America's Middle Class Can't Take Much More Punishment, page 6
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reply posted on 24-7-2008 @ 09:03 PM by djerwulfe
reply to post by desert


I think we were set-up, so-to-speak, but that's another story and spilled milk, BUT...

The question is: How fast do we adapt? What's the goal? Our program obviously needs overhauled.
For some reason former Communist countries still want to fight. But this time, they know how we beat them.

It's a hard pill to swallow getting beat at your own game, now... Where's that legendary American, ingenuity, stalwart patriotism, spirit stuff?
Can we overhaul the system without clawing each other's eyes out? Without being wholly subject?

Can we even all get behind the American Ideal, now, in its pure form?

Equality, autonomy, free markets, fair-cut, stand up, two-fisted, get-the-girl (or boy), color blind, inclusive, infectious, and groovy.

I'm not being poetic, really. CAN WE DO IT? Pull it out the fire.


reply posted on 24-7-2008 @ 09:04 PM by Pilot
reply to post by desert


Desert,

That article you linked was the lecture in a nutshell, what's missing is the explanation of how the research was done, all of her data came from a govt. agency that tracks how much people spend on what...it has been keeping records for - I think- since the 1890's, but would have to verify.

Anyone who would rather read text than listen to the lecture ought to check out the link in your post above.


reply posted on 24-7-2008 @ 09:21 PM by djerwulfe
reply to post by Mailman


I don't follow your reply.
Build a family to fill a void with independence?

Are you saying people just doing what people normally do are to blame, and that it's silly to blame them?
OR?

It sounds like your views on the value of social connectivity are contradictory. Or am I confused?


reply posted on 25-7-2008 @ 09:03 AM by pjsconcrete
This is a subject that's very important to me, as in the last 4 years I've gone from living comfortably to barely scraping by on a month to month basis. I am a small business owner on the front lines of the "War on the Middle Class."

It all started several years ago when my health insurance premiums went from an affordable $100/ month to an UNGODLY $1500/month. Naturally, I canceled my health insurance and shopped around for cheaper coverage. All I could find was coverage for major medical ONLY for $250/month. I did without doctor visits, dentists, and perscriptions for several years (no big deal).

Then, my business liability insurance went from $75 dollars a month to $150/month. No big deal, part of doing business. I just raised my prices to pay for it.

Next step downward, my property insurance was dropped due to a possibility that I may be hit by a hurricane at some point in the future. The only insurance I could find was twice as much as I was paying. "Okay," I thought,"I'll just have to grin and bear it."

Next, I had a minor heart attack (due to stress), and had to start taking heart pills (and I'm only 38). I no longer have perscription coverage, so I started paying $55/ month for pills. 6 months later, one of my pills went to $150/month.

Further in the downward spiral, the housing market crash hit. My business went down over 50%. People had always paid me in the past by taking money out of their equity. Now that equity is gone (unless you have owned your home for a long time). I went from making~$1500 a week to
$500 a week if I'm lucky.

"What's next," I wondered. My answer, energy prices. My average gas bill for my commercial mini-van in the last 3 years went from $20/week to $50/week (more If I'm working in another county, which I have to now to keep working).

I have gone from upper middle to lower cass in a matter of 4 years. I lost my house, and now live in an apartment. In order to pay the bills, my girlfriend and her daughter moved in (which is has worked out well ).

Now I am in my second year of college, some of which is paid for by our tax dollars. The rest of it, I got a student loan for. I have decided it's going to be better in the long run to work for someone else as a software engineer than to struggle with my business. I'll keep it up until I graduate, but my American Dream is dead, killed by big business and our politicians who only care about their special intrests (insurance companies, oil companies, wall street tycoons, etc...).

If there had been some kind of ACTUALL REGULATION on insurance companies, etc... this never would have happened. Business would have declined after the housing market crash, but it wouldn't have been as bad if people's insurance here in Florida hadn't doubled (or in some cases quadrupled) in the last 5 years.

I don't expect handouts from the government, but I DO expect them to do their job, and reign in big corporations when they RAPE the middle class.


reply posted on 25-7-2008 @ 10:49 AM by Grafilthy
reply to post by pjsconcrete


PJ...
I wish I could help you.....but I'm in the same boat.
I hope things get better for you real soon.

Grafilthy



reply posted on 25-7-2008 @ 03:13 PM by Skipper1975
reply to post by DimensionalDetective


draconian laws work by a caste system...you have the rulers..the priests..then the workers

they the NWO want to dominate peoples and resources and enforce draconian law around the planet..

also by demoting the middle class and removing jobs they can force people to join the military to help continue domination..




to save the human race we need to have NESARA or something like it
www.nesara.us...
www.white-knights911.net...
www.luisprada.com...


take care


reply posted on 26-7-2008 @ 01:50 AM by wutone
reply to post by smokingmonkey


Yea and they make for an effective lobby.

Nothing like an interest group whose interest are to extract more money and gain more power over the regular population. On top of that, they really don't do much in the first place ex: American public education.


reply posted on 26-7-2008 @ 03:33 AM by Ex_MislTech
Originally posted by eradown
Originally posted by Dan Tanna
reply to post by kattraxx


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'.




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]


Well... It is because they have been organizing this for a long time.

Via The Club of Rome:

en.wikipedia.org...

You will see Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is a member of
the Club of Rome, and the Bliderberg Group.

en.wikipedia.org...

US government officials who attend these meetings without
permission are actually breaking the law called the Logan Act,
but they don't really seem to care.

Ppl wonder why they cooperate, its because they are well paid
to do so, and the kind of money and power they have they
get a lot of cooperation.

They also seem to have some attraction to mock human sacrifice.

en.wikipedia.org...

My feeling is they are looking forward to the days when they
don't have to fake the human sacrifice anymore.

In fact, they seek realism so much they playing a recording
or a human scream in anguish at the ceremony.

So I'd say they have some common ground with each other,
and thus their mutual cooperation.

Some of them paid $50,000 cash 28 years ago to have carved
in stone their ultimate goals.

en.wikipedia.org...

6.1 billion dead is the part I take real issue with.

I'd say anyone willing to drop that kind of cash 28 years ago
felt pretty strongly about their points, and I am guessing they
prolly had a fair amount of money left over after saying it.

The only countries I see standing up to them is Iran and Russia
at this point, it looks like China is well bought off.

This can all change, but I see the war coming soon with Iran,
and possibly with Russia.

Russia's first strike weapons will be the KH-102 Stealth Nuclear
Cruise Missile fired from Bombers, Ships, Subs, and possibly
ground installations it is around 200 Kilo-tons.

www.globalsecurity.org...

Iran's biggest threat is regional, and will most likely be chemical
weapons is my guess as it does not want to biological weapons
to affect its own population.

The warning I have heard is to watch for a few middle east leaders
to die in rapid succession in les than a week, when you see that begin
head away from the cities with your bug out bags and get in a cave
if you can.

I wish you all the best of Luck !


reply posted on 26-7-2008 @ 03:59 AM by Ex_MislTech
Originally posted by Pilot
reply to post by desert


Desert,

That article you linked was the lecture in a nutshell, what's missing is the explanation of how the research was done, all of her data came from a govt. agency that tracks how much people spend on what...it has been keeping records for - I think- since the 1890's, but would have to verify.

Anyone who would rather read text than listen to the lecture ought to check out the link in your post above.


Well these government reports leave out the layers of tax on
everything.

What I mean by that is, the taxes at all layers from raw goods
to finished purchased product.

I do not pretend to know them all, but they have a list of most of
them here.

www.thepowerhour.com...

But every item you buy as a finished good is taxed MANY times
before it makes its way to you, this runs up the cost of labor
and production as well, and those also increase the finished price.

That is why a loaf of bread used to cost 10 cents in my lifetime.

I remember when gas was under 50 cents a gallon, and my hair is
mostly not grey.

I remember my aunt buying a 3 bedroom brick home, with a
double car garage in the late 70's for $35,000.

The country has lost its course, and the ppl driving the ship are
drunk and blind, or just thieves that lie semi-well.


reply posted on 26-7-2008 @ 04:30 AM by Ex_MislTech
Originally posted by djerwulfe
reply to post by desert


I think we were set-up, so-to-speak, but that's another story and spilled milk, BUT...

The question is: How fast do we adapt? What's the goal? Our program obviously needs overhauled.
For some reason former Communist countries still want to fight. But this time, they know how we beat them.

It's a hard pill to swallow getting beat at your own game, now... Where's that legendary American, ingenuity, stalwart patriotism, spirit stuff?
Can we overhaul the system without clawing each other's eyes out? Without being wholly subject?

Can we even all get behind the American Ideal, now, in its pure form?

Equality, autonomy, free markets, fair-cut, stand up, two-fisted, get-the-girl (or boy), color blind, inclusive, infectious, and groovy.

I'm not being poetic, really. CAN WE DO IT? Pull it out the fire.


As a former member of the military I sincerely feel sorry for how
bad some ppl have it, but after I got out it was very hard to find
a decent job and they were given to friends,family, etc etc.

Nepotism basically.

It is not for lack of training, I learned advanced electronics
and radar systems, but most of our electronics has been shipped
overseas and unless you have a degree AND know someone
they are gonna hire the Visa workers or ship the job overseas.

The DOT COM boom made things pretty nice for awhile, lots of work
for techies for a few years, then the DOT COM crash came,
and I was still able to find work for awhile.

After 911 I did find some contract work for the military, now
all I can find is short term gigs that are 1099 where they don't
cover the SSI or anything, its all on you, and the pay is low
with that figured in.

I have some money saved up thanks to being cautious, and
my house and vehicles are paid off, both very used and abused, lol.

I am not about to go out and put my rear on the line to try and
boot the bandits out of DC for more of the same treatment I have
received.

I am afraid I have done my service to this country, and the ppl
that sat on their rear at home watching sports and NASCAR being
armchair quarterbacks can go show me their skills.

I have packed and prepared to head away from the cities when
WW3 breaks out and the Russians cut loose with the Stealth
Nuclear Cruise Missile with a 5,000km range.

The way things are it won't be real long now...

Top Brass Defends Russia's Right to Preemptive Strike:

www.mnweekly.ru...

Iran says it intercepted terrorist attack on Russian consulate:

en.rian.ru...

Russia takes measures to protect its facilities and citizens in Iran:

en.rian.ru...

Putin Calls U.S. `Frightening Monster,' Urges French Solidarity:

www.bloomberg.com...

Some photos and more info on the baseline for the new model:

en.wikipedia.org...

The KH-102 Stealth Nuclear Cruise Missile:

www.globalsecurity.org...

This is a radar invisible 200 Kilo-ton nuclear missile, that flies low and
hugs the terrain, its TERCOM system is a hyper accurate terrain
navigation system.

My caches are buried near caves in the part of my state that will
receive the lowest amount of fallout based on the strike maps.

I suggest other ppl prepare as well, we are in for a bumpy ride.

I was really worried when someone hired a 3rd world hit man
to try to kill Putin, I thought it was going to come pretty quick
after that.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

So the temperature is rising in more ways than most ppl know.

Plan accordingly.



reply posted on 26-7-2008 @ 12:25 PM by desert
Originally posted by djerwulfe
reply to post by solo1


I agree that times will be tough, but this is a country that fought a war in an economic depression, arguably.

So, I can't help but think that there are mechanisms in place to protect what you might call "core citizens." This includes various skilled blue-collar types, lots of technicians, certain civil engineer groups, etc.

Everyone else will have to fend for themselves, basically. We can ration goods and really turn on the old "Stars and Stripes" routine to help people feel like it's bearable and that the end is in sight.

There is a sort of Business/Corporate nepotism. We have some organizations here with large international accounts emplying hundreds or thousand of people.

This isn't post WW1 Europe. We've seen alot of this before. One thing the insiders will have to contend with is that I don't think the MASS of Americans is going to fall for an "external threat" ploy. It's pretty obvious that there has been non-partisan efforts by the PTB for years designed to amicably control the lower classes, and in many respects totally make them consenting peasants.


Good post! Wow, when I reread this, djerwulfe, I found it quite meaty. I will respond to each paragraph. Try to keep it brief.

We have to remember that WW2 CREATED JOBS for Americans IN America (many of them women btw), giving a huge boost to, for example, aircraft industry, and helped start US aerospace industry. This is not what is happening today...except if you're in Blackwater etal but the jobs are in Iraq. And what the hell jobs are going to spin off from Blackwater?? Will we become a NATION of mercenaries?

I was just in a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) project built during the Depression. Still standing and still in use, in America. Google it for more info, but it was "a work relief program for young men from unemployed families". If business couldn't provide jobs, these "socialist" programs helped save us.

Yes. Times get tough and we change lifestyles, that's the tangibles, but Americans also need intangibles like "hope".

Yes, huge corporations live in their own orbit. NOT ALL corporations are bad. What has happened has been the dehitching of corporations from corporate responsibility and ethics. Corporate oversight and accountability have been lessened to de facto nothing. Personal take on the phrase "No rules" is of a different mode than corporations having no rules. Corporate heads make great profits, we suffer great grief.

I would have thought that the spectre of communism was dead, having had to have been replaced (for the military industrial complex to take advantage of) by another spectre (terrorism?). We seem to need to have someone to fear, as fear is a great promoter of sales.


OK, now for my new thoughts...

Citizens NEED to write their elected officials, tell them you're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Keep it brief ("I'm middle class and don't have/falling behind on money for basic needs", "Americans need renewable energy NOW", "We can't drill our way out", etc.)--and, look, even a telephone and car/transportation are considered "basic" needs nowadays

Look, when Washington got a relatively few emails about Janet Jackson's breast (at a time when our soldiers were coming home with missing limbs!) they ACTED. Email, email, email. First be a voter, but email anyway.

Hell, email corporations, too! Castigate the bad ones, praise the good ones.

Enough of Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.

Lastly, a global economy is a given, but it doesn't have to mean the American worker has to lose out. We can use American ingenuity for a new and different economy, one working on new energy technology and infrastructure to make the world leap ahead in the area of energy and not hog it for ourselves.
Tell Washington, tell corporations what you want. Don't let them tell you what you get. The middle class needs help and guidance to survive, for if it doesn't survive, neither will America.


reply posted on 27-7-2008 @ 08:49 PM by peggy m
reply to post by Blaine91555


Excuse me, please, Blaine, you claim to be middle class. Let us go back 20 years ago. Would you have considered what you have now as just middle class or perhaps back then the wages you currently earn and the material items you posses would be considered well-to-do. The middle class IS the working class.

I am a remnant of the real and true middle class. My current wages are comparable to that of my father's 20 years ago. He had a very nice home, new cars, and enough money in the bank to cover just about any kind of emergency. $35,000/yr, 20 years ago was middle class and I as a young woman just starting out made $3.35/hr working in a factory. Now I make that same kind of money that my father once had doing a skilled job that I had to attend tech school to get, yet I cannot make ends meet. He paid $8 a week for family health insurance back when a doctors visit was $20. Full coverage car insurance was $250 a year with a 16 year old driver in the home. A gallon of milk was less than $1 and a gallon of gas was a mere $0.65.

I quadrupled my wages through hard work, becoming a skilled worker and the government took that away from me. In order to pay the newly hired workers triple what I started out with, the company had to lower my income potential. Instead of the $0.50 raises each year for an outstanding job performance, I get a 2% cost of living increase because I am at the maximum "allowable" pay scale. When I first began my career, the cap on wages did not exist. Add to the maximum wage cap, I now have to do the work of what used to be three jobs held by three different people.

Then to make things even better, my very first power bill for an apartment with lights and television on 24/7 was a mere $16. Today, my power bill (with conservative use) is a whopping $89. What used to be $10 a week in gas for me to commute to work now costs $114. The beautiful, home near by sold 20 years ago for $30,000 just went back on the market for $242,000 just a few months ago and there really has not been any major changes to the home other than a paint job and new roof.

There was a time when a young single person could live on minimum wage. I did when I first started out. Unfortunately, for my two children, the option is not there and they are forced to still live at home. Years ago, rent was only a quarter of your paycheck. Today it is half! Yes, the minimum wage workers are suffering, but so is the middle class. 20 years ago, a degree offered a young person a career and pushed him/her into the affluent professional class. Today, a young person needs a degree for a lousy, entry-level working class position.

There is no working class like it used to be. The government has broken the backs of these poor souls year after year, taking more and more from the middle to serve the needs of the rich and the poor.

You consider yourself middle class? Would that be a professional by any chance?
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