We are in the midst of a precipitous drop in economic and social mobility, which has undermined the foundation of our democracy.
(snippet)
And between 2000 and 2008, the poverty rate in the suburbs of the largest metro areas in the U.S. grew by 25 percent -- making these suburbs home to the country's largest and fastest-growing segment of the poor.
(snippet)
And between 2000 and 2008, the poverty rate in the suburbs of the largest metro areas in the U.S. grew by 25 percent -- making these suburbs home to the country's largest and fastest-growing segment of the poor.
The human toll of the shorting of the middle class is brought to life on sites like Recessionwire.com, LayoffSupportNetwork.com, and HowIGotLaidOff.com where the casualties of Wall Street's systemic scam share their personal stories.
Looking through these sites, I came upon a story that struck me as emblematic of where America's middle class finds itself these days. It feels like a dark reboot of the American Dream. Think Horatio Alger rewritten by O. Henry.
It's the story of Dean Blackburn of Alameda, California. The first part of his life was a classic American success story. Raised in Minnesota by a single mom, a teacher, he was "middle class by default." Through a combination of smarts and hard work, he made his way to Yale, then took a succession of jobs in the growing Internet world that had him steadily progressing up the economic ladder.
Then came February 2009, when he was laid off on the last day of the month. His boss chose that day because it meant the company wouldn't have to pay for another month of his health coverage. "Looking back on it," he told me, "that hurt more than the layoff itself -- just knowing that the president of the company was exactly that calculating and that unfeeling about my own, and my family's wellbeing." The timing, Blackburn continued, "put those 'family days' and company picnics in a weird new light."
Fourteen months later, he is still looking for a new job. As he, his wife, and their 2-year-old daughter deal with the immediate financial struggles his extended unemployment has brought, Blackburn has become acutely aware of the broader implications of the shorting of the middle class. "Ultimately," he says, "it's not about a dip in corporate profits, but a change in corporate attitude -- a change that means no one's job is safe, and never will be, ever again."
This is why America isn't worth a lick anymore. Everyone is looking out for themselves and their "company". To fire someone with a day left to save health insurance payments, is chilling, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI have given up on trying to save this country. Read Joe Bageant. He is right on. Sure, there are some great, honest people living in this country.
However, the system we have to deal with needs to die.
I would also like to ask "How many of these banksters charging 30% interest and bosses who layoff at specific times claim to be Christian or Godly? What a joke!
I am just sick to death of the lying, hypocrisy, cold-heartedness of the USA.
WE ARE A JOKE!!!
The sooner this thing dies, the sooner the rest of us can try to rebuild normal/simplier lives.
Does that mean sickness and dying will be tough and painful? Sure, but how long can we keep the charade up?
Sorry for the rant, but I am done with this country. I am done with the lying. I am done with hypocrisy. I am done with the greed, esp. at the rest of the world's expense. I am done with the wastefulness. I am done with "Keeping up with eh Jonses'." I am done with it all. I am done with the wars and fighting. I am done with the brainwashing. I am done with bailouts for the wealthy while everyone else gets a a tax increase and more national debt. I am done with the globalization. I am done with trade deficits. I am done with a country that doesn't manufacture anything, but American Idol and worthless athletes/celebs.
This "Matrix" is no longer a real life in any sense.
Ah, but for a log cabin, an acre, and a mule by a fresh water source.
You can keep this monostrosity of modernization!
7 27
ReplyDeletei agree
The PROBLEM is that our government has been hijacked.
ReplyDeleteForget terrorists, Iran/Iraq, Global Warming ....America, your enemy is that 0.1 % of the population that effectively owns everything.
How did this happen? Two things.
One, they bought off politicians, and two, they control the financial system.
Techniques to follow to combat this
1) Don't vote for ANY incumbent unless they support:
a) term limits
b) public financing of elections
c) retroactive canceling of Congress oh so lucrative health & retirement benefits. Really, why should Congress get this sweetheart deal on retirement and health care? Instead they should get 401Ks and National ObamaCare like the rest of us.
Please America...for your own survival.... don't vote for any incumbent come November. The ones in office are merely paid whores for special, monied interests.
Sorry guys, but there is too much bread and circus yet before it gets worse. It will have to get much worse before anything meaningful will happen, and even then it's most likely too late for most of us.
ReplyDeleteSure, those of us that have prepped even a small amount will be ahead of the game, but I fear it will only stave off the inevitable
yeah but he's looking for a new job just like the last(not that he shouldn't) but you are looking to do exactly the same thing again and expecting different results(um i believe you need to seek webster's help)i don't know i feel like i'm nuts too waiting for the revolt but i know one thing; we have to change what we are doing even if we are not in this quagmire...
ReplyDeleteThe real terrorists are in the White House and Congress.
ReplyDeleteIt has been proven time and time again that if your state uses electronic voting machines (and what state does not) they are rigged and your vote means nothing.
I suppose the only way I an keep EA from deleting my post is to say I hope God sends an earthquake throughout DC, while Congress is in session. Perhaps the Capitol building will collapse and everyone inside will die. That would be a good start to rebuilding this country.
My mother blessed me with hearty DNA. I'm 51 and should be good for another 30-35 years. The problem is I can't stand the idea of this shit continuing for prolonged years to come. At my age, I'm less employable than the rest. I don't have any money to start my own business (I'd have no idea what kind of business to start even if I had the money, except a gun shop) so all I can look forward to is more and more hardship.
My son and daughters, my nieces and nephews, all good and talented young people, have nothing to look forward to.
7:27 that was the best comment I've ever seen on this blog.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for this to happen, my life and all other lives are based on nothing. This is the most meaningless and lifeless generation ever and I'm cursed to live in this pathetic sham.
I was observing something similar you said about everyone being obsessed with their own bullshit. I saw a woman being interviewed on Fox who was a military wife, her husband is in Afghanastan and she was complaining about the money that won't be given to spouses of military people anymore. This lady looked obese, she was maybe in her 30s, and she looked pathetic. She said her money was spent on college and she acted like it was hers and her sacrifice. No, it was her husband who sacrificed, this lady wouldn't know sacrifice, seeing how plump her cheeks were. What a pig; her money... like this world needs anymore idiots going to college and coming out of college anyways.
That being just a small example of the greed that is found everywhere, and yet everyone is in such fear they don't even know why they cling to this trash system!
I can't wait to watch their whole world come crashing down and turn to black. I hope to meet people like you 7:27 after the initial destruction takes place, we will work together and say amen since we were given some purpose back in our life.
If it doesn't happen then I hope I die.
Hey Barry
ReplyDeleteWho paid for your trip to Los Angeles? I hope it was the DNC, if not, you've got a lot of 'splainin to do!
Too bad Air Force 1 didn't catch some of that volcanic dust.
the best thing any of us can do is prepare mentally.Prepare ourselves and our kids. I agree this fantasy could go on for years before it cracks. the next time down will be the real deal. but it could take a while. I think things are going to get really weird. People get strange when they have no purpose and do not have some kind of religous structure or accountability. I am glad I do not live in an urban area.
ReplyDeletePeople who feel they have no purpose in life, have nothing to lose. All those years of growing up to respect the property of others, respect the government, respect the police and the justice system, respect the laws of the land, they will soon mean nothing and that's when the shit truly will hit the fan.
ReplyDelete910 that is already happening, here in las vegas it is like a war zone already. Cops getting shot, murders everyday, stores getting robbed, homelessness off the charts, children hanging around high and drunk on the streets, people selling their possessions on major streets, the foreclosed homes are being used for meth labs and prostitution, hell johnny carson's old house is now a meth hangout off of Desert Inn Road.
ReplyDelete@ 9:24, you are so full of shit!!!!! Murders every day? Thats in every major city we have 2 million people here you over-hyped clown! Go put your head back in the sand dipshit it ain't over quite just yet, if your readers dont believe me check lvrj.com for what is really going on in Vegas, don't listen to this paranoid meth head @9:24. HA!
ReplyDeleteOrganising financial “make war by deception” to loot America.
ReplyDeleteAmerica was financing its consumption of cheap labor commodities on credit and its housing at bubble levels of fictional valued prices driven high by the Fed by supplying cheap money finance as deliberate policy.
In the end the total annual after tax “profits” distributed by US corporations were only equal to the annual inflow of foreign credit flowing in in to purchase government treasuries and bankster dud bonds.
Extending personal debts to americans for mortgage and credit cards had reached the limits of what could be repaid . This was bound to end badly.But, fFirst the bankters
pocketed vast profits from the dud bond scams .
When this Ponzi system of debts that was the American economy began to unravel in 2008 and the money markets (credit supply)shut down, the banksters turned to outright “last chance” looting and a financial coup to collect handouts socialising the losses and replacments for their lost capital and then they got payoffs on their derivative bets they made to cover their losses by secretly betting that the value of their own AAA bonds would lose value as they knew they inevitably would.
The American people thus payed up on a double bailout to save these banksters profits.
On top of that, most of the bad debts are somehow still now held at the Fed ,for the Americans to pay again! Americans are not just losers but three time losers!
The pretence is made that it was only Goldman Sach that was acting alone in these financial frauds against americans and to seize control over future tax revenues. In fact it was an organised conspiracy led by a close knit cabal of finance capitalists “in the know” at the top of the financial sector, with connections and lobbies within government,that first turned an enabling blind eye and then organised and legalised the payoffs from within Treasury.
“Now we know the truth. The financial meltdown wasn't a mistake – it was a con”says:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/18/goldman-sachs-regulators-civil-charges
943 is a crackhead, dont listen to him, he is trying to blow sunshine up your a##. He is in terminal denial.
ReplyDeleteI am not in denial about the dire situation this entire country is and has been in since 1930's however to say Vegas is in a "war zone" leads someone to think we are closer to collapse than we actually are, as in a "mad max" type situation. People are still visiting Vegas, people have jobs, and I drive all over town and don't see any of what you portray Vegas as being. You need to check your self before you come here reporting false information, that hurts our cause more than helps. Now go fuck off child (Yes the housing market is rebounding in Vegas thanks to the first time home buyer credit, Red Rock just held a hiring for the new "Yard House" restaurant and Harrahs hired hundreds after their recent job fair) Hows that for sunshine? Let us remain positive serfs/slaves, you can't change that fact anyhow!
ReplyDeleteAll in Las Vegas=
ReplyDeleteRobberies
Record Unemployment
Murders
7:56 you are still a believer. You shouldn't be. Voting is useless. The entire political process is a shame. You are hanging onto the hope that you are a free man with a say/vote. You are not.
ReplyDeletePoliticians are selected, not elected. There are there for one purpose: to give you the illusion that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have owners. They own you.
After 9/11, Cheney responded to a reported that asked what would happen if DC was wiped out. Dick responded with 'don't worry there is an entire secondary government underground ready to take over in minutes.'
ReplyDeleteLet that soak in a bit. The politicians, the buildings, the postering. It is just a stage show.
The elite do not care about the political process because they put it there to pacify you. It is fake.
There are hundreds of ways to prove that the people have no say. Unfortunately, these truths fall into the discomfort zone for most and people do not want to hear they are actually living in an Oligarchy/Clandestine Empire.
The most recent were the bailouts. Over 90% of the people were dead set against them. Many of those saw it as outright robbery. What happened? Of course. The people had no say.
Contrary to what the banker media would have you believe, the vast majority of Americans are against the continued butchering of Afghans and the occupation of Iraq. They know that all the murdering was based on lies. Some are even smart enough to know who was behind 9/11; and it was not Muslims.
All of this does not matter because we are not free.
30s Germans were much more aware than are current Americans. Thank your TV.
Come on, everyone, we're NOT done yet.
ReplyDeleteGet a marker pen.
Write "FAKE" on every dollar note.
As for the poll on the upper right, grass is illegal for one primary reason.
ReplyDeleteIt is plentiful, you can grow it, they can't control it without misinformation and fear mongering.
I hate pot. It doesn't nothing for me but bloodshot eyes and a stuffy throat. I am smart enough to be for its legalization though because it is something for the people. Something, if you want it, you can have in abundance without the intervention of some blood-sucking corporation like Phillip Morris or Budweiser.
As with all products provided by these heartless corporations; scarcity=dependence, dependence=control, control=economic slavery.
If you are against the legalization of weed, ask yourself why? Could it be that the corporate shills have convinced you of lies?
Anything that gives and individual a freedom and takes a chuck of control out of the hands of our corp/gov you should be for 100%.
I would add to 7:56 PM:
ReplyDelete1. Once you elect someone different, demand full criminal investigation, confiscate looted wealth and make the thieves work for the rest of their lives-with heavy equipment, so that they sweat every fu$ken minute;
2. Confiscate the wealth from their families who benefited;
3. Use the confiscated wealth to pay off the accumulated debts to other nations.
The last 30 years? This shit has been happening ever since the first king stepped onto the throne and decided to tell you how to run your life. Get with the ball-game people. This is not a new event and the pattern will just keep repeating until we change the equation. can anyone guess what that is?
ReplyDeleteIsis(moon)-RA(sun)-El(saturn)? I dunno, just a guess.
ReplyDeleteWas trying to think who runs the media, banks, military, money printing. I'm probably wrong.
Let me guess http://www.corbettreport.com/articles/20100419_false_flags.htm
ReplyDeleteAs is well known ,there are no classes in America ,the massive trillions of dollar transfer of “middle class” wealth to those at the top can in no way be called class war.
ReplyDeleteThe situation would easily be rectified if we just returned to the gold standard of money to pay the debts to those at the top in gold coins.
And put gold coins in the slot machines in Vegas,
Its all by design sheeple. The elite, the criminals on wall street, the bankers own us and most everything you see in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat you gonna do about it?
No
ReplyDeleteWhat are YOU going to do about it ?
Answer ?
Same thing as EVERYBODY that posts here does about their greivances
Not a fucking thing
What a riot you people are - you make me laugh at least !
makasih gan buat infonya dan semoga bermanfaat
ReplyDeletebagus bos artikelnya dan menarik
ReplyDeletekeren mas buat infonya dan salam sukses selalu
ReplyDeleteok mantap sob buat infonya dan salam kenal
ReplyDeleteMau mendapatkan pelayanan yang baik dan ramah???
ReplyDeleteModal Kecil bisa mendapatkan hasil yg luar biasa...
Menarik sekali, perlu saya coba ini..
ReplyDeletekebetulan lagi cara tentang hal ini.