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CounterPunch
October
26, 2002
Let Them Eat
(Crumb) Cake
by PHILIP FARRUGGIO
Where do I begin? So much to express, so few to
listen. Feel like the sane man, too long in the mental institution,
who begins to "howl" at the moon...
Paul Krugman, Economics Prof. at Princeton
and NY Times columnist (they won't print my op-eds, lucky Paul)
wrote a comprehensive "essay" this past weekend. He
stated that the average American's salary (adjusted for inflation)
rose from $32k in 1970 to $35k in 1999- a meager 10% increase
over 30 years. According to Fortune Magazine, during that same
period the average real annual compensation for the top 100
CEOs went from $1.3 million (39 times the pay of an average
worker) to $37.5 million, more than 1,000 times the pay of
ordinary workers!
Each time I watch those electoral debates
on C-Span- I want to puke! They stand there, two candidates,
in most cases, "column A and column B', Repubs and Dems,
and all they do is evade the core issues, posturing instead
on the "hot button" junk. Never in any debate have
I heard a candidate state categorically "my constituents
deserve the same national health coverage that I enjoy - now!"
Or how about: " we need to get all the money out of electoral
politics- this corruptive process must end!" We never hear
" I will not send my children or your children to fight
and die in Bagdad. This dictator was our ally and trading partner
for years while he gassed his own people, using biological
weapons of mass destruction. I won't approve of spending $100
billion on a preemptive war while our own economy sputters-
I say spend the money here on rebuilding cities and family farms,
and hiring more and better teachers, police and fireman. Let's
also use the $100 billion to jumpstart universal Medicare for
all Americans, assure lower priced pharmaceuticals, and institute
public funding through Clean Election Laws. That way I don't
have to "sell my soul" for votes!"
It'll never happen. Know why? Its not
them, its us. Its not the few thousand who run this country,
this economy, that will keep all the above from happening. No,
its you out there, who gets up every AM and treks to work, oblivious
to the hype and deceit that dissipates your hard earned income.
Its you out there, retired and struggling on that fixed income-
you on "the dole" who only sees as far as the mailbox
for your next check. If this were France, there would be hundreds
of thousands demonstrating in the streets for economic parity.
No French Parliament would ever be allowed to give any leader
a blank check to start a war, offering up their youth and the
other side's civilians as "collateral damage". You
think the French would allow their gov't to spend $100 billion
on a "war for oil"? No, that money would go for more
high speed trains, or to fix broken city streets, pay higher
pensions. Its only here in "America the Powerful"
that our populace keeps electing fools and jackasses who posture
and dance around any and all key issues and concerns. You get
sick or injured in France, and you're covered. No bill collectors
banging on your door. Now we come to the blessed media- what
a joke! In general, the mainstream media won't dare touch columns
like this one. Turn on the "boob tube" and watch the
various talking head shows speak of "When and How"
we begin our war "with Saddam" (read Orwell's 1984
to see where they got that technique from). Its no longer a
debate on whether or not we should even conduct a preemptive
strike. Alas, long ago our media was bought and paid for by
the powerful, who shell out the advertising dollars and subsidize
all those "Think Tanks" and "Foundations"
(Heritage, Cato, Brookings and countless others). Ever ask yourself,
or your Congressperson, who foots those foundation/institute
bills? You know, payroll, travel, reports to be printed and
mailed out, phone calls, office space etc. Who is the "Wizard"
behind the Oz? Surely not Joe the Barber from my old neighborhood,
or Solly the Butcher and Ted the Groceryman.
So, we 99% of the populace, we fight
each other for "crumbs from the table" of the 1% who
control more than 85% of our wealth. Is that what "free
market capitalism" was supposed to be about? We have a
monopoly selling us our electricity, a monopoly selling us our
cable signals. We shop at the ever growing semi-monopoly Wal-Mart
store (trust me, when its legal, you'll know who'll carry body
parts first). We write checks from one of the many Nat'l banks
in our neighborhood. In my neck of the woods there are so few
produce shops, meat stores, fish stores or bakeries. The local
hardware store is fighting for its life in many communities.
My state, Florida, does not know what true mass transit, rail
transit, is all about. We pay $1.70 at the pump to fill up SUVs
that get less than 15 mpg, in this, the year 2002. Did ya ever
think, way back in the 70's, (even just once, come on be honest)
"goodness, by the new century cars will be getting 50 and
60 mpg- why, we'll have electric cars by then- no more dependence
on oil, thank the Lord!" And where was the Congress, where
were the Statehouse reps, to "cover our posteriors"
on economic concerns? I'll tell ya where they were. They were
sitting down (remember Orwell's Animal Farm?) at the table with
the oilmen, the carmakers, the bankers, the entrepreneurs, stuffing
their campaign chests in exchange for their lost honor and a
few key votes.
How long can any Republic stand and prosper
when the general populace eats crumbs and calls it cake?
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. He can be reached at brooklynphilly@aol.com
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October 14,
2002
Harry Browne
Ireland:
No to War; No to Nice
Don Atapattu
The Tragedy of Alan Dershowitz
Linda Heard
So You
Think You Live in a Democracy?
Bob Feldman
Flashback: Inspecting Nuclear Israel
Adam Engel
The Anger
of Achilles
Anthony Gancarski
The
Washington Post and the Wal-Mart Way
Philip Farruggio
Sleepers
Harold Gould
Islamic
West Asia and US Foreign Policy:
A Tale of Strategic Self-Delusion
Dan Brook
An Open Letter to Barbara Lee
October 12
/ 13, 2002
Alexander
Cockburn
Vindication
Through Violence:
Jimmy Carter and the DC Sniper
Robert Jensen
The American
Political Paradox:
More Freedom, Less Democracy
Ben Tripp
Congratulations! It's a War!
Susan Davis
Proverbial
Wisdom:
Red!
David Krieger
A Bleak Day for America
Anis Shivani
George W. in Therapy
Ken Paff
Where Do Hoffa's Tactics Belong in a Mob-Free Teamsters?
Carol Norris
The Politics of Fear
Elaine Cassel
The Lynne Stewart Case:
When Representing an Accused Terrorist Can Land a Lawyer in Jail
Musa AlShaer
Scenes
from an Occupied Wedding
Anthony Gancarski
Concerned Citizen: a serialized
novel (Episode 3)
M. Shahid
Alam
I Will Fight Your Enemies
October 11,
2002
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Montana
Fusion
Steve Kelly's Wild Ride for Congress
Ralph Nader
Whirlwind
Wheelchair Intl.
Anthony Gancarski
Stayin'
Alive: Notes on Facials and Saving Face
Romi Mahajan
What
War Means to the Iraqi People
Uri Avnery
Israel:
the Jewish Demographic State?
Francis Boyle
Bush's
Banana Republic
Lee Sustar
Taft-Hartley,
Bush and the Dock Workers
Katherine
van Wormer
Dry Drunk
Syndrome and George W. Bush
Jerre Skog
The Blessings
of Growth:
The Greatest Deception of All Time
October 10,
2002
Elson E. Boles
Iraq and
Chemical Weapons:
The US Connection
Senator Russ Feingold
"Confused Justifications and
Vague Proposals": Why I Oppose Bush's War Resolution
William A.
Cook
What Bush
Didn't Tell the UN:
The Case Against Israel
Jorge Mariscal
Chicanos
and Chicanas Say:
"No a la Guerra"
Norman Madarasz
Rio's
Holiest View:
Brazilian Elections 2002
Amir Boroomand
Just
Nod, Please
Fedwa Wazwaz
Falwell,
Graham & Friedman:
Religious Extremism in America
Kurt Nimmo
Condoleezza
Rice at the Waldorf Astoria
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