Two Worlds Apart
Well, Katrina's struck, and it looks like those with the means to get out got out, while those who couldn't stayed. What that means in bottom-line terms, of course, is that the rich and middle-class are now safely with family, friends, and in motel rooms all over the South right now, while the working class and the poor get to camp out in the Superdome and the Convention Center, among other places. Somehow I don't think this was their idea of a summer vacation...
Ironically, two separate articles just highlight the fact that the United States is starting down to the path to joining its South American sisters in becoming a two-tier society: a small enclave of super-rich and moneyed (often living in gated, walled communities; not exactly new here!), and the vast masses of the rest of the population, often living in abject poverty. In the first article, CEO pay has risen exponentially yet again, and is now at 430-t0-1, when you compare average CEO pay to average worker pay. On the flip side, another article that came out today as well notes that the poverty rate here in this country has risen yet again, from 11.3% last year to 12.7% this year, with an additional one million-plus joining the ranks of the impoverished. Gee, you think maybe there's a correlation...?
I'd be very surprised if you found a CEO or any of his nearest and dearest sitting in Row K right now at the Superdome. Most likely, they're in Houston or Atlanta in comfortable surroundings. New Orleans has one of the highest numbers in terms of black population in the country (around 67% black, if memory serves me right), and it also is one of the poorest cities among the major metropolises in America. While I doubt people are going to put two and two together by reading the articles I've linked to, I think the disparity in the face of this disaster just might jolt some people out of their cocoons. We'll see...
In the meantime, hurricane or no hurricane, I think these new pieces of information are rather upsetting; why are we allowing more and more people to hang on the financial precipice, clinging to a vanishing lifestyle of sufficiency and falling into the cracks? As for the CEOs and their ilk, just how much money does a person really need? Do we really need overpaid athletes, entertainers, and corporate managers? For that matter, why are so many people making far more than the President of the United States does (not that I want us to suddenly hand Smirk a wheelbarrow full of cash!)? Does anyone really need to make that much money? What do you do with it after the mortage/rent is paid, the bills are taken care of, the kitchen and pantry fully stocked, some cash is socked away for retirement, a little is set aside for pleasures and vacations, and a lump sum banked for emergencies? These CEOs are earning so much money-- do they really need tax cuts? What the tax cuts essentially mean is money that you and I pay for government services (such as FEMA!) is instead handed out like Christmas bonuses to people who already have way too much money as it is. I don't know about you, but I'd like to think my money is going towards the services we all use, and to people who need it, not towards killing people in other countries or directly from my hands (and the hands of friends and relatives) to the pockets of people who have bank accounts the size of which I will never see, much less dream of?
Why is our money in their pockets? Do they deserve it? Why isn't our money being used for the government operations, expenses, and services we've come to expect? Why are developers allowed to build McMansions as second (or third!) homes for people who don't really need them, thus pushing up the overall price of housing? Why are mental health services, student financial aid, welfare assistance, and educational institutions all being denied federal monies, or in perpetual danger of cuts? Are these CEOs going to turn around and help us with these things, and many more? No, they'll just buy another house or two, upgrade their cars to the latest model, maintain their yachts, and generally put the money away in tax shelters, where it will never circulate in the economy again. They'll build or purchase homes in tony areas, sometimes behind walls or gates, away from the rest of us. Before you know it, there'll be less and less money for government at all levels, less and less for society as a whole. Goodbye, United States; Hello, Banana Republic!
Maybe that's a bit too drastic to envision at the moment; it probably is. But if we're not careful, that is exactly what's going to happen, and we'll be two worlds apart.
Ironically, two separate articles just highlight the fact that the United States is starting down to the path to joining its South American sisters in becoming a two-tier society: a small enclave of super-rich and moneyed (often living in gated, walled communities; not exactly new here!), and the vast masses of the rest of the population, often living in abject poverty. In the first article, CEO pay has risen exponentially yet again, and is now at 430-t0-1, when you compare average CEO pay to average worker pay. On the flip side, another article that came out today as well notes that the poverty rate here in this country has risen yet again, from 11.3% last year to 12.7% this year, with an additional one million-plus joining the ranks of the impoverished. Gee, you think maybe there's a correlation...?
I'd be very surprised if you found a CEO or any of his nearest and dearest sitting in Row K right now at the Superdome. Most likely, they're in Houston or Atlanta in comfortable surroundings. New Orleans has one of the highest numbers in terms of black population in the country (around 67% black, if memory serves me right), and it also is one of the poorest cities among the major metropolises in America. While I doubt people are going to put two and two together by reading the articles I've linked to, I think the disparity in the face of this disaster just might jolt some people out of their cocoons. We'll see...
In the meantime, hurricane or no hurricane, I think these new pieces of information are rather upsetting; why are we allowing more and more people to hang on the financial precipice, clinging to a vanishing lifestyle of sufficiency and falling into the cracks? As for the CEOs and their ilk, just how much money does a person really need? Do we really need overpaid athletes, entertainers, and corporate managers? For that matter, why are so many people making far more than the President of the United States does (not that I want us to suddenly hand Smirk a wheelbarrow full of cash!)? Does anyone really need to make that much money? What do you do with it after the mortage/rent is paid, the bills are taken care of, the kitchen and pantry fully stocked, some cash is socked away for retirement, a little is set aside for pleasures and vacations, and a lump sum banked for emergencies? These CEOs are earning so much money-- do they really need tax cuts? What the tax cuts essentially mean is money that you and I pay for government services (such as FEMA!) is instead handed out like Christmas bonuses to people who already have way too much money as it is. I don't know about you, but I'd like to think my money is going towards the services we all use, and to people who need it, not towards killing people in other countries or directly from my hands (and the hands of friends and relatives) to the pockets of people who have bank accounts the size of which I will never see, much less dream of?
Why is our money in their pockets? Do they deserve it? Why isn't our money being used for the government operations, expenses, and services we've come to expect? Why are developers allowed to build McMansions as second (or third!) homes for people who don't really need them, thus pushing up the overall price of housing? Why are mental health services, student financial aid, welfare assistance, and educational institutions all being denied federal monies, or in perpetual danger of cuts? Are these CEOs going to turn around and help us with these things, and many more? No, they'll just buy another house or two, upgrade their cars to the latest model, maintain their yachts, and generally put the money away in tax shelters, where it will never circulate in the economy again. They'll build or purchase homes in tony areas, sometimes behind walls or gates, away from the rest of us. Before you know it, there'll be less and less money for government at all levels, less and less for society as a whole. Goodbye, United States; Hello, Banana Republic!
Maybe that's a bit too drastic to envision at the moment; it probably is. But if we're not careful, that is exactly what's going to happen, and we'll be two worlds apart.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 5:28 PM
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