The top 10 percent of the population holds 90 percent of the wealth; while the bottom 10 percent of the population is unemployed – until they run out of unemployment. At the same time, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of homeless, though no one seems to know just how many there actually are. The homeless are not counted in the census; you have to have an address to be counted.
I read a headline this week that said something about new unemployment claims have leveled off, and of course that’s supposed to be a good sign. The reality is much less of a ‘good sign’ as most of the people who were laid off at the beginning of this economic mess have run clean out of money, and since they haven’t worked in the past 18 months, they don’t qualify for a new claim. So, it’s pretty clear that the good ol’ 10-percent-unemployed number isn’t including everyone that is unemployed.
The 80 percent of the population that has only 10 percent of the available wealth in the country controls the remaining 90 percent because we are The Consumer Market.
If we don’t buy the crap we make, the rich don’t get richer, and we’re out of a job. We sell our time, not our skills and abilities, nor are we valuable to the big corporate machine. At any time, there are hundreds waiting to step into the job we’re doing. We are expendable.
For one person to have, a hundred people go without. So, we are divided between the Haves and the Have Nots, and it’s blatantly obvious that ethics and consciences aren’t welcome in the whole scheme of things.
The straw that breaks this camel’s back is that this country is supposed to be “by the people, for the people,” yet we have a government that’s primary purpose is to protect the rights of business, not people. The government only represents the 10 percent of the population that holds 90 percent of the wealth.
Do I have the answer? Oh, hell no. A few ideas is all that I have. I reside on the bottom of the heap in terms of income, and that’s not likely to change. But, I do know one very important thing:
There is power in numbers.
Don’t you think it’s time to start putting that power and that control to work?
Think about it.
Then let’s start a conversation. It’s time.
The world has become a scary place for so many.The employment offices around here are telling applicants that they actually have no work for people and turning them away. We have all these empty houses doing no one any good and more and more people in shelters or the street. I am grateful daily that I have a roof over my head unlike so many around here. The Government doesn't even seem to be able to help businesses anymore, very sad situation we are finding ourselves in and I've got a feeling it's going to get a lot worse before the people will join together and put any power or control to work.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very real possibility. I know that schools are teaching kids nowadays to do nothing but what they're told; even punishing them if they do too much to earn extra credit. That's the kind of thing that will doom generations.
ReplyDeleteIt's not quite that bad here - yet. A lot of Arkansas has been shielded by the natural gas boom, but even that has come to a screeching halt in the last few months.
But, there are ways to overcome the mess that so few of the population has created for the majority of us. We just have to come together to brainstorm and hammer out details.