Terrorism will never destroy this republic. No “rogue nation” or Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein will bring us to our knees, with ‘weapons of mass destruction”. What will cause our downfall will simply be Greed.
As we sit at our family gatherings this Thanksgiving holiday, the 99% of us who share in but 13-15% of this nation’s wealth, we should be thankful that “facts” do not lie, and that the truth is but at our fingertips.
In Kevin Phillips excellent “Wealth and Democracy”, he states repeatedly how the 1% of our population (owning 85-87% of Americas wealth) “feed off” we turkeys. In the 2001 Economic Report of the President, it states that corporate taxes in 1950 were 26.5% of total Federal tax receipts while employee payroll taxes were 6.9% of the same receipts. In 2000, corporate taxes were 10% and payroll taxes 31%! In the late 1960’s corporate CEO pay was around 25 times that of their hourly workers. In 1988 it averaged to 93 times. By 1999 it was up to 419 times!
On top of that, US workers, who in the 50’s and 60’s worked less hours than their Japanese & European counterparts, now work more than workers of any other industrialized nation. So, in essence, the 1% have gotten their elected (or bought?) reps to make laws shifting the burden from the super rich to the overworked.
Calling all baby boomers: think back to your childhood. How many of you had mom home while dad “won the bread”? During the 50’s & 60’s more families had one major wage earner – many mothers worked part time. Now, Thanksgiving 2002, its a “gimmee” that both parents work or their house or car gets repossessed. How many of you out there took a job because “of the benefits” and sacrificed low pay and terrible job conditions (mean, cheap bosses, no frills workplace)?
Irony, like irons, always hurts when hot. The irony is that during this past election cycle, as in all others for that matter, real core economic issues (like the aforementioned) were never made public. The media, owned and run by the 1%, were too busy giving us the “stuffing, not the meat”!
So, fellow turkeys, we are the 99% of this nation – they are the minority.
Lets raise our voices and demand reform, locally, statewide and nationally. Remember, the turkey that runs around only looking “straight ahead” usually winds up on someone’s dinner table!
Philip A Farruggio is a baby boomer Brooklyn NY born bred and educated (Brooklyn College ’74), Currently, he resides in Florida and is self employed as a mfg. rep for an environmental bacteria company. Philip writes for many publications as a free lance columnist. He has been published on 12 times this year alone. He can be reached at <brooklynphilly@aol.com>