by Democrats Ramshield
Thu Nov 15th, 2012 at 10:58:02 AM EST
A diary of a reluctant Obama voter!
(Written by an American expat who holds a M.B.A. degree and lives in the E.U.)
DEATH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
Just before the elections the German Der Spiegle wrote:
Spiegel quote:Germans see the US election as a battle between the good Obama and the evil Romney. But this is a mistake. Regardless of who wins the election on Tuesday, total capitalism is America's true ruler, and it has the power to destroy the country.
Clearly the weak American social safety net has become an international badge of shame, worn with pride around the necks of American capitalist elites who have put America up for international pillory as a pariah state wherein estimates show 1.5 million Americans live on less than $2 a day, which is on par with many third world nations.
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Le Monde quote:
"on February 24, the USA Today daily published a feature on extreme poverty in the United States, reporting that the number of families living on less than $2 a day had more than doubled in 15 years, going from 636,000 in 1996 to 1.5 million in 2011."
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The U.S. has 59 million people medically uninsured; 132 million without dental insurance; 60 million without paid sick leave; 40 million on food stamps. Everybody in the European Union has cradle-to-grave access to universal medical and a dental plan by law. The law also requires paid sick leave; paid annual leave; paid maternity leave. When you realize all of that, it becomes easy to understand why many Europeans think America has gone insane.
KISS GOLDMAN SACHS GOODBYE
November 7, 2012
by Barbara Ehrenreich
"We are a nation of the very rich and the very poor,......."
"Rhetoric about an imagined universal "middle class" won't cover up the gaps. I'm waiting for Obama to recognize the existence of widespread poverty -- not just the 15 percent who are officially under the poverty line, but the 30 or more percent who barely getting by from week to week. Mr. President, kiss Goldman Sachs goodbye and bail out your real constituency!"
http://billmoyers.com/2012/11/07/kiss-goldman-sachs-goodbye/
Jobless Benefits That Never Run Out IN SUPPORT OF REAL FAMILY VALUES!
Unlike in the U.S., in Germany jobless benefits never run out. Not only that -- as part of their social safety net, all job seekers continue to be medically insured, as are their families.
In the German jobless benefit system, when "jobless benefit 1" runs out, "jobless benefit 2," also known as HartzIV , kicks in. That one never gets cut off. The jobless also have contributions made for their pensions. They receive other types of insurance coverage from the state. As you can imagine, millions unemployed Americans who have no benefits seems like a horror show to Europeans,which is made worse by the fact that the U.S. government does not provide any medical insurance to American unemployment recipients. EUROPEANS ROUTINELY RECOIL AT THAT IN DISBELIEF AND DISGUST!
Der Spiegel quote:"Writer Mark Twain coined the phrase "the Gilded Age" to describe that period of rapid growth, a time when the dazzling exterior of American life actually concealed mass unemployment, poverty and a society ripped in two .............
Considering the plight of America's nouveau poor, please feel invited to give a close read to the graph below.
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New York Times quote:
"The United States is getting accustomed to a completely crazy level of inequality," Mr. Piketty said, with a degree of wonder. "People say that reducing inequality is radical. I think that tolerating the level of inequality the United States tolerates is radical."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/business/for-economists-saez-and-piketty-the-buffett-rule-is-just-
a-start.html?pagewanted=all
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Just before the election Der Spiegel wrote:
Dir Spiegel quote: Indeed, the FANATICS that Mitt Romney depends on have jettisoned everything that distinguishes the West: science and logic, reason and moderation, even simple decency. They hate homosexuals, the weak and the state. They oppress women and persecute immigrants. Their moralizing about abortion doesn't even spare the victims of rape. They are the Taliban of the West.
German Der Spiegle Total capitalism is America's true ruler, and it has the power to destroy the country
Did total capitalism win the U.S. elections?
Der Spiegel quote: The Winner Makes No Difference to Europe
Still, they are only the symptom of America's failure, not the cause. In reality, neither the idealists and Democrats, nor the useful idiots of the Tea Party have any power over the circumstances.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/commentary-total-capitalism-and-the-downfall-of-america-a-
865437.html
Did total capitalism win the U.S. elections?
Despite the fact the 2012 elections cost over $2 billion dollars, essentially bought by private capital (primarily financial capital). These elections are essentially depoliticized, focusing instead on so called character qualities of the candidates largely in what may only be referred to as a media public relations extravaganza! Wherein issues that confront the great American working class in the GOP led class warfare are never substantively addressed except in all but the most forgettable sound bytes. Therefore the American public has become completely atomized at this turn of events, wherein millions are angry and confused, no longer knowing the way out.
To win in America all we have to do is to care about each other and stick together!
If we are looking for change we must look to the Occupy movement to provide
that peaceful nonviolent approach to change in helping to elect better
progressive politicians to public office. The Occupy movement and the
American unions are the last great hope of the American working class dream!!
