-Caveat Lector-
On Thu, 10 Jun 1999, M.A. Johnson wrote:
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> William Hugh Tunstall wrote:
> ... have had articles featuring what I believe is a growing
> class division in America.
>
>
> MJ:
> Do NOT 99% of Americans consider themselves 'middle class'?
> Is it class division or culture?
William:
Who is or is not a member of "the middle class" is an interesting point,
and it's a subject of much debate. Should we lump families that are
living on twenty-five thousand dollars a year in the same category with
those who are earning seventy-five thousand dollars a year? And these
descriptive categories are not too reliable: lower-middle class,
upper-middle class...etc. But I would assure you that in every American
community and town, the people who live there have a good idea of where
the more "desirable" parts of town can be found; and, with a little
effort, one can easily find every community's "wrong side of the tracks."
Issues of class are revealed in terms of housing, the kind of automobiles
one drives, proximity to industrial/urban centers.
But it's been my experience that absolutely NO ONE in America wants to
identify themselves as being "poor" if they can help it. Given our
Calvinist-Puritan heritage, a belief system that pushes the idea that
one's material condition is a reflection of one's moral worth, everyone
wants to be considered "middle class," a catch-all classification that
many Americans use in order to deny the existence of class.
> It it a PERCEPTION manipulation?
Yes and no.
> Are you considering the total tax burden which averages close
> to 50% currently compared with 12-15% only about 40 years
> ago?
You're correct. The tax burden was shifted off of corporations and placed
on individuals. If you would go back and look at the tax rate on
corporations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, you will
discover that corporations were taxed at a high rate. Also, the most
affluent among us, individuals who fall into the multi-millionaire class,
paid more taxes.
Thanks to "free trade," "deregulation," and the spin-off the Reagan
revolution, the tax burden on the middle class has increased. What is
needed
is a return to the same rates found during the Eisenhower and Kennedy
administrations.
> What of the gradual but deliberate removal of personal responsibility?
The debate about personal responsibility tends to obfuscate and to distort
the far more pressing economic problems we are facing... Human nature is
pretty much a constant. There are "bums" who are on welfare, and there
are "bums" who wear three piece suits and sit in corporate offices.
Since 1972-1973, the American economy has been in a state of decline.
If we were to measure our economy in terms of productive/material output,
you will discover that we are no longer a country that produces much of
anything. (well, yes, we have entertainment...behold, the dread MOUSE!)
If you are familiar with the history of Spain and
its empire, you will be aware of some disturbing parallels. Rather than
investing in and developing manufacturing and infrastructure, during the
height of Spain's "Siglo Del Oro," they were maintaining large standing
armies and importing basic products for their people. The Spanish ruling
elite made the mistake of equating monetary wealth (like Friedman and
the rest of the Chicago Boys, they were monetarists) with real wealth (the
productive power of a nation is dependent on its people).
> What of the immoral activities which Government participates, but
> refuses to allow the average citizen the same privilege?
Government has only one reason for existence: to insure that every citizen
develops her potential to the fullest.
The current government only reflects the continuing
oligarchical-parasitical tradition of the medieval past.
Slavery, serfdom, debt peonage---the misery of the past is replicated over
and over again.
>
>
> If one is concerned only with their own responsibilities rather
> than looking into their neighbor's back yard ... when do they have
> time to determine WHICH class they fit and what Mr. Jones has which
> need to be 'kept up with'?
>
Yes. All of that is true. For the most part, Americans DO take care of
their own responsibilities, but you underestimate and inadvertently ignore
the psychological effects of capitalism. Competition with one's neighbor
is an integral/necessary part of the system. People are encouraged by the
business community to define themselves through products (a bigger house,
a bigger car, the latest clothes, etc.)... Children pressure parents to
buy the latest products....They feel that they won't "belong" if they
don't have this or that. The media pipes into every American household
visions of affluence and scenes of sybaritic splendour-- lifestyles
of the rich and famous.... "I consume, therefore I am!"
So, yes, the people are doing it to themselves...but you underestimate how
successfully capitalism exploits egoistic drives.... On the positive side,
it unleashes human creativity and potential, the proverbial "better
mousetrap." On the negative side, it frees our ignoble drives.
And as our "postmodern" system goes into overdrive, one can expect to see
more and more addictive forms of behavior surfacing. Mindless
entertainment, more sexual titillation, more idiocy....and more violence,
of course. It is just a replay of the "bread and circuses" of yore.
But there is a way out of our predicament. We might construct a humane
and compassionate society for ourselves. But that would require a renewed
emphasis on education.
William
> Regard$,
> --MJ
>
> The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you
> and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent
> for the business of government; they have only a talent for
> getting and holding office. Their principal device to that
> end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something
> they can't get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times
> out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is
> made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words,
> government is a broker in pillage, and every election
> is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods. -- H. L. Mencken
>
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DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
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