The central reason for why many of the wealthiest Americans don't care about inequality

It is, quite simply, that they have isolated themselves from the rest of the country.

Are the residents of the wealthiest neighborhoods really affected by what goes on in the rest of the U.S.? Are their children, who go to the most elite public or private schools? Are the wealthy affected by economic downturns in the U.S., when they have assets around the globe, in other countries, offshore tax shelters, etc.? Do they suffer when the rest of us suffer? (That's rhetorical, obviously.)

Let's be real...if anything, they have enjoyed considerable gains at the expense of the vast majority of the country, whose standard of living has either stagnated or declined.

I see it here in the SF Bay Area, which is Ground Zero for extreme inequality that would make even the Robber Barons of old blush with embarrassment. They simply don't give a shit about the effect that they have on the region as a whole. "Fuck you, I've got mine" is their guiding philosophy. Pure, unadulterated greed.

This is simply not sustainable, by any measure.

How The Eviction Epidemic Is Trapping Black Women In Poverty

I distinctly remember many people warning that Iraq would become a breeding ground for terrorism...

In regard to the Bush administration's invasion/occupation of Iraq.

They sold us on an unnecessary and ill-advised war of choice, based on the patently false notions that Saddam Hussein was harboring Al-Qaeda and similar terrorist groups, that Saddam was one step away from providing said terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, and that consequently, "we had to fight them over there so we won't fight them over here." But many people - both experts and laymen - ominously predicted that the invasion of Iraq would be a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of creating a haven for Islamic terrorist groups; groups that, as the events of the past few years have proved, are arguably more dangerous to the world than Osama bin Laden and the original Al-Qaeda organization ever were.

Now, the world is experiencing the direct consequences of what George W. Bush and his disgraced administration unleashed. ISIS is exactly the kind of group that many people predicted would be created and strengthened by the ongoing clusterfuck in Iraq (and more recently, the clusterfuck in Syria). What a nightmare!

This is why so many Americans are angry at and frustrated with those with wealth and power

Corporate Lobbying Powerhouse ALEC Pushed 172 School Privatization Bills Last Year

Cross-posted from GD: Why Trump will decisively lose with Black voters and other PoC...

It's not just Latinos who Trump will lose by a YUGE margin in November; Black voters fall into that category, as well.

Lest we forget, Donald Trump was by far the most prominent Birther advocate against President Obama in the country within the past few years. He has been enthusiastically endorsed by the most vile white supremacists, including David Duke (whose endorsement he was coy about, and didn't rebuke until he realized that he had to). He has re-tweeted blatantly false statistics about Black homicide rates in the U.S. - the most notorious of which was from a Neo-Nazi source. His constant race-baiting before and throughout his presidential campaign has attracted a virulently and violently racist group of supporters who have said such charming ( ) words like "Go back to Africa!" and "You don't look American!" after physically assaulting Black protesters at his recent rallies. And he has done nothing to restrain these racist pieces of shit; to the contrary, he has encouraged their violence by telling them to "rough up" or "beat the crap out of" protesters.

No one is better acquainted, historically speaking, with racism and racial violence than Black Americans. They can and will display solidarity with Latinos, Muslims, Jews, Asians, and other minority groups who have all been discriminated against and subjected to astoundingly hostile ignorance ,prejudice, and bigotry from the likes of Donald Trump - and the Republican politicians who have been stoking this anger in recent decades, with the Southern Strategy, the Silent Majority, Reagan's visit to Philadelphia, MS to give a "states rights" speech, the Willie Horton ad...the list goes on and on! Black Americans know the deal. They are all too familiar with this kind of shit. And they will reject it, come November.

Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, to one extent or another, will do very, very well against Trump with Black voters and other voters of color. In particular, if/when Bill Clinton and especially Barack (and even Michelle) Obama campaign for the Democratic nominee in this critically important election, Trump will have no prayer other than doing everything he can to maximize turnout among white racists - which will only serve to cement the long-term Democratic advantage with the rapidly growing demographic of voters of color. And don't forget, a substantial number of white voters also despise Trump, and are utterly alarmed by him (yours truly included!). They (we) will not vote for him under any circumstances, gun to our heads.

In conclusion: Donald Trump may have stoked the worst instincts of our country, but he has also inspired a very powerful and significant reaction from the majority of Americans who utterly and completely despise him (and who are alarmed by his openly and unashamedly racist/white supremacist supporters). The only question is whether the better angels of our nature will defeat the most repulsive and dangerous forces in our country. That is certainly my hope and my prayer!

If it is indeed Trump who will be the Republican nominee (and it looks very likely that he will be), then all of us - Democrats, Independents, Republicans who loathe Trump and are deeply disturbed by where he is taking the GOP, and anyone who has never voted in an election before, but is both eligible and registered (or wants to register) - must come together, and defeat this shamelessly narcissistic megalomaniac in November. Ditto for Ted Cruz.

Solidarity!

It's not just Latinos who Trump will lose by a YUGE margin in November...

Black voters fall into that category, as well.

Lest we forget, Donald Trump was by far the most prominent Birther advocate against President Obama in the country within the past few years. He has been enthusiastically endorsed by the most vile white supremacists, including David Duke (whose endorsement he was coy about, and didn't rebuke until he realized that he had to). He has re-tweeted blatantly false statistics about Black homicide rates in the U.S. - the most notorious of which was from a Neo-Nazi source. His constant race-baiting before and throughout his presidential campaign has attracted a virulently and violently racist group of supporters who have said such charming ( )words like "Go back to Africa!" and "You don't look American" after physically assaulting Black protesters at his recent rallies. And he has done nothing to restrain these racist pieces of shit; to the contrary, he has encouraged their violence by telling them to "rough up" or "beat the crap out of" protesters.

No one is better acquainted, historically speaking, with racism and racial violence than Black Americans. They can and will display solidarity with Latinos, Muslims, Jews, Asians, and other minority groups who have all been discriminated against and subjected to ignorance,prejudice, and bigotry from the likes of Donald Trump - and the Republican politicians who have been stoking this anger in recent decades, with the Southern Strategy, the Silent Majority, Reagan's visit to Philadelphia, MS to give a "states rights" speech, the Willie Horton ad...the list goes on and on! Black Americans know the deal. They are all too familiar with this kind of shit. And they will reject it, come November.

Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, to one extent or another, will do very, very well against Trump with Black voters and other voters of color. In particular, if/when Bill Clinton and especially Barack (and even Michelle) Obama campaign for the Democratic nominee in this critically important election, Trump will have no prayer other than doing everything he can to maximize turnout among white racists - which will only serve to cement the long-term Democratic advantage with the rapidly growing demographic of voters of color. And don't forget, a substantial number of white voters also despise Trump, and are utterly alarmed by him (yours truly included!). They (we) will not vote for him under any circumstances, gun to our heads.

In conclusion: Donald Trump may have stoked the worst instincts of our country, but he has also inspired a very powerful and significant reaction from the majority of Americans who utterly and completely despise him (and who are alarmed by his openly and unashamedly racist/white supremacist supporters). The only question is whether the better angels of our nature will defeat the most repulsive and dangerous forces in our country. That is certainly my hope and my prayer!

If it is indeed Trump who will be the Republican nominee (and it looks very likely that he will be), then all of us - Democrats, Independents, Republicans who loathe Trump and are deeply disturbed by where he is taking the GOP, and anyone who has never voted in an election before, but is both eligible and registered (or wants to register) - must come together, and defeat this shamelessly narcissistic megalomaniac in November. Ditto for Ted Cruz.

Solidarity!

Why Black voters - and other voters of color - are overwhelmingly loyal to the Democratic Party

IMHO, the reason for why Black voters - and voters of color in general - are so overwhelmingly loyal to the Democratic Party is quite simple:

Elections have consequences, but when Republicans win, those consequences are disproportionately negative to voters of color. Let's be real: As a middle-class white man, I and other (liberal) middle-class white men may be quite angry (and justifiably so!) if Republicans win the Presidency, but white men like me will not bear the brunt of whatever a President Trump, Cruz, or Kasich will surely do, in terms of aggressively regressive social, economic, and racial policies. Persons of color, on the other hand, absolutely will - just as they always have.

Furthermore, my impression is that Black voters in particular view voting not merely as an individual, personal choice, but as a means of collective action and community solidarity. The Black community knows that their fortunes, as a general rule, rise and fall together. This is especially critical for sympathetic white liberals to understand in light of the racialized context of the Black community and other communities of color being subjugated by the white supremacy that American society is built on. That racialized context, in turn, informs the economic, social, cultural, and political context for ALL Black Americans and other PoC. This cannot be overstated.

Finally, I would add that by and large, within the Democratic Party, Black voters and other voters of color are not the ones who have driven the Democrats to the Right (assuming, of course, that that has really happened across the board, and relative to history...). If anything, voters of color have been the left-wing conscience of the Democratic Party - and of American politics at large. Those who point their fingers at Black Americans for consistently supporting President Obama, or both Bill and Hillary Clinton, really ought to look elsewhere for responsibility. Perhaps they should start with themselves.

Thanks for hearing me out on this, AA Group. Your perspectives have enlightened and challenged me in so many ways. I am so grateful for this community's insights and I am inspired by your solidarity - and bravery, for that matter - in the midst of narrow-minded bigotry, prejudice, and hatred from all sides - Left and Right. Kudos to all of you!

- YoungDemCA

Trump didn't come out of nowhere. He's been stoking racial hatred ever since Obama was elected

Lest we forget, this is the clown who gave overt, crude racism directed at our current President a sense of legitimacy for many, many Angry White Americans. He was the darling of the Tea Party fringe, with his ranting and raving about Obama's birth certificate and college transcripts.

Importantly, this was not merely an attack on one Black President; it was an attack on all Black people and Persons of Color in general. President Obama proved all of the racists and white supremacists wrong; there is a Black President, and he is incredibly intelligent, capable, and dignified, to say the very least. And those cold, hard facts are a direct negation of the entire white supremacist worldview. Thus, the hatred and loathing of our President from (far too many) white Americans.

They wanted to tear him down, this whole time. The Republican Party bet their electoral fortunes on it. And now, the chickens are coming home to roost for the GOP - and for the country in general. This is the inevitable consequence of the reaction of the virulent white supremacist segment of the Right to the U.S. electing its first Black President. And some liberals and leftists, unfortunately, have not seemed to appreciate or are only now beginning to realize just how fucking dangerous this racial atmosphere is. It is time to catch up.

I fear for our country - and our world's - future, if the most powerful man in the country and the world is an openly racist demagogue, supported by the white supremacist filth and scum of the U.S. We need to stop this, before it's too late.

A Czech friend of my grandmother's, who left his country at the time of the Nazi occupation...

...had this to say about Donald Trump.