politics for the 99%

Published on Dissident Voice, by Harvey Lothian, Feb 21, 2016.

The unwritten but very real and clearly understood social contract under which the citizens and workers of the United States and Canada developed the countries has now been broken by the wealthy classes, the owners of major industries and businesses and the politicians, The contract is now invalid. A new social contract is needed.  

It was clearly understood by everyone in both countries, from the very beginning of the countries, that if men got what education they could, or wanted or needed, got a job, worked hard, were frugal with their money, they would eventually be able to buy a house, get married, raise a family, and eventually retire and live without undue financial stress due to the equity in their homes, their pensions and their savings. A growing economic pie would provide enough jobs and wealth that everyone could have a good life if they were willing to work for it. Everyone understood that. That was the Social Contract … //

… While the rich were getting richer the US National Federal Debt grew to almost 18 TRILLION DOLLARS at the beginning of 2016, about $54,000 per capita, or $162,000 for a family of three. This enormous amount of debt will either have to be paid down by the citizens of the USA or inflated away or renounced. The wealthy classes, though, will not help pay this debt down, because, in the famous words of wealthy Leona Helmsley, “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” Wealthy people pay accountants, lawyers and estate planners to find ways to avoid paying taxes and ways of spiriting their money to safe havens in foreign countries. And, the wealthy have politicians pass bills that reduce their income taxes and inheritance taxes.

In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.5% of the country’s total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country’s wealth, and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. That gap widened after the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.

While the rich continued to get richer, good US jobs continued to go overseas to low wage countries, food stamp usage in the USA grew from 17 million participants in 2000 to nearly 47 million in 2014, unemployed workers became discouraged about finding work, dropped out of the work force and the participation rate dropped from 67.3% to less than 63%. While all this was happening the US per capita debt was growing exponentially, debts that the working class would have to pay through their future taxes, debts that the wealthy classes would not pay, because “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes” … //

… We are weak when our differences divided us, incredibly strong when our common needs and desires unite us.

It is time to demand our rights. It is time to demand that all Free Trade Agreements be repealed and good jobs stop being sent to low wage countries. It is time for citizens to read the Declaration of Human Rights and demand that it become a law of the land. Make copies of it. Pass the copies around. Discuss it with family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Organize. Demand that our politicians support us. Demonstrate. Peacefully, without violence. Violence always plays into their hand. Turn any violent demonstrator over to the police, they are probably their agents anyway.

Demand that all Presidential Candidates agree that all Free Trade Agreements be repealed. Demand that they take a stand, for or against, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights being enacted as a law of the land. If they are against it demand to know why, especially why they are opposed to Articles 22, 23, 24, and 25.

(full text).

(Harvey Lothian is a 78-year-old man living on the Sunshine Coast of B.C., Canada. His passions since a teenager have been history, politics, economics, sociology, social psychology, learning, traveling and reading. In recent years he has come to understand what Plato meant when he said all dogs have the soul of a philosopher. He can be reached here. Read other articles by Harvey).

Links:

MP urges intl probe into US cyberattacks on other nations, on RT, Feb 20, 2016;

Low-income families struggle to buy healthy foods as prices rise, on Business News Network BNN, Feb 19, 2016 - (same on The Globe and Mail);

Suisse: Les discounters paient les meilleurs salaires, dans 24 heures.ch, le 19 févr 2016: Commerce de détailSi Aldi et Lidl sont désormais ceux qui rétribuent le mieux dans la distribution, leurs conditions de travail restent encore à améliorer. Le point.

Tant va la cruche à l’eau, dans Médiapart.fr, par Laure Cnstant, le 19 févr 2016: Suite à un des commentaires postés sur AgoraVox sur “La réforme du Code du travail, permettez-moi d’en rire”, je m’interroge sur les alternatives qui se présentent à nous en ces temps troublés …;

These Tech Entrepreneurs Want To Create A Network Of Private Microstates In Europe, on CO.EXIST, 19 févr 2016: the solution to government dysfunction? Start your own country, where everyone chips in and everyone gets a chance—as long as you’re “innovative”;
(my question: will be this the latest trick dividing/selecting us? – Heidi);

Tolérance zéro aux MGF, les Nations Unies ont célébré la journée, dans le faso.net, le 19 févr 2016;

Uber, Booking … Dégage, pauvre con – Pierre Jenni, dans la Tribune de Genève, sélection Jean-François Mabut, le 19 févr 2016, la revue des blogs: André Thomann sur l’orthographe, Mauro Poggia sur l’assurance maladie, Bernard Comoli sur les boues meurtrières, Jean-Noël Cuénod sur l’Etat sans Dieu;

The robot revolution will be complicated, on Huffpost, by David Freeman, Feb 18, 2018: … Self-Driving Cars could save millions of lives, but there’s a catch. Will the rise of intelligent machines transform our lives for the better – or push us into the abyss? It depends on whom you ask …;

Revenus de references pr credit immo? dans Boursorama, le 18 févr 2016;

Emploi & économie numérique, dans Les Echos.fr, le 18 févr 2016: Le chômage est un problème récurrent de notre société depuis plusieurs décennies. La numérisation très récente de notre économie semble perturber un peu plus les années d’activités professionnelles des personnes et il paraît bien difficile de savoir si l’émergence de cette nouvelle économie sera schumpétérienne ou ravageuse tant les outils classiques de décodage sont devenus obsolètes et hors du cadre;

Le PTB demande une généralisation de l’interdiction des suppléments d’honoraires, dans PTB.be, le 18 févr 2016: est-ce qu’on doit être riche pour se faire soigner à temps et à heure ? C’est pourtant bien la logique du système mis en place dans un hôpital 100 % public de Liège. Le PTB demande une généralisation de l’interdiction des suppléments d’honoraires et la fin des « speedy pass » pour ceux qui paient plus la consultation;

La réduction du temps de travail à 32 heures, c’est possible, dans Solidaires, par fiche de la commission économique, le 18 févr 2016;

… and this:

• Mongolian Song, 7.50 min, uploaded by APOLLODEMOPOLOUS Music… and many more in autoplay;
• Huun-Huur-Tu (Tuvan: Хүн Хүртү Khün Khürtü, Russian: Хуун-Хуур-Ту) are a music group from Tuva, a Russian Federation republic situated on the Mongolian border. The most distinctive characteristic of Huun Huur Tu’s music is throat singing, in which the singers sing both the note (drone) and the drone’s overtone(s), thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. The overtone may sound like a flute, whistle or bird, but is solely a product of the human voice …; /External Links.