Is our system of governing broken? Has our Constitution not grown to meet the challenges of the 21st century? Could you fathom an uprising against our current government? What would be the tipping point (if you think this would be impossible did anyone see the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism?).
Politics and public sentiment are a fickle beast. In 2008 the current administration swept into power with a pretty clear majority. But here we sit a year later and what has happened? Political clout is no where to be seen from the majority, Democrats are running for the hills fearful of this year's election cycle, the opposition party is just sitting by doing nothing; offering no alternatives, and the American people sit with their financial futures in doubt while Wall Street takes home billion dollar bonuses. Now how much is enough for the average American to take? Does anybody care anymore or have we become so cynical, so ambivalent that we simply shrug our shoulders and say "meh".
Now you have your splinter groups that grab news headlines, the occasional individual that breaks, and politicians deciding that instead of being part of the solution they simply retire but is this just sensationalism and headline grabbing material or can it be the foundation of a new era? For my kids I hope maybe a new era of problem solving, stick-to-itism, and revitalization but unfortunately I think the power elite in this country, after years of tax breaks and sucking the middle class dry, is ready to take what they can get before the card house collapses.
Why might this be the case? In 2004 "the average after-tax income of the richest one percent of households rose from $722,000 in 2003 to $868,000 in 2004" and yet the average American during the period of 2000 - 2010 saw their income stagnate (lost decade). Enter 2008 when George Bush's ownership society created a perfect storm of banks using fancy derivatives and the middle class hungry for more capital to maintain their standard of living in an ever facing wage stagnation period. Obama sweeps into office only to face the worse economic outlook since the Great Depression. Billions of dollars are spent to bail out the banks and buying up ownership of failing companies and yet one year after this debacle Wall Street has the gall to hand out bonuses? Millions of taxpayers whose net worth has been laid waste by Wall Street's gamble and yet the rich get richer. Is it any wonder that this study (document) basically states that 1 in 4 Americans are employed to guard the wealth of rich. So when does the average American decide to wake up and stop living in financial slavery to the rich?
I love America, I think it is one of the greatest experiments going, but I think a "me" society has grown up and without some changes we are going to implode. There is no law against being rich. I don't hold any grudges against the wealth that has been generated. I am also not a fan of wealth redistribution. What I am not a big fan of is when that wealth is waved in my face and when that wealth is used to make policies in America. I won't even dare bring the health care reform into this argument...
Now in November America will once again vote. Sad part of all of this is that nothing will change. New politicians will say the right things and then once elected play the same scam that the outgoing politician was doing. It will all be packaged nicely but what gets me even more riled up is the what politicians say. You think the Democrats made this economy up? This is a direct result of bad policy decisions made from 2000 - 2008. Last time I checked this was Republican policies. How can Americans give them back the reins after putting us in this situation. I mean this is the greatest gig going, destroy the economy, lose election, let the opposition try to deal with your screw ups, and then use it against them to get reelected. Good God what a freaking mess...throw them all out...so again I ask do you think a second revolution is out of the question?
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