How Does this Resolve?

Everyone seems to be mad about something or someone. There is blame in the air. Whites complain about blacks, something I thought was well behind us. Blacks are attacking whites, something I understand but dread because it only starts the whites against the blacks all over again. People with money think poor people want something from them. The middle class still exists but it is much smaller and making do with a lot less accumulated wealth and recurring income.

Standards of living are changing. Houses are now getting smaller. Amenities remain fairly stable, but over the top baubles like swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs and gyms are appearing in more and more McMansions.

Family autos are up-scaling for those who have the money while they are downsizing for those who don’t have the money. The number of cars is declining per household. Savings are declining and investments for retirement years are down considerably.

Defined pension plans from employers are being frozen for established employees and disappearing for new employees. 401k’s are offered in place of pension plans, but most of the money deposited in the 401k’s are from the employee themselves. A very small financial benefit is paid into the plan by the employer.

Retirement income in the future will be more difficult to find unless the person strikes it rich.

Health insurance benefits are dwindling from employers. Self funded plans are growing. If the Affordable Care Act hadn’t been offered, over 50 million people would be uninsured. As it stands roughly 18 million are not insured. The future does not look good if the ACA is repealed and not replaced. Meanwhile Congress is making noise to reduce or remove Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

The new standard of living for the future is that each person is on his own to support himself and manage his lifelong risks. No government sponsored programs will be provided as a safety net. Those programs that do remain will be much smaller than they are now.

It would appear that the wealthy want to get wealthier at the expense of others, and the poor will get poorer because that’s what the power brokers want to see happen.

These words seem draconian. They seem un-American. They seem totally unrealistic. But if you attend cocktail parties and political meet-ups, the above scenarios are exactly what are being discussed. Plans are being made to implement these changes.

Doubt me? Sit down with republicans across the nation. This is what they feel a Trump era is all about. Even caring and soul searching philanthropists are saying the same thing.

The question is, will any of this happen in actuality or is it just bluff talk designed to scare and addle political enemies? At this point it is too early to tell but it is worth talking about so all of us in the public can get used to the ideas and change what is being proposed. Maybe thinking about this early and pondering what it will mean for our quality of life will cause us to take action. Maybe?

Hopefully that’s what will happen. Doubtful however; the American people rarely rally quickly and press historic changes. That is why I think we should think about it and write about it. Remember how long it took us to beat back racism and its ugly presence? And now we face it all again? God, I hope not!

Here are a few actions I think we should propose for the near future:

1. Remove all employee benefits for elected officials; no pensions, health plans or disability plans. They live on the same thing we live on. Their income counts for social security benefit taxes and calculation of benefits; they are not guaranteed a lifetime pension just because they were elected to office.
2. All elected officials must pay back all education loans and subsidies they received for their education before they became elected. No subsidies for public servants who have the responsibility for making decisions on all others for their benefits.
3. No salary increases for elected officials without voting on them by the American voter; each and every time.
4. Family members living in the households of elected officials are not eligible for any public subsidies from any program – health care, living stipends, educational loans and scholarships, etc. The head of household has to support his/her family without help from the public. 

Now that the elected officials are all on the same basis as the rest of us, let’s see what they do with their power! Yes, let’s just see what they do then.

January 11, 2017