Thursday, July 25, 2013

Prosperity or poverty (#1637)

Very few of us here in America, percentage wise, are living the dream of pursuing our happiness. We are caught between a force for democratic principles and a force for capitalist forces. They do not co-exist in harmony in their purer forms thus the resistance we average souls here face. In a democracy we are all afforded opportunities to create and be part of progress, Surely that is the best of what can be for us. With capitalism as the highest priority, only a few may survive the struggle to dominate markets while the rest of us are left to fend for the scraps that are left. With almost 99% of us left to share in what is about 40% of what resources are left, while the top 1% get to control about 60% of the resources. This is the current state of affairs in our American economy. Not an enviable model to emulate, unless of course you only care to be one of the top 1%. The battle lines have fallen along political lines in general, with the Democrats wanting more for the 99% while the Republicans believing that the top 1% could and should continue with it's policy of trickle down economics. Trickle down is the idea that if you give wealthy people more money and resources they will create more opportunity for others. What we have learned though over the past 30 plus years is that when the wealthy receive more they keep it for themselves instead. I can clearly see the effects of this and have lived through it with the rest of us. Changing our politics from a capitalistic dominated "survival of the fittest" paradigm to a more inclusive stance can only begin to create the reality of equality, fairness and opportunity inherent within democratic principles.

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