Should the Rich Rule?

Various sources number the millionaires in our country at either 10.8 million, or 6.8 million or 4.8 million.  Regardless, the number of people who control liquid assets in excess of $1 million dollars has risen dramatically.  They represent either 8.6% of American households, or 5.4% or 3.8% depending on the number of millionaires you choose to go with.  Another way to look at our wealth is to recognize the top 1% wealthiest folks control 24% of our nation’s liquid assets, and the top 5% control 59% of our nation’s assets.  That is a small number of people controlling a huge amount of resources.  The opposite is also true, the bottom 70% of American households control less than 10% of our wealth.  And the gap between the top and the bottom is growing.

The Urban Institute considers anyone with an income of $100,000 or more to be in the upper class.  The Census Bureau notes that the median income is $24,600 and the average income is $32,000.  Poor households earn less than $24,000.  So just for the sake of clarity, let’s call the upper class the people who make more than $100,000; the middle class are the people who make between $24,000 and $100,000 and the lower class those folks who earn less than $24,000 per year.

Given those numbers I wonder if we believe majority votes rule, or do we believe majority assets rule?  Do we believe in democracy or plutocracy?

It must be great to be a millionaire or a billionaire.  They get all the secular stuff they want: houses, cars, jets, clothes, vacation trips, etc.  More than that, they do not worry about the things most of us do.  They are not worried about setting enough money aside for retirement because they have so much money.  They are not worried about health care costs or health insurance because they either buy the best or just write a check when needed.  They surely do not worry about their kids having health care protection.  Nor do they worry about the kind of education their kids will get because they can buy the best education available.  

Evidently, what they do worry about is paying taxes so that other folks get health care, or other folks get food subsidies, or other folks get social security, or other folks get Medicare or Medicaid, or other folks get quality housing, or other folks get quality education.  The rich do not want to pay for the things they can provide for themselves.  They do tend to support paying taxes for military expenditures because they know being protected from aggression is a good thing.

Welcome to the new budget.  It cuts taxes for the wealthy and cuts services for everyone else.  The wealthy benefit the most.  The middle and lower classes benefit the least.  Teachers can no longer deduct expenses for their classrooms, but rich folks can deduct tuition for private schools.  And on and on it goes.

And as if that is not enough, the wealthy have enough disposable cash to contribute heavily to political candidates and shape media coverage.  There are wealthy folks in this country who spend millions of dollars supporting candidates that follow a philosophy that protects the plutocracy (a.k.a. rich folks).  They do not spend those dollars just in the races where they live, they spend those dollars across the entire nation so they can influence the election of conservative candidates everywhere.  They support candidates that support a trickle down economic theory though such a theory has never worked.  They own media outlets like Fox, a network that candidly admits they support the conservative agenda more than they support the reporting of facts.  They advertise on the programs the likes of Limbaugh keeping him in business.  The US Supreme Court even ruled in Citizens United that corporations can give big bucks to political candidates.  Big bucks buys a lot of ads and a lot of yard signs.  Most amazing to me is that the wealthy have spent big bucks to convince the middle and lower classes to support their agenda.  Why people making less than $100,000 a year would support the conservative agenda can only be explained as a product of the expenditure of big bucks on dubious claims.  Thinking people see through it.  Many do not. 

Big bucks promulgates the myth that middle and lower class people will benefit from supporting the conservative agenda.  The most bizarre data in the US is that middle class, working people support Republicans when the Republican agenda is designed to protect the plutocracy and make sure that the rich do not suffer, but allow the middle and lower class to suffer.  That can only be explained by looking at the propaganda spewed by the plutocracy and the fact that so many folks are buying it.  So many have bought it, in fact, that the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our government are now controlled by pro-wealth party members.  By spending money the minority have bought the majority at the polls.  We have moved from a democracy to a plutocracy and not even noticed.

But the outcome in the Alabama senate election gives me hope.  Perhaps if enough people vote the tide can change and democracy will again rule over plutocracy, as it should.  I am not anti-rich people.  I am anti rich people convincing poor people that the agenda of the rich helps the poor when it does not.  The rich are able to do that convincing by spending money.

So, what needs to happen now?  Several things.  The current proposed tax bill should be scraped and totally redone.  The wealthy and corporations do not need tax relief.  They need to get on board supporting social services for the least fortunate.  Children should not lose heath care.  Health insurance should be the right of every American.  Public schools must be funded and end charter schools and voucher programs.  Social Security and Medicare should not be touched by a Congress seeking more money to spend on other things.  Net neutrality must be preserved.  Environmental protections must be re-instated.  We must join the rest of the world by supporting the Paris Accord.  We must overturn Citizens United.  We must take female reproductive decision making out of the hands of old White guys and religious zealots and put it in the hands of women.  We must stop empowering so-called Christians to discriminate based on their faith.  And we must make the purchase of a weapon much more restrictive.  And on and on. 

Only in a nation where the vast majority shows up to vote and they cast their votes with knowledge and understanding of the differences between candidates will we in fact have a representative democracy.  How can we do that?  Make election “day” a week and include Saturday.  Allow on-line voting.  Automatically register a voter via income tax or driver’s license issuance.  Perhaps even establishing a penalty fee for those who do not vote.

Radical?  I don’t think so when we look at how far down the road we have drifted from democracy to plutocracy.  Our history as a nation, as an international model, has been to protect minorities, expand civil liberties and provide safety nets for our citizens.  Every time we abandon that to protect the wealthy and business interests we have chaos as in 1929 and 2008.  We seem to be very slow learners.

Another major concern for me is to find a way to limit those who would prefer this nation to be a theocracy rather than a democracy.  Those folks are even scarier than the plutocrats because they believe God is on their side.  But that merits a separate post.

When you have the opportunity, please vote.  It matters.

Christianity First

If one more person tells me to put Christ back in Christmas I am likely to take his or her head off. How in the world can people live with their hypocrisy? How about putting Christ back into Christianity first? The dominant political thinking in this country now is to protect the rich, promote the rich, and give the rich tax cuts. Seems to me Jesus had something to say about that.  The dominant political thinking in this country now promotes the end of health care for children and poor adults.  Seems to me Christ had something to say about that.  The dominant political thinking in this country supports robbing Social Security and Medicare so that the rich can have tax cuts.  Seems to me Christ had something to say about that.  The dominant political thinking in this county now is to tolerate the abuse that showers down on Blacks, women, Muslims, Hispanics, gay, transgender, etc. Seems to me Christ had something to say about that. The dominant political thinking in this county is to ban Muslims and Latinos from coming here. Seems to me Christ had something to say about that. Meanwhile, the support of the dominant political thinkers stands behind pedophiles, bigots, sexual assaulters, climate change deniers and liars. 

If there is a God he or she better wake up his or her followers before they destroy not only this country but the late, great planet earth.

Followers of Christ appear to have shifted from an agenda of love, tolerance, support and caring to an agenda of me first, anger, fear and bigotry.  Any one wrestling with his or her faith during this time of year has but to look at the followers of Jesus, watch what they are doing and saying, to see what is in their hearts.  It ain’t pretty.  Give me an atheist who cares for the sick, promotes the poorest among us, cares for those who are cast offs in our society, and supports humans regardless of their physical characteristics or belief systems over the so-called Christians I see today. 

You want Christ back in Christmas?  Put him back in Christianity first.

Give Trump a Chance?

I keep hearing the phrase, “Give Trump a chance”.  I just heard a pro-Trump author interviewed on the Today show and he said he loves Trump because he is so genuine.  So genuine?  He is a consummate liar.  And once more I wonder:

If we know Trump constantly lies and Joe supports Trump, what does that say about that Joe?

If we know Trump has sexually assaulted 16 women and Jill supports Trump, what does that say about Jill?

If we know Trump is a bigot and Sam supports Trump, what does that say about Sam?

If we know Trump sees women as sex objects and Sally supports Trump, what does that say about Sally?

If we know Trump cannot consistently bring himself to condemn the white supremacists and Mark supports Trump, what does that say about Mark?

If we know Trump has personally attacked members of the media, members of his own appointed cabinet, other heads of state, and anyone who dares disagree with him and Paula supports Trump, what does that say about Paula?

If we know Trump does not know history, geography, foreign policy or economics and Donnie supports Trump, what does that say about Donnie?

If we know Trump has appointed family members and people with no knowledge or experience to important government positions, and Sue supports Trump, what does that say about Sue?

If we know Trump is willing to share right-wing, white supremacist British videos known to be false and Brandon supports Trump, what does that say about Brandon?

If we know Trump continues to attack and blame Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama despite the fact that the election is over and he won, and Ann supports Trump, what does that say about Ann?

If we know tax payers are forking over millions for Trump’s golfing outings at his own properties and Paul supports Trump, what does that say about Paul?

If we know Trump was involved in collusion with Russians regarding his Presidential campaign and business dealings, and Carolyn supports Trump, what does that say about Carolyn?

And if knowing all the above anyone suggests that Trump is genuine, we should let Trump be Trump, and that he deserves to be given a chance, what does that say about such people who take that position? 

Deplorable.

Give Trump a chance?  To do what?  Escape?

Hell no.

Dear President Trump,

I know you are accustomed to defining reality as you think it should be.  Doing so is called fantasy.  The problem with that, of course, is you miss vital information in reality as it is.  There are a few things I do not think you understand in the cocoon you have built.

First, if the election were today you would lose.  By a landslide.  That’s right.  There has never been a President with approval ratings as low as yours.  The American people do not like what you are doing and how you are doing it.  As long as you surround yourself with family, friends and supporters and do not really listen to the critics you are not likely to get this important piece of reality.

Second, you are not CEO of USA.  You are not the boss of the government.  I know you are used to being the boss, are used to having all your underlings hanging on your every word, seeking to do your will, agreeing with you all the time, fawning and respectful.  That may happen in a corporation where you can announce in reality show fashion, “You’re fired!”  That does not work in our government.  You cannot fire the legislative branch.  You cannot fire the judicial branch.  You are to be a leader, not a CEO, not a bully, not a boss.  Leading is much more difficult than being the boss as it requires you to listen.  Your tweets are an indicator that you think we are all hanging on your next pronouncement of how good you are and how bad someone else is.  That’s just not true.  We read your tweets because we are amazed at the extent you simply just do not get it.

Finally, you are a public servant as is every elected official.  You are to serve the public, the entire public, not just your rich cronies and friends.  You are to serve citizens regardless of their ethnicity, race, sexual preference or identify and religious beliefs.  You do not get to say I will serve these Americans because I like them but I will not serve these Americans because I don’t like them.  You will be judged on how well you served the nation, not yourself.  You have spent a lot of time in this first year serving yourself, playing golf, appointing friends and family who are not qualified for anything other than blindly supporting you, tweeting whatever enters your mind, dishing out group and individual critiques.  None of that serves the county.  It serves you.  Please stop.

Putting Russia, money laundering, perjury and lying aside, yours will be remembered as the greatest failure of any President this nation has ever seen.  You will be remembered that way not by your friends and supporters because they are a minority.  You will be remembered that way by the vast majority of us who still cannot believe you simply do not get it.  The apprenticeship for elected leadership is public service, not self-service and public pontification.  You will be fired one way or another. 

How to Change the World

We are in a dismal state of affairs as a nation and as a planet.  In so many ways we have discovered what does not work and we are doing those same things more and more.  It occurs to me that just a few interventions could dramatically alter the path we are pursuing, a path that I believe leads to self-destruction.

Power.  Our systems are built on the notions that electricity and fossil fuels provide our power.  It is those two notions that have most contributed to the state of our climate and the political hegemony on this planet.  We must master fusion.  Or solar.  Clean.  Limitless.  Once mastered and all corners of the planet have access to free power the world will change.  Hunger could end.  Pollution could end.  Disease could end.  Once power is as available to all in the same way that air is available to all our world will look very different.  It will look better.

Beliefs.  The largest obstacle to peace on the planet is an array of belief systems that seek to set policy, control people, and have their own way.  It is difficult to argue with “believers” because facts, science, logic hold no sway over those entrenched and intransigent.  But we must abandon our religious beliefs.  They are all false.  Once our decisions are made based on logic, science, math and standard ethical assumptions conflict on our planet will virtually disappear.  And the key ethical assumption underlying all our decisions is that all humans are equal and are entitled to civil liberties.  Religion is the source of much of the political and social and ethical conflict on this planet.  We can disagree, but one side will not be convinced they are right because some god is on their side making compromise impossible and war inevitable.

Education.  We absolutely must provide the very best education possible to every person on this planet.  We have institutionalized ignorance.  We have tolerated lies.  We have tolerated beliefs grounded in nonsense.  Women are denied an education in way too many places.  Children of all stripes do not receive quality education because of local customs and religious beliefs.  But until everyone on the planet is capable of digesting an ever growing array of facts and reaching conclusions, until everyone on the planet is capable of critical decision making, until everyone on the planet speaks the common languages of science, math, literature and the arts we are doomed to remain an ignorant and self-destructive species.  Privatizing the source of education is not the answer.  All must receive the very best.  And those who teach much be honored and valued more than those who play games, buy property, provide entertainment, and pollute the atmosphere.  Knowing, thinking and problem solving should be our most desired abilities.  Such abilities are only obtained via education.

OK.  That’s just for starters.  Accomplish these three biggies and we will be well on our way to living in peace on a planet we are not destroying where each human is valued.  Sounds like noble goals to me.

Make America Great Again

Another shooting, this time in California, and this time an elementary school as the target.  Conclusion:  Guns don’t kill people, people kill people and we do not need to restrict gun ownership in the United States.  We are safer with more guns out there.

Trump is averaging 5.5 lies per day 7 days per week since his inauguration.  He tweeted sympathy to Texas instead of California for the most recent shooting.  Conclusion:  Trump remains a competent President worthy of support.

16,000 scientists from 184 countries sign a letter to humanity warning us that planet earth is in serious trouble and if we do not do something the damage will be irreversible.  Conclusion:  Human impact on climate change is an unsubstantiated theory so we do not need to worry.  Oil companies continue to prosper.

Every nation on the planet except the United States signs the Paris Accords calling for a reduction in fossil fuel pollution of our atmosphere.  Conclusion:  Human impact on climate change is an unsubstantiated theory so we do not need to worry.  Oil companies continue to prosper.

Fox news anchor supports pedophile senatorial candidate.  Keurig pulls ads from his show.  Conclusion:  Keurig is wrong and we should trash our Keurig coffee makers.  Keurig backs off.

Surgeon General determines that smoking cigarettes may cause lung cancer and heart disease, and also true for second-hand smoke.  Conclusion:  seriously enforce restrictions on purchasing cigarettes, ban smoking in all public places, shame smokers and dramatically reduce consumption in US.  Tobacco companies lose money.

It is clear that the proposed tax plan only helps the top 3% of income earners and corporations in this country.  It hurts middle and lower class working Americans.  It dramatically cuts social security benefits and Medicare benefits.  Conclusion:  Congress is determined to pass the plan and many middle class and lower class Americans support the plan.

In the history of walls, no wall over time has ever kept people out or in.  Ever.  Conclusion:  we need to spend billions of dollars to build a wall to keep some people out.

Conservative Christians want to see the government endorse their religious beliefs and make them law.  Conclusion:  time to end the separation of church and state just as ISIS, Taliban, and Al Qaeda propose.

Athletes choose to exercise their Constitutional rights to peacefully protest the treatment of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement.  Conclusion:  Those athletes are un-American, un-patriotic and the NFL should be boycotted.

Except for tobacco it appears that every time we attempt to value human life and liberty over making money or enforcing the beliefs of some, such values lose. 

I agree.  It is time to make America great again.  A nation that stands for liberty, freedom, protects the rights of minorities, protects the rights of people who have diverse religious beliefs, values human life and health over corporate profit, protects the health of every American, not just the rich, and says to the world, we will do what is right no matter what the cost.  Our current America has abandoned all of that.  We have endorsed fear, bigotry, and ego-centrism.  That is not progress.  That is the path to war, not peace; conflict not leadership; judgment not tolerance; polarization not community.   

Why can’t we see that?  Our beliefs conflict with our logic.  Logic is losing.  When they look back on the late, great US of A and the paths we chose, they will say the seeds of our destruction were obvious.  It was not moral decline, it was the insistence that my morals, my beliefs, no matter how wrong or harmful become law. 

Please make America great again while we still have time.

Accused Equals Guilt

Such an interesting time in our nation as many values and practices garner new scrutiny.  Accusing someone of sexual harassment is one of the areas where dramatic change is occurring.  We have moved from a culture where women were shamed and threatened and castigated when making such claims against men to a time where once someone claims to have been assaulted by another the verdict is immediately assumed to be “guilty” and the punishment is handed down before there is even a trial.  Neither of those responses is appropriate in my book.

It takes great courage to step forward and accuse someone of committing sexual harassment, or worse.  The harasser or assaulter is usually someone more powerful, more influential in some way than the victim.  Those who accuse know they will likely be put on trial as it is a “He said, she said” kind of case with no witnesses, or the even happened in the past and the opportunity to collect any kind of evidence is long gone.  I tend to side with the accuser, with the victim.  As a school superintendent when either students or employees came to me with stories of harassment or worse I tended to believe them.  In those cases the accused was never likely to pay millions to hush the complaint.

And yet, I remain deeply disturbed with how we are responding to those who are accused.  In every criminal or civil case where someone is alleged to do have done wrong and/or broken the law we typically begin with the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven.  What I see in these guys is assumption of guilt and the meting out of punishment before the accused has little more to do in their defense than to say, “I am innocent.”  A list of accused can be found at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/us/men-accused-sexual-misconduct-weinstein.html

Most interesting is that of the 22 who have been accused, some (9) have confessed their guilt, and most have claimed innocence.  All of them have already been punished.  They have been fired, replaced, removed from positions of responsibility, etc., and none of them have been found guilty in court.  Those who confess their guilt and throw themselves on the mercy of the court and of public opinion are to be commended for their honesty.  The others deserve their day in court before they are punished.

Accusation cannot equal guilt.  Not in a land where we cherish freedom, abide by law and trust our peers to judge us in an open courtroom.