So I continue to be amused at the state of this nation. I love America, it was the first nation on the planet to get it right. When I say “right” I mean it created a fairly level playing field for those who were motivated and driven to get ahead. It did so imperfectly, no question, it did so on the back of it’s immigrants. Immigrants are the back bone of this country, never forget that… You can reference any Century of this great nation’s history, I promise you you’ll find a new group arriving on the scene to inject this country with another round of fresh drive. I find it hilarious that today’s contemporary American can look to an immigrant, illegal or otherwise and suggest this is what is draining America. So if it’s not these imports that are ruining this country, then what is it? It’s your money….
Excuse me? Money? No that’s what’s keeping me fed! Well yes and in it’s intended form money is just fine, a necessary evil to allow us to rate and sort the hard workers from the naturally lazy (and there are such people, make no mistake). I’m definitely over simplifying here, because really it’s the form of capitalism we are currently practicing here in this country. Our government and politicians have lost their way and I don’t think they are coming back anytime soon. We’ll save that conversation for another day. Back to the money… Let’s take a look at a couple of specific metrics you should be very aware of.
Straight from your Congressional Budget Office: Trends in the Distribution of Household Income. Now you should be asking yourself why on earth the top 1% income grew by 275%! The next closest level grew by only 65%! That’s crazy especially when you consider the actual inflation from 1979 to 2007 (The span of this report) was roughly 209%! So let’s put this in simple terms…. Everyone got run over by the inflation bus except the top 1%! Who gave themselves a healthy 75% increase in pay. Now inflation can be controlled to a certain extent and it can certainly be accounted for. At some point in time our government forgot what it is really here to do… It’s meant to protect the masses using regulations and laws! There is no doubt this is a huge generalist problem and it’s not easy to solve or deal with. Instead of focusing on management processes and controls our government has taken the easy way out and turned this into a services and support problem (i.e. We offer services through the U.S. Government to “help” groups or segments of people). More on that later in this rant.
So whenever you go looking around for a scape goat. Look to the top 1% and the politicians they have full control of — not some minor group or race who is statistically unimportant to your level of income. For instance, the average illegal immigrant family lives on $36,000 per year according to one report (A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States). The average U.S. household from this same report is approximately $50k. Let’s do some simple back of the napkin math here… 8.3M illegal workers this represents 5% of our entire workforce… So… These people at best make 72% of the average American, they make up only 5% of the workforce assuming this is accurate using tax foundation’s org data for 2009 of $7.8B of income their adjusted cost would be 3.6% of $7.8B…. That’s pathetic… I would suggest that the $284M dollars they made provided more labor and value than what it cost an “American”. You can do this with almost any group you want. But the bottom line here is various power groups have you arguing and attacking each other rather than focusing on the real issues at hand!
So back to the 1% (You know the group you’ll never be a part of?) you’ve got a group of people who should be rewarded for their ingenuity and creativity. This is not a group who should be able to protect their position using their accumulated wealth. A possible way to do this would be to enact a flat tax for both citizens and businesses. Tax revenue from investment at a higher level bringing more of this money back into play to provide funding for valuable projects. Remember keeping this race even? In a way this is what the government is supposed to be attempting to do… Many difficult, expensive and valuable works have been done by this country and people like to forget that. The internet: DARPA funded to allow sharing of scientific research and government agencies. Do you really think corporations with their narrow focus can actually plan something big? Hoover damn? Power and infrastructure? You think a profit driven corporation will handle that well for the benefit of all? Come on! NASA? Even though this agency has produced many unique marketable products it gets underfunded and crapped on by the politicians who drag it out to whip it for their bases amusement in an attempt to demonstrate their fiscal responsibility. Please! It’s not until the 2000’s that even a bit of the space program has been funded privately and those companies are doing it because they’ve gotten incentives and support from this agency!
Government has been asleep at the wheel. That’s how… Your government is supposed to be holding the leash of the corporations and big business. Instead, you’ve had the government, specifically your supreme court validate the rights of corporations as citizens… Your government is sleeping with the dogs they are supposed to be keeping a leash on… This was never the intention of this great nation. Government is not supposed to offer handouts it’s supposed to shape our society by laws and regulation that foster the care and empowerment of the masses to grow and improve. When is the last time you saw a law passed that didn’t have more riders and crap packed into it? How about a law with a clear and streamlined purpose? Those are more rare than pink ponies and unicorns. Sadly, they shouldn’t be and the longer we tolerate this idiocy the worse it will be for each and everyone of us.
So go on and feel good about your presidential candidate performing their slight of hand and pandering to your lack of understanding. Enjoy the circus, it’s here to make sure you don’t wake up and demand what’s rightly yours as an American — a functional system of government. Don’t worry, the 1% on their super yachts are going to be satisfied either way, because as far as I can tell there isn’t a real candidate on the scene in either party… Feel free to correct me, but Trump? Hillary? Bush? These people are part of the problem, not part of the solution and the process… It’s broken. It was never intended for career politicians or families… The best of us would sacrifice their time and career to serve this country for a limited period of time. Time for change — and sadly I have no idea what that looks like.