Occupy Wall Street
Ever since I was thirteen on January the thirteenth and my picture appeared, along with other teens, in the local newspaper, I have considered Friday the thirteenth my luck day. Driving with my wife, Pat, today she reminded me that today was Friday the thirteenth, my lucky day. I heard about the big lottery jackpot the other day and thought I should buy a ticket. The winning lottery number for a prize of over 400 million was announced tonight on the news. I was not the winner, probably because I forgot to purchase a ticket. But I still can fantasize a little as if I was one of the very rich.
In the posting last night Justice is for the Rich I wrote about how our legal justice system favors the rich and justice can be purchased. Today I started to think about the other systems, beside justice system, that, in this country favor the rich.
Our health care system, although it does not rank very high in effectiveness for first world countries, is the most expensive in the world. Many rich people and corporations profit from illness. I am not talking about Doctors or nurses in the system but the major health care, pharmaceutical and health insurance companies who profit from illness. The poor receive poor or no health care.
Our educational system favors the rich. In school systems, like my grandchildren attend, they are all kinds of cultural enrichment programs like art, music, theater as well as full array of sports and well paid teachers. In the cities like Milwaukee public school system suffer cuts from State government and the high achieving youth are being pulled away by voucher or charter systems.
The rich can purchase, if they choose so, healthy, natural and organic foods. The poor must rely on the small corner grocery store where prices are high and quality is low. Not only are there not many major supermarkets in poor areas but many do not have a refrigerator to store food or a stove to cook food. Pantries and good stamps help but you still need a way to preserve and prepare the food.
The cost of education is skyrocketing. The opportunity for a youth from a low income family to go college is getting less and less unless they are willing to join the military or take out major loans and debt.
To be elected to political office in this country today takes a lot of money. Estimate is that the person with the most money, in nearly all political contests, wins the election.
The great middle class we hear politicians talking about is fading as we become more and more a country of the very rich and the very poor. A ‘PolitiFact’ column in the newspaper recently showed the statement that the Walton family members, Sam Walton was the founder of Wal-Mart, have greater wealth than 42% of the lowest Americans is TRUE.
What we need, in my opinion, is not income redistribution, but a turning of everything upside down, like Jesus preached,poor are put on top and the wealthy at the bottom. The Occupy movement recently, where the cry was “We are the 99%”referring to the income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population, 99%, captured the imagination of many until the wealthy suppressed it.
The rich might own the political, health, education, food and justice system but we have a power greater than any of the rich. Stay tune as I search and reveal this power greater than rich.
Comments
Please send any comments on this post to . Let us know which day’s post your comments pertain to. If the comments are appropriate we will post them here for you.