End of the Reagan Era
Published in die Tageszeitung
(Germany) on 4 October 2011
by Antje Passenheim (link to original)
(Germany) on 4 October 2011
by Antje Passenheim (link to original)
Translated from
by Ron Argentati.
Edited by Mark DeLucas.
Wall Street has been waging war against America's middle class for 30 years.
Politicians, actors and even millionaire investors like George Soros have put their support behind the declaration of war on a corrupt banking, economic and social system, the victims of which are 99 percent of the American population.
Wall Street is just a symbol for that system. It represents a political-industrial system that has been waging an uninterrupted war against America's middle class that started in the Reagan era and has continued for 30 years. It is a war that benefits the super-rich, a group that represents just 1 percent of the American people.
While one out of three children in the nation's capital suffers from hunger, the political-industrial system opts to pump more money into protecting top earners rather than to strengthen social systems: It invests $3 billion per year in lobbyists whose mission it is to influence legislation to favor the super-rich, and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis have almost caused their money pot to overflow.
The demonstrators' protests apply also to a decaying U.S. justice system dominated by a conservative Supreme Court that permits the execution of people like Troy Davis without closer investigation.
They attack a system that has condemned a minimum of 138 innocent people to death row since 1973. And finally, they protest a government in which conservatives block any climate change policy.
The extent of the protests shows that this isn't just a case of a few liberals whining for more social justice.
Now, supported by ex-labor Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and President Obama's former environmental adviser Anthony Van Jones, a liberal counter-movement to the tea party has emerged.
And this new voice against the selling out of America is based on facts — concrete Harvard studies and CIA reports. The CIA World Factbook has published these facts showing that the United States leads the world in social inequality.
North Africa showed the world how to have a democratic Spring — and in the United States, there's a long tradition of protest upon which this new movement may draw.
Politicians, actors and even millionaire investors like George Soros have put their support behind the declaration of war on a corrupt banking, economic and social system, the victims of which are 99 percent of the American population.
Wall Street is just a symbol for that system. It represents a political-industrial system that has been waging an uninterrupted war against America's middle class that started in the Reagan era and has continued for 30 years. It is a war that benefits the super-rich, a group that represents just 1 percent of the American people.
While one out of three children in the nation's capital suffers from hunger, the political-industrial system opts to pump more money into protecting top earners rather than to strengthen social systems: It invests $3 billion per year in lobbyists whose mission it is to influence legislation to favor the super-rich, and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis have almost caused their money pot to overflow.
The demonstrators' protests apply also to a decaying U.S. justice system dominated by a conservative Supreme Court that permits the execution of people like Troy Davis without closer investigation.
They attack a system that has condemned a minimum of 138 innocent people to death row since 1973. And finally, they protest a government in which conservatives block any climate change policy.
The extent of the protests shows that this isn't just a case of a few liberals whining for more social justice.
Now, supported by ex-labor Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and President Obama's former environmental adviser Anthony Van Jones, a liberal counter-movement to the tea party has emerged.
And this new voice against the selling out of America is based on facts — concrete Harvard studies and CIA reports. The CIA World Factbook has published these facts showing that the United States leads the world in social inequality.
North Africa showed the world how to have a democratic Spring — and in the United States, there's a long tradition of protest upon which this new movement may draw.