Has America Become an Oligarchy?

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,793896,00.html

At first, the outraged members of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York were mainly met with ridicule. They didn't seem to stand a chance and were judged incapable of going up against their adversaries, Wall Street's bankers and financial managers, either intellectually or in terms of economic knowledge.

"We are the 99 percent," is the continuing chant of the protestors, who are now in their seventh week of marching through the streets of Manhattan. And, surprisingly, they have hit upon the crux of America's problems with precisely this sentence. Indeed, they have given shape to a development in the country that has been growing more acute for decades, one that numerous academics and experts have tried to analyze elsewhere in lengthy books and essays. It's a development so profound and revolutionary that it has shaken the world's most powerful nation to its core.

Inequality in America is greater than it has been in almost a century. Those fortunate enough to belong to the 1 percent, made up of the super-rich, stand on one side of the divide; the remaining 99 percent on the other. Even for a country that has always accepted opposite extremes as part of its identity, the chasm has simply grown too vast.

Those who succeed in the US are congratulated rather than berated. Resenting other people's wealth is viewed as supporting class struggle, which is something very frowned upon.

[potone]

1. That is a question that answers itself.

[KansDem]

2. Ask, "Who does Congress cower from?"

The people or the corporations?

That will give the answer...

[barbiegeek]

3. I've believed this since Reagon

[dtexdem]

4. No, a plutocracy ...

and a plutonomy, to boot.

[SharonAnn]

6. Oh, I thought it was a Kleptocracy. You know, thieves.

[ragemage]

5. The Germans understand...

The Germans understand what is going on in our country. Why do our politicians not understand? (Rhetorical question I know the politicians are bought and paid for...)

[NorthCarolina]

7. Does a cat have an ass? Does the Pope

protect pedophiles?

I think the correct answer is YES...we have become an Oligarchy...Senator Sanders has made statements attesting to that fact on several occasions now.

[bvar22]

8. A more pertinent question would be...

....WHEN did America become an Oligarchy.

I was tempted to claim that happened during the Reagan Administration,
but we DID have an Opposition Party during that time.
It just wasn't very effective.

We became an Oligarchy when the Democratic Party leadership became subservient to BIG MONEY.
That happened during the early 90s,
and the DLC opened that door.



The DLC New Team
FDR/LBJ Democrats Need NOT Apply

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity99!
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[craticdemo]

9. Does a bear **** in the woods?