Written by an American Expat who holds an M.B.A. degree living in the E.U.
My email address is: democratsramshield@yahoo(dot)com

Surely the death of the American working class dream is not news to the American 1 percent elites. The truth be known simply put they like it that way, as they surely are the architects of the GOP led class warfare against the American working class.

(The Statue of Liberty in the photo below is located in Paris, France and is believed to have become emblematic as the American dream now resides in Europe instead of America).  

Le Monde quote: "From Near And Far, Bidding Farewell To The American Dream
    By Claire Gatinois

    LE MONDE/Worldcrunch
     No matter what the frame of reference of the person examining it, its bottom line is unambiguous: the United States - not supposedly fusty Europe -- rates lowest in terms of this relationship in the distribution of riches and social mobility. Yes, Paris Hilton's America ranks way below the Scandinavian countries, but also below France, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, and others."
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Author's preface:
Written by an American expat living in the E.U. (who holds an M.B.A. degree). This diary is a review of the Spiegel article entitled "Has America Become an Oligarchy?" written from the perspective of a business librarian.  
 My email is: democratsramshield@yahoo.com

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Spiegel quote: 2002 and 2007, 65 percent of the income gains went to the top 1%

"Spiegel quote: Indeed, if you look at the reports it compiles on every country in the world, even the CIA has concluded that wealth disparity is greater in the US than in Tunisia or Egypt."

Late last year this mainstream German news outlet asked, has America become an Oligarchy?Has America stopped being a mixed economy?

Spiegel quote: "A generation ago, the United States was a recognizable, if somewhat more unequal, member of the cluster of affluent democracies known as mixed economies, where fast growth was widely shared. No more. Since around 1980, we have drifted away from that mixed-economy cluster, and traveled a considerable distance toward another: the capitalist oligarchies, like Brazil, Mexico...

 Clearly, the subject matter presented by the article asking if America has turned into a Oligarchy is not news to American elites, who in fact not only know all about it already, but the truth be known simply put they like it that way. The Spiegel article which may be shocking to the sensibilities of the American plutocrat owned media correctly portrays an American society which has become essentially speaking depoliticized, wherein elections have become by way of sophistry a meaningless public relations extravaganza that has been bought by private capital in support of a legalized robber baron system of theft.  

(This diary was cross-posted by author from the Daily Kos and was rated as the number #1 diary on January 14th 2012 as indicated at the link below.)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/15/1054991/-High-Impact-Posts:-January-14,-2012

(Written by an American Expat living in the E.U.)

That's when I knew the America I grew up in was gone for good.  

For me leaving home, family and friends was easier for me to live with than watching the America that I grew up in die!

In order for me to stay human! I couldn't allow myself to become desensitized and assimilated to the hunger, fear and suffering. I knew for me to not be assimilated and stay human I was going have to leave America for good. I had to leave America! It was just too painful to stay and watch the America I grew up in die!

There's something deeply medieval about neo feudal America as 132 million Americans who can't eat normal food because they can't properly chew anything because they have no dental insurance. While some people like to wake to music from their clock radios, these Americans can't really appreciate the rendition that you and I hear fully, because they have ringing in the ears, that's what dental pain does, and too many of them millions, many of them children live that way everyday in the richest country in the world which doesn't really give a shit about them!

As an American expat people tell me I'm a brave soul to have left America, home, family and friends, that people like me are a brand of the new American pioneer, who no longer just go West but every direction of the compass now. I realize I had to leave America when I saw I could no longer go to the fair. The America that I was raised in, county fairs were a big event. They had rodeo's and clowns. The future farmers of America had events where they could win prizes. The fairways were busy with people and eating wonderful things like cotton candy in big reddish orange plumes, and laughing and going on bumpy rides to the cheers and screams of delight echoing through the fairgrounds.

Now the fairgrounds of America from sea to shining sea are regularly turned into what some are calling the nightwalkers' waiting room, who stand in long lines sometimes all night to get urgently needed dental care. They don't mind staying up and standing out in the cold, in the dark often times with their family members, because they and the people around them live in chronic pain, probably almost everyday. These people are desperate and they are too afraid to go to sleep, because they know that with first come, first serve, people will be getting turned away before daybreak. Some have been quoted as saying that farm animals are treated better than they are.

In the America I grew up in we used to care about each other.
 What the Hell happened to us? Where did America lose its way?

This diary was originally published at Alternet. Please note this diary was published both in English and in the German language. The German language edition full text is located below the English language edition in this diary in its entirety.  
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(Written by an American expat living in the European Union).

It wasn't until I left America that I started to realize how badly the American plutocrat owned media lies to the American people through its disinformation campaign.

Well today for a span of at least this one Daily Kos diary, you will get to see what the American plutocrat owned media never wants you to see, and that is how Europe in particular and the world in general has come to see America as a country in decline, whose people are so badly misinformed by the media, they actually don't realize that America is the only major industrialized nation in the world that by right of law does not offer universal medical access, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave and paid annual leave. It just seems almost impossible to get that word out to the American people. Even diaries on that subject at the Kos top out at just over 2,000 views. Let's please remember the purpose of the plutocrat owned commercial media isn't so much to inform us but rather to sell commercial advertising space.

Therefore this diary today will try to do something different. It will show you what the European media is saying about the American dream and you will be shocked!

(Written by an American expat living in the European Union.)
This diary announces the launch of the foreign language group at the Daily Kos. Our group is dedicated to bringing the voices of progressive American bloggers to the international community through foreign language media and bi-lingual diaries to every corner of America and the globe.

This diary was originally published at Alternet and additionally as its author I was grateful that it did receive some attention from progressive radio show host Thom Hartmann who provided a detailed review and commentary. This diary was also featured on Current TV where it gratefully received a large number of comments. As such this original diary is now presented in bi-lingual format both in German and in English. It presents the struggle of the American working class vs the plutocracy in what can only be described as class warfare. These Daily Kos groups invites any and all interested persons to become members and followers.
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(Please note I am not a professional translator, but rather a citizen journalist, and what is offered in this diary is an interpretation of my English language diary into German. I also offer my interpretation of quotes from English into German. In a time of class warfare wherein the plutocracy tries to buy the Congress, the American working class in order to defend itself and helps shape progressive public policies must be free to appeal to the world court of public opinion from America's progressive grassroots diaries.)

Intro: As an American expat living in the European Union, I've started to see America from a different perspective.		Einleitung: Als ein Amerikanischer Auswanderer der jetzt in der Europäischen Union lebt, sehe ich Amerika von einem anderen Blickpunkt.
#1) The European Union has a larger economy and more people than America does. Though it spends less on medical -- right around 9 percent of GNP, whereas we in the U.S. spend between 15 to 16 percent of GNP on medical -- the EU pretty much insures 100 percent of its population.		#1) Die EU hat eine größere Wirtschaft und Bevölkerung als Amerika. Obwohl sie weniger für Gesundheitliches ausgibt -- in etwa 9 Prozent des BNE, während wir in Amerika zwischen 15 und 16 Prozent des BNE für Gesundheitliches ausgeben --, versichert die Europäische Union annährend 100 Procent der Bevölkerung mit medizinischer Betreuung.

(Written by an American expat living in the European Union)
On Nov. 16th, Glenn Beck basically announced that its "God's will" that the European Union will fail. Let's remember that the great social democracies of the European Union, unlike America have a strong working class social safety net. Since then the steady stream of criticism of Glenn Beck from the mainstream European media outlets, have been making European readers aware of the Beck phenomenon, such as the German magazine Der Spiegel and the British newspaper the Guardian; wherein European media asks the question, is Glenn Beck's reign at Fox News finally over calling him a person full of hatred, an agitator in a throwback to the Weimar Republic and a conspiracy theorist whose sagging ratings seem to be pushing him off Fox News. This diary offers a fresh look at criticism of the Fox News Glenn Beck propaganda regime from the perspective of the European media. As such this offers insights from a European perspective not usually available in the American plutocrat owned media.

Just over six weeks ago, a German mainstream publication Der Spiegel truthfully reported that the Wall Street banksters committed a monumental insider bank robbery. Since the date of publication, the US for-profit plutocrat owned media has ignored this story but more to the point perhaps is the fact that not only did they ignore the story, they failed to report it in the first place.

As an American expat who holds an MBA degree in marketing, currently living in European Union, I was struck once again by the reality that the job of the American media doesn't seem to be about really informing us but rather to sell commercial advertising space as a marketing profit center. I've learned through truthful reporting to rely on the European mainstream media sources like Germany's Der Spiegel and Britain's BBC networks. What I have also learned is that we have to reach out to our fellow Americans and citizens of the world in alterative media and ask each of our readers to help us get the word out through email and social networking sites like Facebook in order to get the truth out.

To that end, will you help us get the word out?

The reason we need your help is because the German Spiegel magazine also reported that the Wall Street banksters are at it again, behaving just as shamelessly as they did before the crash. To which I would ask how long before a second Wall Street crash and how long before a second tax payer bail out?  

(Written by an American expat living in the European Union)

Did you know that the library is America's last truly socialized institution and that everyday you come a bit closer to losing it! As a male who is a business librarian, (that is to say someone who holds graduate degrees in library science and an MBA degree in marketing), I understand very well that fee for service in America's library systems are creating a class of information have-nots. For some of you this means that your children aren't going to be able to read as well. It also means that as voters in a democracy, you will no longer be as well informed without full library services. As the series, the American dream vs the European dream which I was able to generously publish with the support of the Daily Kos community, we have seen that we cannot depend on the plutocrat owned radio and television media. Sometimes we have to go to print sources, even international print sources of the variety and scope that you can't possibly afford as an individual to subscribe to them all. Additionally libraries make online databases available to their patrons that allow you with the touch of a button to read international media sources from around the globe. You're in the process of losing this all and a lot more.

Now let's ask why should you be interested in defending America's last truly socialized institution? Well, let's get down to it shall we? So you don't think the library is a completely socialized institution. Well, let's talk about the theory of a library for just one minute, which is everyone who walks in the door and holds a library card has access completely to the same services. It doesn't matter if they're the mayor or a homeless person. Everyone in the library is supposed to be treated the same. It is the one place in America where equality doesn't just get lip service. The American Library Association has produced a wonderful statement called the Freedom to Read Statement wherein it is believed that your freedom to read comes directly from the first amendment of the constitution of the United States. You're about to lose that and that's pretty darn important.