If I did not know any better, I could swear that the rights bestowed upon citizens in the USA only applied to those that define themselves as “conservative”. Having legitimate concerns about the government or how democracy is applied, is only a right those on the republican side has, or so it seems.
Owning an IPad or IPhone makes you ineligible to protest economic hardship and not studying anything other than a hard science, makes you stupid and therefore completely deserving of not finding a job. If you fit this profile, then Fox news will gleefully mock and deride you, call you a hooligan and make sure that it is known that you are a socialist fit for nothing. You better know that you are not representative of 90% of this country, because we are all so sold on the idea that trickle down is still going to happen and that giving the wealthy more welfare will eventually reach the unwashed masses.
Or so the story goes …
Or does it?
Is it true that managers are being treated as entrepeneurs? Yes. Is it true that they get 350 times more money than the “worker bee” in the corporation – at least on average? Is it true that the United States is now 93rd when it comes to income distribution? Yes. If you listen to Eric Cantor though it is because the wealthy pay too much taxes and the corporations are overwhelmed by regulations.
So how does the tax burden shake out then?
Please refer to the below link to read all about it:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html#table6
What is abundantly clear is that there are a few problems that the young “hooligans” are bringing to light that the media machine (that is wholly corporate-owned) probably do not want to face or even discuss, thus the outrage and ridicule.
Corporations are NOT people. Corporations have no interest in the community (and should not). Corporations are in it for the money, and only the money. Regulations and taxes make it a little harder to make more money, therefore they contribute voluntary amounts to political campaigns, that due to their personhood, no longer need to be public record or be limited in any way. One hand washes the other, and a donation of $50,000 will have a return on investment, or else it would not be done. As an individual I could only give a much smaller donation and hope that together with others it adds up and gets my choice elected. Corporations can sway the race in a much more profound way, and will demand the returns once that candidate is in office. I cannot afford my own lobbyist, but the big pharma, bank and insurance company can and do.
Since the media is owned by corporate moguls, their opinion of this occupation is not asked for and not valid in any shape or form.
Then there is the myth that there are a lot of jobs around. Yes, there are minimum wage jobs aplenty. If you have $40,000 in student loans, please tell me how you could hope to pay off the loan and still eat! If someone could give me some insight into that, I would be really grateful. Yes, you can sell the IPad and the IPhone for $300 but that hardly make a difference. It smacks of the same criticism that poor people have refrigerators and therefore is privileged. In most apartments here, refrigerators are part of the apartment, so excuse me if I do not buy how wealthy these poor people are.
The problem is that the younger generation has very little mobility to reach that “fantasy” called the American Dream. In order to get there, you need to have a career path ahead where income matches your needs and adds to your dream. That path should not be looking like this:
You can work for $9 an hour. Stay at home with your parents because we do not want to help you out with housing. While you are at it, stay there for the next 10 to 15 years and then hope that somehow your income has risen more than 4% (which is the average right now). Do not expect to get a mortgage at this level, because any bank will quite correctly tell you that you do not earn enough to buy a house. Also, the bank needs to keep reserves to ensure that the CEO (or managerial talent) gets the bonus it was promised, whether the bank actually makes a profit or not. Also, since you live with your parents, we have earned the right to call you lazy, a slacker, a leech and will demand that you pay more tax just to make sure that you stay in your place. Then we can demand that the CEO who gets paid 350 times more than the average worker, also pays less taxes so he can help stop the creation of more jobs, due to his uncertainty regarding what regulations would do to his bonus.
Forgive me if I sound emotional or cynical, but I do believe that telling people that they can be that CEO, is disingenuous and a scam. Forgive me if I find fault with an education system, but please tell me why the unwashed masses on the right actually believe this myth? Forgive me if I look at Washington, where lobbyists run the show and have successfully blocked the ONLY jobs bill there was to be had (even though it was filled with republican ideas) and cringe. Corporations are people and people are trash.
I say to the hooligans camped out in the park, please do not leave. There are those that do believe that you are heroes and that the voice of youth and anger needs to be heard. I salute your efforts and if this is how hooliganism is to be defined in the future, I say let it be.