Poor Man
Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
The Washington-Wall Street Cartel Broke its Social
Contract with Americans
Political candidates take every opportunity to address how they will strengthen the middle class now that so many of those households are struggling.
Political candidates take every opportunity to address how they will strengthen the middle class now that so many of those households are struggling.
Of course, it’s all a
snowjob. They seldom deliver on their
promises.
But to understand how the middle class ended
up in such a mess, you have to look to a long history of decline set in motion
by social and political factors. Pulitzer-winning reporter Hedrick Smith explores
this history in his book, "Who
Stole the American Dream?"
In the '70s, Smith says two things happened to hurt the
middle class. First, wedge economics -- the wedge that split the middle class
workers off from their share of American prosperity and from the profits of
American companies. Second, there was a tremendous power shift in
Washington that has led to a "consistent policy tilt on behalf of
corporations, on behalf of the corporate elite and the financial elite in this
country."
Smith says we haven't been able to save the middle class
because we've been doing a lot of things to hurt it.
"CEOs of companies thought it was their job to
sustain and support the interests and balance the interests of the various
stakeholders in the company, and that word 'stakeholders' is very important.
It's not shareholders alone, but it's management, it's employees, it's
suppliers, it's customers, it's the communities they lived in," he says.
"As productivity in the American economy went up, so did the pay of the
average person in America. That has not been true since 1973."
In his book, Smith discusses the shift from a pension
system to the 401(k). He says it has been a disaster for middle class workers.
"You can't build a retirement system, you can't
build a nest egg if you don't plunk the money away every year, but people can't
do that. They can't discipline themselves. They're not smart about the market.
There are people who have done well, but it's a small minority," he says.
"That is one of the big thefts of the middle class dream. Hundreds of
billions of dollars of annual expenditures have been taken off the company
books and they've been put on the shoulders of individuals."
Smith says people need to organize in order to fix the
broken systems that hurt the middle class. He says politicians have no choice
but to pay attention to organized efforts and he believes there is going to be
a change.
The Middle Class Is Dying
If you make more than $27,520 a
year at your job, you are doing better than half the country is. But you
don’t have to take my word for it, you can check out the latest wage statistics
from the Social Security administration right here. But of course $27,520 a year will not allow you to
live “the American Dream” in this day and age. After taxes, that breaks
down to a good bit less than $2,000 a month.
You can’t realistically pay a mortgage, make a
car payment, afford health insurance and provide food, clothing and everything
else your family needs for that much money. That is one of the reasons
why both parents are working in most families today. In fact, sometimes
both parents are working multiple jobs in a desperate attempt to make ends
meet. Over the years, the cost of living has risen steadily but our
paychecks have not. This has resulted in a steady erosion of
the middle class.
The solutions to
surviving the war on the Middle Class can be found in our new e-book.
Discover life-saving ways in which you can survive and
prosper during The End of the
Monetary System As We Know It. This is the information that your financial advisor, your
doctor, your police precinct and your government hope you never discover…plus
learn how food is your best investment!
Got a News Tip or Resource to Share With the Poor Man?
Send it to: PoorManSurvivor@Gmail.com
A Shallow Planet Production
No comments:
Post a Comment