Ninety-Nine
Who is the 99%?
Here’s another installment in my weekly diatribes.
This one is a little different, in that I wrote it in 2008, and it has never been published. In some ways, it’s dated, but in others it’s still current. Perhaps today names like Fannie and Freddie and Barney Frank and Occupy Wall Street and AIG aren’t so common. Perhaps there are those who don’t remember that 2008 was the year that the housing bubble burst.
But as they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same…
I am one of the 99%! Of course, that says very little about me. The 99% consists of liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, Independents and people who just don’t give a damn. The 99% includes all income groups except for the filthy rich. And it includes workers in both the public and private sector.
Everyone is aware of the expression “Divide and conquer.” That is what’s happening to us. I find it insulting that anyone would attempt to lead us to believe that the 300 million of us can be divided neatly into two groups when there are really countless groups, most of whom typically can manage to get along without contention. So, who would try divide us into just two groups? The Democrat and Republican parties, that’s who. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been loudly denouncing both parties for my entire adult life, which has been awhile. We feel forced to choose between them, even to the point of straining personal relationships. And for what? For the sake of abdicating our responsibilities as citizens and turning it over to the parties.
It makes life so much simpler to just choose a candidate or a party and feel like you’ve done all that can be expected. No, you must immerse yourself in the issues. What is the point of discussing issues with people who are just like you? That’s what the parties do. Responsible adults dig much deeper. No one has all the answers. There is no way of life that is the correct way of life. No political philosophy is the correct political philosophy. In a free society (and who would want it any other way) everyone has the right to pursue their own interests. Yet, no one has the right to enforce their beliefs on anyone else. The majority MUST NOT rule! Slavery in America enjoyed majority rule. The majority decided that the American Indians should keep moving west. Both of these had the full support of the federal government.
But we’re so much smarter now, right? So much more tolerant. Not that I see. I see the two parties still trying to force their will on us. I don’t accept either of them, and I don’t want their “help.” Study your history and you will see that the white slave owners were “helping” the unfortunate black slaves by indoctrinating them into white culture. Same for the Indians. Now the parties want to indoctrinate me into the culture of blind loyalty of questionable causes. I say, “Kiss my ass.” I can choose my own causes. And after a lifetime of idiotic leadership from both parties, my cause is to do all that I can to destroy both parties. Believe me, we will all benefit.
“But my party has done so much for the people”, you say. Here’s a news flash: your party hasn’t spent ten cents on you ever. It’s all coming out of your own pocket. If you took every penny that the rich have, our government would still be broke.
And let’s contemplate what can happen with a rich person’s money. There are various possibilities, and they all work to our favor. They can spend their money, in which case there are jobs for yacht makers, luxury plane makers, mansion builders, artists and any number of others. Or you can tax their money, in which case other jobs will be created, but only by taking jobs away from the afore mentioned. Or the rich could just put their money under the mattress. Even that helps, because it decreases the money supply and makes everybody else’s money more valuable. This is directly opposite form our federal gov’t which prints money and makes everybody else’s worth less.
And there is one more thing that rich people can do with their money. They can invest it in the enterprises that made them rich in the first place. When you get down to it, money is just a means of keeping score. Like the score in a game indicates who plays best, money indicates who worked both the hardest and the smartest. There will always be a top 1%. If they achieved their “score” honestly, I’m not just OK with that, I’m happy about. We’re talking here about the Henry Fords that made it possible for nearly anyone to own a car. And the Steve Jobs that made it possible for almost anyone to have a computer. My work has brought me into contact with many people from various income groups. The rich are no less honest or caring than anyone else. And they, not the two parties, are the reason we have the standard of living that we enjoy.
Many will disagree with me. Fine. I will make no effort to force you under my thumb. And I will not be held under anyone’s thumb, and I will not be led like a sheep. And I will not be so foolish as to think that life comes down to just two choices.
Both parties tell you that they have the solutions. But ask yourself, how did we get into this mess in the first place? Piss poor leadership, that’s how. You think it was the bankers? You’re only part right. The bankers have been paying off both parties for decades. Barney Frank, et al, who were supposed to be watching over the banks, actually were actively involved in aiding and abetting them. You might have been involved in it yourself: If you believed that it was a good idea to hand out mortgages to people who couldn’t afford the payments or the upkeep, you are part of the problem. If you don’t see how this can’t ultimately destroy neighborhoods, you are part of the problem. If you aren’t aware of Fannie and Freddie’s role in destroying the housing market, you are part of the problem. If you aren’t aware that Fannie and Freddie and AIG, etc are still in place and still doing what they were doing before, you are part of the problem.
Even our “experts” don’t understand that it’s not about the money, it’s about the value. Money was pumped into the housing market, but the value wasn’t there. It’s still being pumped into the housing market, and the value still isn’t there. Money is being pumped into our energy infrastructure, but the value isn’t there, either. When we have leaders who understand value, and that creating it is a whole lot trickier than creating money, then we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. The 1% understand all this. Many of the 99% do not. Occupy Wall Sreet is downright clueless.
So, you want your free education and your free birth control. Just remember that they aren’t at all free. Never were, never will be.
p.s. There’s a great movie that you should see, if you haven’t already, The Big Short. It’s a hilariously funny and very accurate representation of how “experts” that we all trusted destroyed the world economy. Sounds hilarious, right? You laugh to keep from crying. And guess what? The same idiots that were in charge then, are in charge now.
p.p.s. I’m currently reading “You Will Own Nothing”, by Carol Roth. Our “leaders” get elected, not by demonstrating experience, intelligence and wisdom. They get elected by being trusted. Sound like the same thing? There are two ways for a person to be trusted: 1. By demonstrating experience, intelligence and wisdom, or 2. by fooling people who want to FEEL secure, even if that feeling has no basis in reality. I’d suggest that most of our elected officials got there by that second route. And what is a primary objective of people who got there by that second route? To denigrate the people who got there by the fist route…
https://www.carolroth.com/nothing/
Reading your article written in 2008 really brings home the fact that nothing has changed for the better and we're just watching the same play with different actors.
The Big Short was a very good movie but the book is even better for gaining a deeper understanding of what was (is) going on.