How Can the Richest 1 Percent Be Winning This Brutal Class War Against 99% of Us?

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Larry Beinhart

How Can the Richest 1 Percent Be Winning This Brutal Class War Against 99% of Us?
How has a tiny fraction of the population arranged for their narrowest economic interests to dominate those of the vast majority?

January 21, 2011 |


Who are they? The richest 1 percent. And maybe the next 9 percent.

Who are we? All the rest.

Which poses an interesting question.

How has a tiny fraction of the population – which is diverse in many ways – arranged for their narrowest economic interests to dominate the economic interests of the vast majority? And, while they’re at it, endanger the economic well-being of our nation, and bring the financial system of the whole world to the brink of collapse.

They have money.

We have votes.

Theoretically, that means we should have the government. Theoretically, government should be a countervailing force against the excesses of big money, take the long view for the good of the nation, and watch out for the majority. Let alone for the poor and downtrodden.

What we actually have is one political party that is flat out the party of big money and another party that sells out to big money. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/economy/149596/how_can_the_richest_1_percent_be_winning_this_brutal_class_war_against_99%25_of_us/

[vi5]

1. Easy answer...

They are winning because there are only 2 political parties and neither one sincerely gives a damn about that 99%.

[Raster]

17. More accurate answer: there are only two political parties and they are OWNED by the 1%.

This has not been a government of the people, for the people and by the people for a long time. Those that own the legislators that write the laws, benefit from the laws.

[groovedaddy]

18. But doesn't one give less of a damn than the other? ;-) n.t

[ladjf]

21. Yes, but that's because they don't realize that the 1% is stealing

more from them than they are getting in bribes. nt

[txlibdem]

39. Half the congress are multi-millionaires --the other half want to be!

They aren't siding with the top 1%, they're thinking only of themselves, continuing their political career, magically becoming a multi-millionaire after making $150k a year. Something's rotten in Denmark (and in D.C.)

[old mark]

2. K&R- 'Cause they got the MONEY!!!...nt

[bemildred]

3. The voting public is ignorant, brainwashed, and collectively not so bright.

And the political system is decadent, corrupt to the core, and brilliantly disingenuous about what it is up to.

[enough]

5. +1 (nt)

[Blue_Tires]

9. +1000

[ladjf]

22. All true. But, what, if anything can be done to correct this? nt

[bemildred]

30. I don't expect it to be corrected any time soon.

However, how to correct it is not mysterious, we have done it before, in the 20th century we did it, between circa 1900 and 1970, when our ruling elites wanted to. I remember that. I consider the most likely scenario a final descent into banana republic status followed by political disintegration, civil war revolution etc. After that prediction is a mugs game, especially when we have various economic and ecological singularities not so far off. I am torn between wanting to die soon to avoid the mess, or staying alive to watch the show from a safe perch somewhere, I mean we are in a very unique historical period. It's a privilege to be here now.

[Sirveri]

4. The only people we can vote for are the top 1%, and they only need a simple majority.

So while we might get one or two good apples, they can buy plenty enough that those won't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[pschoeb]

8. Actually they only need a plurality

Which is even easier to get than a simple majority.

[ladjf]

23. So, do you mean that we should just give up not try to stop the

heists? nt

[Sirveri]

31. Maybe, it's crossed my mind to just let them crash the system.

And they will crash the system if they continue, and a lot of people will die, and it will suck a lot, and we could end up in a full blown fascist state afterwards. But a full reboot of America might be what we need to really fix our problems.

Palin/Beck 2012 and all that

[ladjf]

34. If we can figure out a way to make the rich pay their fair share of

taxes, it would solve the problem quickly. Naturally, the rich will never agree to that. How could they be forced to pay?

[Sirveri]

47. we could return to the tax structure of 1951, modified for inflation.

However this would never pass in either house of legislature, thus it's a moot point. Or we could simply wait until the abuses of the 1% become apparent to even the most myopic American, at which point they will be dragged from their houses by the mobs and killed in the streets. Once that occurs you can return to governance for the people as opposed to for the privileged. The problem is that enough people still believe that the system functions, the solution is to simply wait until it becomes obvious. The tea party is the start of the discontent, but it has not yet reached critical mass. The majority of the members of the tea party realize that something is wrong, but due to corporate indoctrination are unable to actually verbalize the problems that have been caused. The attribute the problems to targets provided to them, soon this easily motivated mass will find a charismatic speaker of there own, the question is if that person will serve the people or the oligarchs.

[ladjf]

50. Very thoughtful post.

We can all see that the gvt. has been bought and paid for by the rich.

I still believe that it would be possible to educate enough Americans to the point that the Democrats could elect a President who ran solely on the issue of substantially raising taxes on the very wealthy. Further campaign points (1) get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, (2) cut down on number of military bases around the world (3) push alternative energy, including disallowing the fossil energy Corps from squelching the use of solar,wind and geothermal,(4) secure the vote counting process from fraud,(5) audit the finances of all politicians to stop them from receiving bribes and (6) investigate the actions of the Supreme Court justices who have (a) perjured themselves during the nomination hearings and (b) are participating in partisan political activities.

[dotymed]

53. Maybe before the SCOTUS

affirmed Citizens United (blatant "doublespeak"), but now....I don't see it.

[ladjf]

54. Your skepticism is well founded. However, at this point , the political

situation is so dire, we no longer have the luxury of dealing with the probable. We are down to having to "hang our hats" on ideas that might be possible.

One of my ideas that might be possible would be to seek prosecution of the Supreme Court Justices who have blatantly shown Parisians in their actions, i.e. lying to Congress during confirmation hearings and taking part in political party activities. That is against the law.

Lawsuits against them are not likely to produce guilty verdicts. But, just the publicity alone might set the stage for some more liberal appointments.

If the Supreme Court is dishonest, Democracy has a profoundly serious problem. In one way or another, we've got to work on cleaning up the ethics of the Judges. Not east, but possible.

Congress could enact legislation that would overturn the "Citizen's United" crap.

[deutsey]

6. They've duped too many of the 99% into thinking they'll be rich one day, too

They make a bunch of knuckle draggers feel superior in their ignorance to all them commie traitors and blood-sucking minorities.

They have "bread and circus" distractions beamed into homes on hi-def, widescreen TVs 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

They're undermining all the things in our society that can help to expand our awareness and deepen our conscience: education, the evil "social justice" theology of some churches, to name a couple.

They've turned news reporting into marketing and entertainment.

To borrow from Thomas Pynchon, they get us asking all the wrong questions so they don't have to worry about the answers.

[Populist_Prole]

16. Best summation I've seen overall

The first two sentences I like the most. Ignorance, and willing comfortable ignorance at that. If they weren't so intellectually lazy, even the disfunctional news media as we have now wouldn't be the factor that it is. It would be challenged or ignored.

[ladjf]

24. You are correct. But, that myth could be dispelled. nt

[The Wizard]

46. winner

great analytical synopsis

[NorthCarolina]

48. And to top it off, there's Diebold too. No stone left unturned. nt

[FBaggins]

7. Because it isn't just 1%

If vote for someone who favors policies that help the poor... Does that mean that you're poor?

Is tax policy the only issue that people vote on?

[Joanne98]

10. Because we're such a RELIGIOUS country. If you look around the world,

The country's where the people are losing the class war to the rich are also the most religious. The more GAWD you have, the more poor people you have, the more rich people living the high life you have.

It's the same all over the world.

We have TOO MANY CHURCHES!

[ladjf]

25. Religious people, for the most part, have been raised in cultures

that teach their people to disregard the natural objective connections and to live by fictitious
sets of values that were taught to them for mind-control purposes. That mainly is the most dangerous
thing about the practice of religion, the subjective value judgments.

[FiveGoodMen]

40. "We have TOO MANY CHURCHES!"

A-fucking-men to that!

Teaching people to believe rather than think, to obey rather than take responsibility, to feel most proud of themselves when they stare reality in the face and deny that it's even there.

Faith is the worst thing on earth.

[mucifer]

11. video games and tv. Those that have 3 jobs don't have time to fight. nt

[CanonRay]

12. Short answer: They own the Media

Shorter answer: Money

[ladjf]

26. Solution? nt

[Bonhomme Richard]

13. Because 30% of us are soldiers for the other side.

Whether they know it or not.

[ladjf]

27. Do you mean "soldiers" = "stooges" ?

[Bonhomme Richard]

32. Stooges is more accurate but I was sticking to the war metaphor. n/t

[Uben]

14. The 1% own 99% of the lobbyists.....

.....and by default, own congress, who make the laws, that ram the shaft right up our butts!

[ladjf]

28. Could that terrible corrosive situation be eliminated ?

[Uben]

41. Not without amending the constitution

...and I don't see that happening, cuz we know who those lobbyists court.

[ladjf]

52. The 1% are breaking the laws by bribing people to influence the

outcomes of Federal elections. I don't think a Constitutional amendment is needed. Somehow, we've got to enforce the laws already on the books. No easy task. But, we can't just roll over and die.

[tinrobot]

15. Because they're adept at setting the rest of us against each other.

Much easier to start race wars, a war on terrorism, a war on drugs, a war on "socialism" and have the lower classes fight amongst each other than to have a bona fide class war that they will most surely lose.

[groovedaddy]

19. I believe you've nailed it! n.t

[ladjf]

29. All true. Is there any defense against this?

[tinrobot]

42. It's our fault for taking the bait.

Yes, the right wing is more vociferous about taking the bait, particularly with the Tea Party crap, but we buy into it as well.

The battle should not be working class liberals against working class conservatives, it should be the working class against the ruling class.

[ladjf]

51. I totally agree with your points. Somehow, all Americans need to

be shown who is on their side and who isn't. Not easy, but doable.

[ladjf]

20. You are asking the most important question relating to the

quality of life in America. Please, please continue to bug everybody about this at every possible opportunity. It would be fantastic if the 99% could all catch on and begin to rally against this terrible heist.

The rich are greedy slime balls that will continue to STEAL our wealth as fast as the can. Why? Because there is no one or on law now able to stop them and they know it. They are actually guilty of treason for trying to overthrow the economy of the Country.

I'm as angry as you are.

[undergroundpanther]

33. Why?

Consider a BIG part of the problem as the denial that there is an abuse of the biological status function,and a lack of knowlege of psychopathy and the fact there are,psychopaths,authoritarians,narcissists everywhere including government and other places of power.

“Some of the most disturbing realities are not that pathology exists but that so little public pathology education for the general public exists.”
Sandra L. Brown, M.A., CEO, The Institute

http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/stress/art1964.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pathological-relationships/201008/60-million-people-in-the-us-negatively-affected-someone-elses

Ever wonder why everything is shifting rightward? It's not only because of the Repub -lite Dem's have bought into the sick belief systems on the right.This pro-sociopath inversion of status values happened a LONG time ago,like soon after the founding of this country.They who own, they who are "merchants" have no loyalty to anything but making money.
It has gotten to the point psychopath behavior directed at others is what rewards a person with status in this culture~literally. A non-psychopath can't ever negotiate anything with psychopaths.Because as soon as you do your integrity is gone,and it further dies with each little encroachment the abusive little fuckers take from you with their forked tongues and threats to status they blackmail compliance with..Those on top want to "win" the hearts and minds of anyone who feels vulnerable socially and make allies of those ruthless heartless ones below them.. But what these politicians and corporate /religious,military,bully THUGS DO to us and whom they cater to speaks more about the pursuit of STATUS in THEMSELVES than most anything else does.When you hear people saying they "EARNED it" Whom gave them permission to have it or do it is what to ask yourself.When you hear "earned it" for human rights like speaking out or the right to do__ that is harmful,deprives or harms another,ask youself,who rewarded them with the reward they sought, and now enjoy,who or what gave this reward to them? Was it someone"higher up in status?" or was it THEMSELF giving themself permission because they CAN.


There is a physical phenomena of REWARD the brain sends people when they screw over others...I think the author of the link below is stupid in how he frames the facts,because this STATUS problem affects everyone not just politicians or right wing fuck-wads or dem fuck-wads,it effects all people..and the only way to overcome status is to destroy the abuse and beliefs underpinning it and offer a BIGGER emotional reward which is FREEDOM from the fears and other evils that come from the pursuit of STATUS found only in an egalitarian close knit abuse free community of equals who openly & fearlessly share ourselves without profit motive that is FREE of abuse and psychopathy,authoritarians and narcissism..

Whatever framework you think is important, when your perceived sense of status goes up, or down, an intense emotional response results. As a result,people go to tremendous extremes to increase or protect their status.
"What we found is that when people were excluded, you see activity in the dorsal portion of the anterior cingulate cortex, which is the neural region that's also involved in the distressing component of pain, or what sometimes people call the "suffering component" of pain. Those people who felt the most rejected had the highest levels of activity in this region." Exclusion and rejection is physiologically painful. A feeling of being less than other people activates the same brain regions as physical pain.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/undergroundpanther

[DirkGently]

35. Lottery mentality? Americans dream of squashing others as they've been squashed.

Look at the focus we put on low-percentage "dreams." Becoming a pro athlete. Movie star. Supermodel. Rock god. Lottery winner. Mass murderer.

The people we admire and ascribe wisdom to rely on looks. Physical power. Marketing. Luck. No one lives their reality -- we're all Powerball Winners-in-Waiting.

Who dreams of a better community? Fair wages? Cooperation? Cleaner streets? Poor and working class people with adequate education, food, and housing?

That, and the cultural hatred the article points out. The "welfare queen" imagery the right invented helps rationalize a contempt not just for the poor, but now for simple human empathy, and the general idea that a rising tide that lifts all boats is a bad thing, because then YOUR boat won't be highest.

I think we're a nation of narcissists and bullies, and until that changes, the rich who are currently running things will laugh and laugh and laugh as they bleed us to the bone.




(Edited to completely change the meaning after the fact and make post appear more credible. And for spelling).

[Skittles]

36. easy

when both repukes and so-called "Democrats" pander to the wealthy

[JohnWxy]

37. 14,000 Lobbyists in D.C. - that's DECLARED lobbyists - not counting the all the GOP in Congress.

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/

[slay]

38. Sad but true

"What we actually have is one political party that is flat out the party of big money and another party that sells out to big money." :( :cry:

[Lorien]

43. Because we think that posting items on the internet is "activism"

and we're waiting for someone else to "do something".

[snot]

44. +1

I do also vote for RW media control as a main cause. Propaganda WORKS, and we're immersed in it, 24/7.

[MisterP]

45. do you want the GOP to win? aren't you glad it's not PRESIDENT McSAME?

why are you so ungrateful? why aren't you worshipping?!!

[midnight]

49. The top 1% write all the rules for taxes,unequal educational systems, perks, and then they

keep the rest of us from sharing in the winnings by having the media show us as undeserving..... They call anything that creates a great society as entitlements that are too expensive...