RICH AND POOR DISPARITY INCLUDES PUBLISHERS AND WRITERS TOO!

Status: On vacation.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: TV still offline.

Listening to: "String Theory"; Politics of Dancing 2 (2-disc CD compilation)

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 292.

STAR TREK: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD-BOOK 1. Page 206.

STAR TREK: DOCTOR'S ORDERS. Page 14.


TOPIC: THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR GETS WORSE

Ever wondered why you're not making it on 2 or 3 jobs these days? Why your level of income never seems to put you in the much vaunted middle-class or upper class of America?

Why even going to college doesn't seem to be making that much of a difference in your take home pay--after you get that new job you've been studying and training for?

It's because of politics, politicians, and the rich who control both.

Yes, that's right: The rich control the politicians. And therefore control the directional policy of our government and thus our country's direction. (Ever wonder why Halliburton has been making such a killing in Iraq these days? Why upwards of $50 billion of your tax monies have suddenly vanished without a trace--and no one in the government can figure out why? It's because the rich have been enriching (or "stealing") their way of out from underneath you during this whole conflict.)

The more money they have, the more control they have over people like you and me.

It's the reason why--in the last 30 years--worker productivity has exploded 76% and your level of income (or hourly wages held by 80% of today's working-class American) has only increased a paltry 2% during that time.

That's right kids: TWO PERCENT. IN 30 YEARS!!!

Why not the other way around? Why not an increase of 76% of our hourly wages included in that 76% of worker productivity?

I'll get to that in a second. But here's a startling fact for you to chew on:

Back in the 1950s, your parents grandparents were making roughly the equivalent of $9.88 an hour--thus being able to afford to move into suburbia America and buy that nice house and afford good healthcare.

Live the American Dream!

But today?

That doesn't exist anymore.

Today, corporations like McDonalds are still paying their workers $5.85/hr--for the last 11 years--while companies such as Wal-Mart can afford to pay every worker of theirs substandard wages and still get away with it...

Why?

Because they keep their prices low. That's how they are able to get away with this. And like McDonalds--make billions in profits.

But you would think that corporate companies like these would generously include the workers and give them a leg up for each million the company makes--thus increasing their hourly wages...?

Unfortunately, that's not how it works. While fat cat CEOs can get either their 'golden parachutes' in life or death--the average American worker is stuck at substandard wages for the rest of their lives; always dependent on the same companies which have been milking them for years of their hard-earned monies.

So while Bush conservatives and die-hard neocons can blame the Democrats and liberals for wanting a redistribution of America's wealth--through 'living wages' and universal healthcare--the truth is, they are also in the same boat as we are.

Reason why I am stuck at $535 a month on Social Security instead of $10,368 a year on Social Security. (If our wages were $27 per hour today instead of $5.35 or $8.01 in some states.)

Because of what's been called the 'gilded age'. Where the rich and wealthy control the manifest destinies of those beneath them--and continuously reap the benefits of their hard labor.

When someone works for a company, they aren't getting the full benefits of their hard work. The years of dedication and labor aren't paying off for them in terms of steady salary increases or giant bumps up in their hourly wages--but the guys above them--are the ones whom are benefiting the most!

This is the reason why our wages haven't increased at all in the last 30 years! Because of the way the 'gilded' system has been set up in America's workforce--to primarily benefit the rich and wealthy. (Why do you think the Republicans are so intent on keeping those tax cuts for the rich? Because the rich control them. And they have every reason to keep being generous to them--at the expense of everyone else.)

Everyone else gets to take a massive pay cut and zero benefits. Because it's all about keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer.

And at this very moment in our nation's history (2008), the gap between the rich and the poor is so systemic, it's reached a point where the divide between the two classes had last met prior to the Great Depression of the 30s.

Which means...?

We are very well looking at another depression because of the affluent rich's command and control of American policies. And through them...? The American workforce.

If we had high pay and excellent health benefits, the middle class would be as strong as it was now as it was back in the 50s--when your grandparents were getting paid a living wage.

Nobody would be suffering!

People like myself wouldn't have to be struggling to make ends meet on such a pittance of an income! But that's the way politics--and the rich--have arranged it for these past three decades.

It's what has kept 80% of working-class Americans from both the middle nd lower class rungs so poor and unable to make ends meet.

So while getting a good education is key to a higher-standard of living, don't hedge your bets too quickly that it will translate the same way once you get that job you've been wanting. Because 9 times out of 10, most of us won't get there at all.

We will still be struggling to make ends meet. To provide for our families--because politicians, policies, and the rich, have dictated that for us.

It's where they want us.

Why do you think so many first-time authors don't make it after being published? Why they are given such a pittance for an advance and thus expected to do everything for themselves?

Why do the majority of publishers cater so much to their rich client lists and not to the newbie whom just started out?

Because the rich control the value of those chips. They decide on what you should get and what you can do without as a published author for the mainstream industry.

They dictate on what you can and cannot write. Because it's all about the money.

It's the same everywhere you look. An inequality in both living and finding that all important American dream.

Because the rich and powerful control it all. And only the way we can ever hope to break that cycle is by taking the money that's been flowing into our politicians' hands all these years--and back into our own.

But the question remains: DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND UP AND TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS? DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!'--AND TAKE BACK WHAT HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM US ALL???

Well...do you?

Sky