“OUT OF MY CLASS”

Or, an Unclassy Undeclared War Fought Against the Middle and Lower Classes

The Prez sayz that the economy is doing super. For once, he’s right in a way, assuming that is, if you happen to view it from the perspective of the already super rich. The economy is now almost fully re-tooled for the exclusive purpose of transferring any wealth created by the productivity of the lower and middle classes into the coupon clippers and the indolent offspring of the extravagantly wealthy class; i.e. the top 1% controlling 90% of everything.

It has been a multi-front assault involving every tactic and strategy imaginable from the indirect (shifting expenses to the workers such as health care and day care) to the direct (outright transfer of the treasury to the super rich bank accounts in the form of tax cuts and direct subsidies).

While management demands for ever greater productivity have soared, wages have either declined or been essentially frozen in terms of the consumer price index (unless you are a Congressman) for years. That is assuming you have a job. The formerly well paying ones are constantly being shipped elsewhere to any country willing to have child labor and/or practically slave labor and/or willing to ignore whatever human rights or environmental protections standards might exist. The bottom line unfortunately is truly becoming the very bottom line. In other words, more profits for those who already have more than they can spend. It was recently announced for example there is becoming a shortage of docking spaces large enough for the new mega sized yachts.

Sadly, the only groups capable of protecting the workers such as unions or regulatory agencies have been attacked, legislated against, under staffed, defunded or simply re-prioritized with corporate friendly directors and commissioners controlling the decision making. Diligent defenders of the workers have been fired, retired or expired with Republicans controlling the purse strings, appointments and agendas. IRS audit resources for instance have been shifted to search for the hundred dollar welfare cheaters while some CEOs steal more money every year than every welfare cheat who ever existed managed combined.

The warfare by the upper class against everyone else has even involved changing the very language of the debate itself as for example the estate tax now referred to as death taxes. What is fascinating is that the lower and middle classes who would never have paid such taxes themselves end up contributing to the lifestyles of the Paris Hiltons would find it a visual joke to even be in the same room with common people.

Workers, whether blue or white collar, have been willing to put up with such things on the hope or assumption that they too could someday enter higher classes. The super rich however have been rigorously closing the doors. Colleges and educations, particularly the “good ol’ boy network schools that are critical to that process, have been functionally barred by either preemption of all spaces to “legacies,” in other words the children of the already rich, or lack of scholarship and other financial aid, not to mention the destruction of the public education system in the lower grades. It is now a stigma to come from public schools creating further barriers to egalitarianism.

The same could be said of the clubs and jobs that support the same exclusionary system. Soak the lower and middle classes in debt, eliminate protections like bankruptcy and make savings worthless, plus drive up prices of everything. The middle class is disappearing. Their children certainly won’t belong.

Granted, the entrenched Democrat leadership in Congress has done little to prevent it, but when voting, remember it is the Republicans who have sponsored it all and continue the attacks and dirty tricks in their undeclared class war. What is especially ironic is that Republicans have the nerve to allege others are indulging in “class warfare” whenever anyone points out the obvious fact that it has long been underway.