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View Full Version : Class War in The U.S. Today



JTB
16th April 2011, 02:39
At the same time that the tax burden has shifted away from the wealthy, this same top income group has enjoyed massively disproportionate income gains. Between 1992 and 2007, a time in which income for the average household and top one percent grew 13 percent and 123 percent, respectively, the income for the top 400 households grew fully 399 percent.

The massive unemployment rate, in which more than 25 million U.S. workers are unemployed or underemployed, is cutting deep into America’s once vibrant middle class. But until corporations—which are sitting on $1.93 trillion in cash—start creating jobs, the U.S. income gap will only worsen
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/04/14/taxes-go-down-for-the-wealthy-income-gap-worsens/

How much has that tax burden shifted? Consider that many large corporations not only manage to pay no taxes on their profits (http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/13/tax-dodging-lobbying-congress/), but even receive tax incentives from the lawmakers whose re-election campaigns they fund.

Of course, we're told by the politicians that in order for those jobs to be created, we must do more of the same

We are being manipulated to give government handouts to the very same big banks and corporate scam artists that crashed our economy in the first place. We are told that what is good for big business is good for America. But these so-called “job creators” are only creating jobs for yacht manufacturers and maids. Check the math. The profits of our nation’s (and the world’s) largest corporations are rising, as are the salaries and bonuses paid to executives. Are they creating jobs? No.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150535/the_budget_hoax:_it%27s_about_showering_wall_stree t_with_tax_dollars

This, my friends, is a corporatocracy

The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall.
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105



Perhaps that's why Americans now hold a less favourable view of capitalism today than the Chinese (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/macro/the-death-capitalism)

Meanwhile, they continue to march us down the same path (http://www.seiu.org/2011/04/us-colombia-free-trade-agreement.php)

Think it over... (http://libcom.org/library/think-it-over-introduction-industrial-workers-world-tin-acott)
(http://libcom.org/library/think-it-over-introduction-industrial-workers-world-tin-acott)

Dragovich
19th April 2011, 15:14
Makes one miss the 1950s - an era that for all its faults had almost virtual universal employment and income equality.

thriller
19th April 2011, 15:19
To me, capitalism has always been, and will always be a corporatocracy. Otherwise it would not function the way it is supposed to: keep the rich in power, keep the poor pissed off. Although if I were a CEO, Big Banker, Upper Classmen, I would stop at once with the shipping of jobs overseas in order to keep the lower class submissive (ie: able to work for a wage). I believe the people will fight back once ALL the jobs are virtually gone.

The Socialist Engineer
20th April 2011, 00:13
Its no surprise, democracy and capitalism cannot coexist because the end outcome is an oligarchy where a few of the richest control the countries economy and when you got the economy under your control, what is the government gonna do? Exactly. Its just feudalism, extreme makeover edition what ruling class realized is that they could get away with anything as long as the gave the peasants bread and circuses, the French revolution being proof of this concept. So as long as people have an xbox in every house and a mcdonalds on every corner. People will not do anything.

Bud Struggle
20th April 2011, 00:18
He quoted Vanity Fair! :D

RGacky3
20th April 2011, 06:00
yet you don't quote shit, don't throw stones from a glass house.

Purple
23rd April 2011, 03:25
Haha, I'm going to go one further and quote Michael Moore. He stated, and I'm paraphrasingm that "there is a class war, but it is only the elites that are waging it".

Naturally a very loose paraphrasing.

However, the fact that the income for the 'super'-rich are expanding exponentially, while the low-income/working class are seeing that their income levels have stagnated since the 1980s, speaks volumes. While labour unions are realizing the hazardous developments, it is clear who is making the most headway in this class war.


If there is any Canadians here, check the book 'The Problem With Billionairies', by Linda McQuaid and Neil Brooks. It has been black listed by the Globe and Mail, and many other newspapers, because it directly addresses this issue. However, the media conglomerates do have a lot of control on the access to this type of information.

Dumb
23rd April 2011, 04:14
The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent.40% is a low estimate compared to others that I've seen in recent months. I'll dig up some links if possible.