. They make sense now. Why should Bill Gates, or any other individual, have over $50 billion? Think how many families that could save from divorce, forceclosure and bankruptcy. There is no reason why any person can't make do on a given, maximum amount (say $25 million). More importantly, there is no reason why any person should not have a place to live or food to eat.
Without the pressure Huey Long placed on FDR, I'm convinced that we would never have had such things as the 40 hour work week, sick and vacation leave, pensions, etc. I used to be more libertarian overall, but I'm now convinced that, left to their own devices, big business leaders would still be working children in the mines and mills, and would not be giving any of the unwashed masses who toiled for them a aingle fringe benefit.
We often hear it said, by enemies of reform, that we can't have "class envy," or "class warfare." I would suggest that the rich declared war on the rest of us a long, long time ago, and that, given the situation, we are all quite justified in being envious of them. Left and Right "debates" are bread and circuses; the reality is we have had a bloated bureaucracy for decades, and pay more than enough taxes. The problem is, we don't get anything substantive in return. With what we pay, we ought to have a first class national health care system, a first class national mass transit system and a fully funded Social Security System. Instead, we have an antiquated health care system that is an embarrassment, no national mass transit system, and a Social Security situation that is a ticking time bomb (when the boomers start to retire in large numbers, there will not be enough workers to pay for their benefits). Our leaders respond to these problems by accusing the timid and inactive Obama with doing "too much," and ignoring the obvious solutions to the Social Security mess- tax all income (right now, most citizens don't realize only the first $100,000 of income is taxed- a reverse graduated tax), and make all benefits means tested.
Nothing will be solved, as long as everyone with any influence (politicians, business leaders, journalists, entertainers) is wealthy. People act in their own self-interest, and everyone who can effect change in this country is in that top 20%. Thus, they aren't prone to the problems the 80% below them face, and will never enact the necessary reforms.
Okay, I've ranted long enough. I guess you can tell I don't like the rich.