Wake up: the American Dream is over

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1792399,00.html

Wake up: the American Dream is over

Even America's richest think they're getting too many tax breaks from a government determined to keep the poor in their place. As poverty in the US grows, Paul Harris wonders what happened to the Land of Opportunity

Thursday June 8, 2006
The Observer
<snip>
Sadly, this old argument is no longer true. Over the past few decades there has been a fundamental shift in the structure of the American economy. The gap between rich and poor has widened and widened. As it does so, the ability to cross that gap gets smaller and smaller. This is far from business as usual but there seems little chance of it stopping, not least because it appears to be government policy.

Over the past 25 years the median US family income has gone up 18 percent. For the top one percent, however, it has gone up 200 percent. A quarter of a century ago the top fifth of Americans had an average income 6.7 times that of the bottom fifth. Now it is 9.8 times.

<snip>
This has led to an economy hugely warped in favour of a small slice of very rich Americans. The wealthiest one percent of households now control a third of the national wealth. The wealthiest 10 percent control two-thirds of it. This is a society that is splitting down the middle and it has taken place against a backdrop of economic growth.

Between 1980 and 2004 America's GDP went up by almost two-thirds. But instead of making everyone better off, it has made only a part of the country wealthier, as another part slips ever more into the black hole of the working poor. There are now 37 million Americans living in poverty, and at 12.7 percent of the population, it is the highest percentage in the developed world.

Yet the tax burden on America's rich is falling, not growing. The top 0.01 percent of households has seen their tax bite fall by a full 25 percentage points since 1980. That was when 'trickle down' economics began, arguing that the rich spending more would benefit everyone as a whole. But America's poor have simply been getting poorer: clearly that theory has not worked in reality.
<snip>

:cry:

Not when all the small boats are chained to the bottom.

the tide can't "rise" everywhere at once- in order for the tide to rise in one place- it has to fall in another.

What a great heart America has. Max out our credit cards in order to take in another nation's entire class of poverty!

And they're damned good in making the poor Latinos (contrary to Dobbs and other rightwing, immigrant-hating Americans they're NOT all Mexicans!) the scapegoat some ignorant Americans are more than willing to blame for all their pains, while once again, ignoring the Haves and Have Mores' huge part in this debacle!

Like back when Jews, the Irish, the Italians, the Cubans, the Chinese, the Vietnamese (remember the early 80's?) and never to forget, "them Negroes" were blamed for the low wages, and poverty the Elites so keenly directed America into.

How so stylishly retro-American to blame the Latinos now.:sarcasm:

I'll never give up thinking that! We're still the best place on earth. I'll never want to live anywhere else!

of industrialized nations for the care of its citizens. The rich get quality medical care. That's it.

I just came from another thread where RFK was the suject of discussion. The poster above had the same response to the RFK thread as they have here.

It seems as though that poster has an agenda. Look for responses to the "USA, USA!" posts to end up on other message boards.

Your powers of observation match my bs meter exactly.

May I toast you on your well-tuned bs meter? :toast:



:beer:

Welcome to DU and I guess it would be safe
to say that you don't work in public education?
Now, please share what ever it is that affords you
the luxury of your particular vision of amurikkka.
BHN

Welcome to DU Dempeoria! :hi:

I love this country - the land and lots of the people, but the job market has always sucked for me. Even worse than not being able to find a job for long stretches of time, is when I finally get the job that nobody else wanted and the employers treat me like crap. Too many of them seem to see their employees as toilet paper - they use them to wipe up some crap and then they flush them away. I would like to live somewhere that I was not considered disposable.

America could do so much better if only it valued all it's citizens equally..

Everything can continue to improve!

We need to get back our upward mobility, and make this again a land of opportunity, instead of a frozen aristocracy

I would have loved her just as much. But I would have wanted a better life for her.

Our country is in exactly that same position....unbelievable beauty, great natural resources, some wonderful people. And yet, we don't seem to be able to feed our people all the time, or house them, or get health care to them.

All the potential for being a truly great nation, but addiction to militarism and imperialism keeps America from actually realizing that potential.

America is becoming like Los Angeles ; a great place to be but only if you are very, very wealthy.

I've traveled quite a bit, and I can think of four or five countries where I would rather live-if I could only find a way and the money to emigrate there. Every year the U.S. falls behind other developed nations in every category. The real shame of it all is that it never needed to slide the way it has-but GOP greed will continue to push us further down until we crumble like Rome.

Not to mention a host of other countries.

We are becoming a third world nation.

and homeless.
But hey, everything is fine for those still
hypnotized and delusional, eh?
Yes America, who ignores the basic
human needs of the young, elderly and
its veterans while billlions of
tax payer dollars go missing in
a fraudulent and illegal war, is in GREAT shape as
another poster drunkenly posted on this thread.
Oh yeah.
BHN

serve the rich kids lunch. In the 1950's, in Idaho, the poor kids who could not pay for lunches, were forced to be cooks and servers in the hot lunch program to "earn" their lunch. They left classes early to prepare the food and came back late because they washed the trays.

That was when I decided I would be a democrat. The psychological harm this did to the poor kids was devestating. They assumed the role of being a servant and cast their eyes down as they served food to those who could afford the lunch tickets.

This was a caste system. I will never forget it.

I didn't realize that anything like this happened in this country in recent history. My dad went to elementary school in NH in the 1950's (parochial though). I never heard of such stuff happening from him. Was this just isolated to Idaho?

When I was in high school in the early 70's, this was the norm. It was part of the federal school lunch program.

Nor none I ever heard about. Considering child labor laws, I wonder it COULD happen.

Sorry if it happened to you. In America, we're offered different opportunities, and earn different results. I don't know how to make us all have exactly the same thing.

and unfortunately, the quality of those opportunities is directly related to your income level- to the lower point of the spectrum, where they aren't exactly "opportunities", and they aren't exactly "offered".

...is that we are 'offered' a LOT of opportunity--and we have the chance of making it more and more. The sky really is the limit here--for everyone.

poor, and inner-city. and pregnant.

or the wife of an abusive husband, and mother to several children.

or gay(at least not openly).

or a lot of other things.

but i am going to guess that you DO have health insurance, and/or with no conditions that would otherwise make you un-insurable.

I am a minority. (Not black.)

I was poor, but educated myself and went to work, so I no longer am. (I'd say we are middle-class.)

I moved out of the inner-city.

I was very careful not to get anyone pregnant.

I was careful not to choose, or be, an abusive spouse.

I was careful not to father many children, nor marry someone who had, or would, or will.

I have had lovers, openly, of both sexes.

Oh, and, up to now, I have been able to afford the healthcare I've needed through a variety of means (School, some insurance, some state sub., some self-pay etc.)

it works for everyone...?

that's the kind of narrow view people have when they go through life with blinders on-
if you can't recognize that the same types of opportunities really aren't available to all, or even equally- you need to take another look around, because it just isn't so.

but- since things are going so well for you- why don't you give something back to the country that has been so good to you- do some volunteer social work- go back to the inner-city, and explain to the unwed working mothers, and the elderly poor, and the like- just how much opportunity this country holds for them- show them the way!

I never said the same types of opportunities are available to all, or equally. Those are your words. You couldn't go mountain climbing in Kansas if you tried! But you can't grow wheat in Alaska, nor palm trees in North Dakota. America has so many varied opportunities that, if one doesn't come along, another will. And ALL America women have the choice to be unwed mothers or not--and how many kids they will have like that. They pick their partners, and they choose to keep their offspring, so that IS very much a life choice--not a have-to.

Educated oneself, and going to work, DOES work.

Moving out of the inner-city DOES work.

Being careful who you get pregnant DOES work.

Choosing not to marry, or be, an abusive spouse DOES work.

Being careful not to father many children, nor marry someone who had, or would, or will DOES work.

Paying for healthcare through a variety of means DOES work.

Will these things make your life perfect? No. It WILL make it better. I refuse to be a victim of any of it.

The sky is just not the limit for everyone. I love America, but it's easy for me: I'm straight, white, male, intelligent, relatively wealthy - and the sky is still not the limit for me, so I don't know where you get off saying that kind of blanket statement. I have seen too many of my friends suffering for no fault of their own, much less the average poor inner city minority. I agree we are offered more opportunity than almost every other country on the planet, but that doesn't make this some kind of paradise.

I think you're trying to make a valid point, so I probably shouldn't be criticizing you, but you should definitely try to be more precise. Email and bulletin boards can expose a lot of flaws in one's writing. If you want us to stop criticizing the problems with the US, you're on the wrong board because we here in the dem tent want to keep working until things are just all over - call us masochists. It may never happen, but that is the goal.

Oh yeah, every thing is just great in Amurikkka.
The recruiters are swarming the high school campus
at the school I work in.
Who's signing up?
The poor, mainly hispanic and black, students
who want to go to college.
I talked with one of the recruiters the other day.
I asked how the recruiting was going.
He was chipper and said,
"Great! These kids want to go to college
and enlisting is a great way to pay for education..."
"Uh-huh, if you can stay alive long enough to go..."
I thought to myself.
Mr. Recruiter had never been in combat himself, but
was sure eager to send others.
BHN

It was pretty humiliating. Having kids throwing their messy trays at you through the window, going back to class with potatoes stuck to your glasses, never being able to go out to recess at lunch. But it was either that, or don't eat.

And what year was it?

I went to school in Denver for awhile.

I run food services for my school district, and this doesn't happen anymore. We do have interns once in a while, but they don't work for food! But I have to say, it wasn't easy doing it when I was a kid. Kids can be really cruel, and when you're a target like that - well, it's not pretty.

does that take inflation into account? I hope I'm not being overly negative, but my guess is, a truer figure that DOES take inflation into account would show shrinkage, not growth.

majority of US workers have had stagnant or negative wages compared to what they were about 10 years ago or so.

also keep in mind family income goes up when more family members work. Women entering the workforce has boosted family income stats while individual income stagnates.

I've heard that average real working wages is a better measure, and this has improved minimally over 30 years.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

parks. City government. Street maintenance.
Property taxes go to the state and local municipality, not the federal government.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

There's not a country in the world that doesn't charge property tax. It's a just and fair tax. Where would you prefer the government raise money? An extra tax on minimum wage earners? Charging a fee or toll for the use of all government services? All roads would be toll, all parks charge admission? A fee to check out books at the library, because anything "free" from the gov't is "income redistribution"? That's your right-wing heaven, right?

At the local level anyhow. I do have some disagreements with the federal government, mainly waging unjust wars and using my money to do so. But 90% of the country disagreed with me at the crucial point in time. Of course, most have changed their minds by now. So I win a moral victory there.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

What ever IT is it costs money. How do you expect to pay for it?

expains what he thinks government is supposed to do

...can go after you, but there was a case in Northern California where a man refused to pay federal and state taxes, and the government went after him, but he got himself an attorney; fought it in court...and won!

If you want to go through all of that--and seeing this is still a free country---then take the next step and not pay your taxes, but get a damned good attorney to defend your stand.

I hate having to pay taxes too, but as money-greedy, penny-pinching as I am, I do realize what my options are, and I'm opting not to have to be in court for years to not have to pay taxes.

I'd rather pay taxes that would help fund our public schools (NOT private ones), fund our Fire Department (ya never know!), fund our Police Departments, help fund our local government to keep our cities clean, and graffitti-clean, and help fund our local medical clinics although we pay an arm and a leg for Health Insurance for our family every month with big co-payments, and deductibles on top of it, while voting for candidates that are for universal healthcare, responsible school budgeting while weeding out the corruption and 1st class vacation trips of some school officials, and things like that.

I HATE paying taxes to fund unnecessary wars to the tune of BILLIONS for the Pentagon's pet projects while inadequately funding our troops, and I HATE paying taxes while seeing the Haves and Have Mores get away with never paying a dime because of corporate tax-loopholes and licenses to buy everything from food to fleets of cars wholesale.

But what do I know. I'm just part of the working class that's ensuring the ruling/elite class is fat, and indulged.

How do you suggest we fund public schools?

Let me guess... privatize them?

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Why do you hate the poor?

and thus, end up paying far less in taxes than is just, given their high disposable income.

For starters, to make that work and be enough to actually fund things, the sales tax would have to be raised.

Plus, poor-to-middle income earners spend nearly all of their income, while the rich spend a small fraction.

It's as regressive as the day is long.

And using your reasoning, in that you simply have the option to either pay the tax by making the purchase or not by not making the purchase, the same could be said for land ownership. You don't have to buy land, and you are well aware that you will be paying property taxes when you buy land.

You think everyone should pay the same tax?

Go up in the wilderness and stake out a plot and fend for yourself. Hunt and grow crops and stop whining. There are still a few untouched corners of this country. You wouldn't last a week on your own, IMO.

You are being humorous right? No one can just pick a spot and set up housekeeping, let alone live off the land.

...there are out-of-the-way remote spots where you could "set up housekeeping" for years and years before anybody would bother you. Hell, there are forested canyons within the city of San Francisco populated by dozens of homeless who have set up shantytowns, some even tapping electricity.

I'm not saying it's necessarily an appealing choice - I'm just pointing out that the notion that this person is being "forced" to participate in our society is BS. You can opt out, if you really want to.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

insulting? vindictive?

Taxes on the poor and working people have gone up for 25 years straight. Thank you for the Right-wing libertarian spiel, but it won't sell here, IMO. Why don't you test your little theory on next year's return, and then you can tell us how it worked out from the federal pen.

Why, pray tell, not?

Amendment XVI
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

That does not authorize an Income Tax?

Our decline only increased in speed when we stopped "soaking the rich".

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Don't pay your property taxes for years = "reasonable".

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Which protects against UNREASONABLE search and seizure. Not against all seizure.

can modify earlier ones, even the first ten. For example:

"Amendment XXI
1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed."

Amendments are, by definition, Constitutional.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
... nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


We the people get to define what is "unreasonable" and what is "due process". If you do not like the income tax, then work for its repeal, either by amendment or by Congress.

Everyone should pay their fair share.

Why should earned wages pay more tax percentage than income from the stock market? Very simple question.

I'm surprised it's been allowed to stand this long.

Jay

SPELLING EDIT

People need to see the link between conservative economic policies and the downfall of America. Even presidents Carter and Clinton were center-right. Its time to give up on failed policies once and for all and chart a new course!

reform so that people are voting for ideas as opposed to who has the most money.

Damn. If someone could tell me the rest of the lyrics that line came from.

But it's a tune from the early 90's. Punkers have been painfully aware of what is going on.

is from THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS.

A worthwhile read:

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1579981


Last night I was discussing this with my 17 yo son and we have pretty much decided that we'll, he and I, do everything in our power to get him set up elsewhere to live his life.

Just sayin'.

represent the people. But do we?

How many times have congressional votes gone against what the majority of the people want? Tax cuts for the wealthy, minimum wage, abortion (I won't add Iraq war because at the time, the majority of the population supported Bush), marriage amendment and flag burning amendment keep being brought up (like broken records) even though the majority of the people don't support them.

It is the people who say "have you ever been or lived anywhere else " What is your point ? Are you trying to say that it's ok if america goes completely down the drain but it is better because it is not yet quite as bad as the worse place on earth ?

The american dream was never meant to be riches for everyone but instead a chance to have a living wage lifestyle and a chance to improve on that . So now that we have a LOUSY heath care system if you can afford it at all and you work for $5.25 per hour and the education system is the worst it has even been this is better than living in any other country because we are not there yet ?

Add in one other thing , we are the only country with a stolen election president who bombs the hell out of none threatening countries on a lie , who does this make the USA better than ? And it doesn't end there .

That worn out saying is NOTHING more than a cop-out for a lack of anything informative to say .