Connecting the Dots

I have a friend who frequently whines. About everything it seems. When she does the voice rises a bit, the sound is pinched off enough in the nasal passages to sound like a truncated siren call. The voice moves up and down the scale like a sliding steel guitar.

“Well,…I’m not feeling it right now; the pain throbs a little, then…”  When she gets this way I sense her detachment from the ‘real world’. After all, each of us learns to accept the world the way it is and live accordingly.  If I have the ability to control some things, I act accordingly with those ‘things’ but accept the ones I cannot change. At the same time there are conditions I can change. I focus a lot of attention on those and plod along hoping to make a difference. The rest of the time one has to discern which things I cannot change and which ones I can.  This is an age-old question!

When my friend is more in control of herself she doesn't whine, accepts life on its terms and moves forward. When the whining begins I now know she is slipping from self control to self pity.  Perhaps that’s not the best term to use – pity – but it comes fairly close, I think.

I know her personal story pretty well. Her life has had more than a fair share of grief and turmoil. And it is a continuing thing. Her challenge in the final analysis is simply – move on! Move on toward a life that is self sustainable. Push through the problems and the worries, have faith that better days are coming, and put a smile on the face. So much more is possible when that is the discipline.

Shifting gears, what about the Middle Class?

Was that gear change too abrupt for you? Does it appear crashingly out of place?

It may not be apparent to the reader but a lot of grief in today’s America is due to falling household incomes, longer hours of work (if you still have a job) and a declining standard of living. My friend above is desperately trying to hang on to her house, has already lost the car, has taken to renting rooms in her home, has lost her job and is on public assistance. It’s not a pretty sight. And she is not to blame for much of it. Some, yes; but not all.

At some point the struggle of the middle class becomes a haunting, losing struggle. In my lifetime I never expected to witness this struggle, not for me or for 100 million people or more. This has become a crisis that may very well redefine America.

Common Cause is a national public interest group which has long attempted to hold power centers in America accountable for their decisions and thinking.  Robert Reich is a political economist, academician and former Secretary of Labor and shares this thought with us:

“The Biggest story of our era is the shift of power to large corporations and their top executives, Wall Street, and a handful of billionaires.”

Well not a handful of billionaires; perhaps 100 billionaires?  There are over 400 such in America today as reported by Forbes. They do have influence by way of their personal political donations and financial support. They have even more power via their corporate roots as well. They work hard to influence public policy and legislative outcomes. What they cannot do for themselves they hire through lobbyists or political interest groups.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont knows this well:

“Today, virtually no piece of legislation can bet passed in Congress unless it has the approval of Wall Street and corporate America.”

Some will say this has always been so, and a close examination of political history would probably build a solid case for that argument. At some point, however, the long swing of history will show its arc towards a particularly unsupportable end result. I think we are well into that era.

The end result is a demotion of the middle class to near poverty status.

The middle class family may be making money enough to pay the rent or mortgage, but increasingly it isn't. The cars they drive to commute are pricing out of their reach and foreign manufacturers have stepped up to fill the economic vacuum. Just witness the surge of Hyundai's and Kias on the road. Of all stripes and sizes. New and used.  The next time you are at a busy intersection, count the American car brands waiting for the light to change, and then count the foreign brands.

Is America still a contender in the automotive industry?  Who is setting the standard? Japan, Germany or America. If the latter, why then are Japanese and German innovations widely copied by South Korean manufactures and brands? Bringing up the rear are the American brands. And even then they contain 40 to 60% foreign parts and assemblies.

Rather than innovate or lead price wars, American business seeks succor in Congress. Because the men and women in Congress rely on copious donations to fund their election campaigns, corporate attention is accommodated.  It is a sad truth. And a vile one, too!

Bernie Sanders also shared this thought with the public the other day:

“I think that across the board, whether you’re a conservative or whether you’re a progressive, if you’re in the middle class, you know that there’s something wrong when 95% of all new income has gone to the top 1% since the Wall Street crash.  People think that’s not right.”

It isn’t right. And this economic shift began in 2007 with roots much earlier now visible. This is 2014, 8 to 10 years later. The fix is not yet apparent. Tens of millions of people work hard, do not get ahead and suffer anxiety and worry for their families. Tens of millions of people more have already lost their middle class status unless we have redefined that term downward by a great margin.

We have very few people in government with the courage of Bernie Sanders saying what’s becoming very obvious. Republicans play on this without offering solutions. They only lay blame at the feet of Democrats while blocking any of their solutions from becoming law.

Before it is too late the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, needs to wake up to the needs of the nation. That is what they are there for. They continue their shallow fights for power and money. They are fiddling while Rome burns to the ground.

It is time to hold them accountable.  My advice is support the likes of Bernie Sanders and elect people who will help magnify his message and action. The congressional elections are nigh upon us, one month away. Do your homework and vote!

Maybe by connecting the dots we can work our way out of this stubborn crisis. Only then can we send the whiners back to their own mirrors and family for repair.

October 1, 2014