America's Middle Class Can't Take Much More Punishment

America's Middle Class Can't Take Much More Punishment

www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Boy is this ever true. The corporatization and militarization of America has basically obliterated the middle class. In fact, there is a literal class-warfare being waged against the populace, and the citizens are losing, big time.

I see it everywhere around me, friends and family that were once doing well, or even okay--struggling just to make ends meet. And it appears that the same endlessly greedy entities that are largely responsible for this draining of the economic infrastructure of the nation aren't done--not by a long haul. War with Iran, and all of the profiteering that goes along with it, has them all salivating and beating their drums daily.

The ENTIRE energy industry is a complete cess pool of greed-mongering leeches that just keep taking more and more from people who have nothing left to give. They have bled us all dry and are still trying to squeeze more, not being satisfied with the billions on end they have extorted from us already.

Then we have the ever-fraudulent LENDING industry, who not only are not punished for their fraudulent and predatory schemes, but are REWARDED by being bailed out by the equally fraudulent and criminalistic FED, and now two more lending giants are scheduled to be bailed out by none other than you and I, the tax paying peons...

How much more of this bottomless greed and illegality can this nation withstand?





www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

In the immortal words of Jim Morrison, "They've got the guns, but we've got the numbers".... unfortunately, that was back in the 60's when people were awake and actually got up off their butts and did something.

Now there are over 300 million of us and most are asleep.

But God help the ruling class criminals if this population ever wakes up again. You'd probably have to pre-empt that lame dance show on television to do that though, or really start killing off their sons and daughters in an even bigger more useless (but oh so profitable) foreign war...

It's a good question to ponder.... just how much would it take to wake the masses? You can bet they have considered this question very carefully so they can walk that fine line between unbridled greed and just retribution.

[edit on 7/23/08 by kattraxx]

reply to post by kattraxx

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To awaken 'middle' America? they would need at least six months with no monosodium glutemate in their diets, no aspartame, no fluoride in the water, and then, maybe then they will 'wake up' and start thinking further than their 'bread and circuses'.

Till then? the bemoth lumbers on towards war with iran and no one even raises an eyebrow in dissent.

However, when 1.2 MILLION people protested the Iraq war, TPTB went and di it any way, and as punishment for the masses raised taxes to a crippling level.

These things are necessarry only in order to be healthy enough and cunning enough to put a stop the machinations of some of the elites.

I suspect the latest crop of bad elites will be brought down by elites fighting other elites.

The problem the middle and lower classes now face is that the evilelites are trying to kill as many of the lower classes as they can.

The people who are not hunting their own food , the people who are not planting gardens or are not gathering edible nutritious plants will be dead of cancer or diabeties in a few years .

I personally think the survival instinct of the masses will kick in really soon ,but it will not lead to out right revolt. Someone at the top will become too greedy for power and war will break out among the elites. For this not to have happened sooner, the elites must themselves be under some sort of mind control.

[edit on 23-7-2008 by eradown]

reply to post by Dan Tanna

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1.2 million people protested? Where? When? I didn't see that.

You can't "punish" 300 million people unless 300 million people allow it.

I think this article is about the wrong class. I fit into Middle Class and I'm not suffering, nor do I know anyone who is. $20 extra a week for gas and a $100 extra a month for food does not harm a Middle Class wage earner. I does hurt the working poor who have no skills. The article should have been about that instead of the alarmist nonsense. We have not even reached the point of recession until we have two quarters of decline and unemployment is still historically low. Talk to starving students or unskilled workers any time and they will complain, but the Middle Class is still doing well in the US.

Most of the doom and gloom talk right now is from Democratic Party propagandists. That happens every national election it seems. I think it gets blown out of proportion here because we have lots of unemployed and young members.

reply to post by Blaine91555

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That may be your reality, but it is not everyone elses. I know what I see around me, and it has nothing to do with being "alarmist", it is in fact what is happening. I see sections in my town and neighboring towns that were once thriving, looking like ghost towns. There are "for lease" signs on literally every other commercial property in my area. My friends and family are struggling to pay their most basic necessities, food, mortgages, utilities, and fuel.

Not doubting things are going well for you and your circle, but it is not that way everywhere, I can assure you that.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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I saw one neighbor run away with his family and the bank took over the house because he couldn't afford to pay a 300,000 dollar home. And he moved in like 2 months ago.

I think this article is about the wrong class. I fit into Middle Class and I'm not suffering,

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Define middle class?.........

If you take the Avg wage earner (center of the middle class?)
~$45K/yr?

The avg wage earner cannot afford the avg house, @$180K, the avg new car @ $16K, and the Benchmark of retirment savings of 20% gross, let alone college expense for children.
At one time he/she could (Pre-1970)

Today...(2) avg wage earners(with kids) can not do it either.........


IMHO.........02c

reply to post by Blaine91555

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Really??
How much do you make a year? Got any kids??
I can tell you it does hurt, a lot. My wife and I both work full time plus a few.
We live paycheck to paycheck. Does that make me "working poor"?
I am educated.....no skills, ha.
When prices go up and wages don't....it hurts.

Blaine, if you are only only shelling out $20 extra a week on gas and about the same extra on food 2 things are going on in your world that arent typical to the average American family. first, you must work within a couple miles of home. second, you must only eat very cheap stuff like Ramen noodles or eat only every couple days. also, you need to research who "officially" decides when we are in a recession and look into their "official" definition of recession then get back to us on th rest of that nonsense. that is all

class is a state of mind. it truly is. I know several business owners, by the way i make about 10000/year and am single, sadly. But i get by. But i admit i get lazy, i like to party my money away, i drive an older car but I still retain personality and "class". But to be wealthy is to really change your whole life, and do something vigorously for the rest of your life. The middle class to the rich, are just stagnant losers who want to stay where they are. The rich to the middle class are generally either lusted after, or hated and seen to be backstabbers. many are. But if we are to maintain a system like we have today, all functions of the flux must stay fluid, or like our galaxy it would stop working.

Hey Blain can I come live with you? I grow most of my own vegatables. Enough for my girlfriend her 3 kids, my mom and 2 of my sisters. With out the $25.00 food box from church we are out of most food stuff by mid week. So sorry I'm uneducated. As I have said before the family farm, taken from us around 1985, Feed people like you. I can take a piece of land, some water and hard work and produce a crop worth less than I put into it. Ours was a high producing farm. Potatoes, watermellons (shipped to 3 western states), corn, hay for the cows, sugar beets for holly sugar. I'd take your $20.00 a week and still be in the hole. My 2001 sunfire holds close to 13 gallons. In California $50.00 gives me half a tank. So could you take my noneducation and do as well as I do. Still have a house and a little land around it. At 54 there are not alot of doors open. I work part time for a painter, maybe he needs my help 2 days a week and no its not even$100.00 a day. As bad as it seems as short on money as I am. There was a guy older than me today at the market, $0.60 short... I dug into my pocket and said here. With a smile while I but back the bacon and boy I sure wanted cookies. Short on money to buy my own I still had a chance to help someone else. Then I had to dodge a Hummer in the parking lot because he has more than me and pushing my cart I'm in the way. I live in Riverside county California but its still 12 miles one way to the market. I love where I live so don't tell me to move from the land my family has live on for 100 years. Two years ago I was arrested for yelling at my girlfriend who od and was passed out in the street. They give you a box to keep stuff in while your there. When they let you out 72 hours later they ask if you want any thing in the box. They should tell you take the box you'll need a place to live. As for those who say there are no tent cities, well the local goverment bulldozed 3 large encampments that they set up for the homeless. Mad no I have way more common since than most, because I worked the land and prayed for the rain for 40 years. Got a good living wage job for me let me know. Here $8.00 a hour is average. $13.00 to$15.00 is still poverty. Enjoy your good fortune while you have it because there coming for you next....bil

I think that the whole of who is middle class and who is not is a waste really when comparing one area to another. I believe it should be divided more into sections of the nation. It costs much more to live one place than it does another even if wages are higher in the first area they may still not be quite good enough.

I live in the Midwest where most of the cost of living is cheaper than any other place. I am rich my no means but we (my wife and I) are still doing pretty even though we are considered middle class. Together we make less than most on here I would but for our area it is not that bad. Our house that we are buying is around 1200 sq. ft. so it is pretty inexpensive by even standards around here. When it came to looking for a house some 7 years ago we looked at not what we really wanted but what we could afford and what was at least nice. I would love to be able to get a home that is larger and in a better neighborhood, but I also know I cannot afford a house that is $115K plus.

I can see things around me that are not great for many people. I know that things can change in a heartbeat as I have seen it happen before. We did what we could to lessen our debt 2 ½ years ago, I believe I felt this coming. I also see us (people) having some tough times here and there but getting through this.

Raist

You're right DD, the middle class is 'suffering'. Blaine is right too, about the poor being hard hit. But the real problems are yet to come.

We have not changed our habits. Every day, I see thousands of cars on the road, not just going to and from work, but traveling from several states away. Admittedly I have seen a change, a decrease in the number of SUVs and pickups and an increase in the number of tiny compacts and motorcycles (even got held up on the Interstate by a motor-scooter the other day).

The problem will get a lot worse before it gets any better. So far, most people are losing homes and having to rent. They still have a roof over their head. They are stuck with a gas-guzzler they have to take a hit on to get something they can afford to drive. They can't go out to the restaurant every week, or get that new room of furniture; they have to make do with what they have, which is usually still luxurious.

But the dominoes are tipping. Less people eating in restaurants means less money, which means fewer workers. Lower-middle class is losing jobs, and losing them fast. These poor souls have no home and no income, maybe a car if they're lucky, with no way to put gas in it. And every time a job is lost, more are put at risk. It's a self-sustaining spiral, downhill all the way like a snowball rolling down a mountain.

The government is stepping in to help, with unemployment benefits, food stamps, and welfare. But that money comes from taxes, which are paid by people with some money (a job). As the number of recipients rises and the number of contributors decreases, things are going to get real ugly real fast.

We live in a society that sees government as a nanny-like uncle who is there to help us out should we fall down and get a boo-boo. Hey, it's worked for thousands for years. But we fail to realize where all that money is coming from. The source is drying up, and governments are desperately grasping for every possible dollar. Public/private partnerships are the latest scheme; leasing the rights to the very highways we already paid for to huge conglomerations from overseas in return for a temporary windfall. Take a glance at the toll roads in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and what's being discussed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The money comes in, it goes back out on useless social programs, and the states are left with no roads and no money.

Congress seems to be considering a new tax scheme every day. We are no longer interested in growing a tax base; we are more interested in taxing beyond any reasonable limits. Why? Because we are running out of money at the governmental level. So what happens when the Fed says "Sorry, we already own everything. No more money"? Hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of people who are depending on the government to provide for them in their time of need will be left out in the cold. No home, no food, no car, nothing left. This will be the wake-up call. Most will die screaming empty threats, but some will take action. And this will be the SitX discussed so frequently in the survival forums.

There's a bit of good news; we will survive as a society, albeit a changed one. There is life on the other side.

More good news: I get a front-row seat.

TheRedneck

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

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I'm sorry to hear that. Where do you live. I've only seen that in a few isolated parts of the country like Florida. The people hurting don't earn Middle Class wages though. The ones being hurt are young people earning below Middle Class wages. Maybe I'm being to harsh in word usage. It may be my age too. I'm in my 50's so everyone I know is at Middle Class or better by this age.

I survived Carter and I understand how it is to be younger and do that with lower incomes. We had double digit inflation, 21% mortgages and things this generation has never seen. We went through way worse than you are seeing now. We managed though. I worked long hours in those days. Hopefully young people now will never see it as bad as it was before Reagan straightened out that mess.

Most of the country is doing fine but I can see how interpretation would depend on where you live. Honestly all the gas prices have done is make me spend $20 more a week on gas. Food has gone up for my house about a $100 a month. I have a little less entertainment money, so I find cheaper entertainment.

As far as the mortgages go, that was self inflicted. Who in their right mind signs a variable rate mortgage when interest is so low on fixed rate? Nobody with any sense. Now Congress wants to take my money and give it to people who did such a stupid thing.

My wife and I both work full time with no kids, and together we probably make about 65-70K a year.....we are dead broke. We have $1.70 in the bank, and my car is about to run out of gas.....its so bad that I took the gas for my lawnmower and put it in my car. Maybe it will get me to work for the next 2 days.

The prices of gas and food are crippling us, and we really dont know what to do.

reply to post by Raist

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You should look at the median home prices in Seattle......You can't get anything within 30 miles for under 300k....and the jobs pay the same as elsewhere.

reply to post by PokeyJoe

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You need to use mass transportation. With gas prices being what they are, I am surprised that the busses and trains are not packed in my area. It is also strange that it is only the rich or the very poor who are using the busses.