Re: Bill Moyer: The Long, Dark Shadow That Plutocracy Casts on American Society

On 12/3/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Carl,
>
> It's true that we're all being shafted by the corporate state. However,
> facts are facts. There are people in what most of us would define as the
> upper middle class, who are living more comfortable lives with more
> security
> and more luxuries than those with lower incomes. They can afford larger,
> more comfortable homes, more frequent and more expensive vacations. If
> their
> appliances break down, they can easily purchase new ones, more expensive
> models if they choose. They can afford summer camps for their children,
> music lessons, horseback riding lessons. They can afford to live in
> communities which provide public schools whose quality is equal to that of
> many private schools. They can easily afford the most comprehensive medical
> insurance. They can buy new furniture for their homes when the spirit moves
> them to do so, new clothing when the styles change, jewelry that appeals to
> them. People in the New York City suburbs can choose to attend the Broadway
> theater and dine out in a restaurant in the theater district. Such an
> outing
> can easily cost $400. Most of these people have college degrees and
> graduate
> degrees, or they are members of the legal and medical professions or they
> have been successful in other business endeavors. Many work in banking, but
> not in exalted positions. They are not usually police officers or factory
> workers or sales people in retail stores or waiters and waitresses or
> people
> who work in fast food chains or people who work for meat and ppoultry
> suppliers or migrant workers, or unionized carpenters, electricians, and
> other skilled workers. There are differentiations here in education, in
> income, in values, in experience, in opportunity. You can't just put
> everyone who isn't a member of the 1% in the same category and base all of
> your thinking on that kind of analysis.
>
> The upper middle class are clearly not part of the 1% and their position
> in
> life may well be much more tenuous than they know. However, if we're going
> to look at the reality of life in America today, it's necessary to see it
> realistically without allowing our political philosophies and rhetoric to
> get in the way.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On
> Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
> Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2014 11:56 AM
> To: Blind Democracy Discussion List
> Subject: Bill Moyer: The Long, Dark Shadow That Plutocracy Casts on
> American
> Society
>
> My only quibble with Bill Moyers article is the differentiation between the
> poor working class and those better off working class that he refers to as
> "Middle Class". Any of us beneath the shadow of the Ruling Class who think
> we're better off, and deserving of a higher station on this Corporate
> Capitalistic System, are both fools and suckers. But that's just my humble
> opinion. Bill Moyers makes the point with a fine brush.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
> On 12/
>
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