I can't remember the last time i've heard this much angst and hatred of the varying economic classes in this country. The environment seems so toxic with each blaming each other for our countries' woes. The idea of taxation is just bubbling over and now many European private banks will not accept Americans and no longer want their business. Its gone beyond Wall Street but just a sentiment of hatred towards those that are high income earners. The attitudes towards people driving nice cars or toys have gone from 'wow if I work hard I can attain this' to a 'this guy must have stole from me' and hatred of those that have attained great wealth (or spend greatly). It seems much more striking than ever before. I'm not an Obama fan, but I really think he has fanned the flames of this division within our country.
Or maybe what has fanned the flames are some combination of: 1. Wall Street's actions creating a global financial crisis that dragged the world to the precipice of disaster and throwing our government into a debt-ridden fiasco. 2. Wall Street trying to deflect all blame from themselves for said crisis and saying things like they are doing God's work. 3. One party saying that the poor and middle class should shoulder all of the pain for the last 30 years of debt-building, while the wealthy - and in particular, investors - should get additional tax cuts going forward. Maybe?
Sad thing is, the real perps are getting away with it all too while the middle class bickers. I have yet to see Obama or Romney acknowledge the banking industry's collusion aka Libor scandal. IMO, the middle class isn't being represented and our politicians have all become wallstreet/corporate whores. Give me some kind of 3rd choice!
You're mistaking Twitter posts and message boards for Bonus Riots. We're a little too busy picking up Del Taco, going to our singles apartments, clicking on Night Court and spending all night pricing Tandys and slide projectors in the Service Merchandise catalog for social unrest.
The middle class gets poorer, the rich get richer, and talking about it is class warfare apparently. Romney's solution is to destroy Medicare and to give more tax breaks for the rich but he's a nice guy.
No one hates the rich. No one covets someone's car/life/wealth. But when one class of people revere their bank account over their responsibility to the country, people are going to take notice. Especially when they are the ones complaining about paying too much when it is abundantly clear that they are not and will do anything in their power not to.
Well you should blame it on the increasing greed of the one percent, backed by misguided believers in pure market forces and trickle down.. You just can't just have the one percent sucking up all the wealth and not have hatred toward high wage earners without unrest. You really need to get used to it. It will get worse and worse. Every excuse and scape goats like gays, minorities (welfare, affirmative action, or other code words), immigrants, liberals, Obama, abortion etc. will only pacify the poor and middle class so long as it keeps sinking.
Yeah I remember this light hearted romantic comedy about America's love affair with Wall Street from the 1980's Spoiler
Yeah, why did Obama start this return to the gilded age before he ever got elected! What I mean to say is, facts fan the flames, my friend. Obama happens to be a president who likes data, so he may occasionally reference it.
The right started attacking Obama before he was even inaugurated. I am not sure how you blame him for fanning the flames. He tried to reach across and got spanked hard for it.
All these lamentations about rancor, division and class warfare are lame, in my opinion. People have every right to be angry at the Wall Street class. There is enough anger to go around for the horrible way in which they nearly destroyed the world economy with irresponsible bets and saddled everyone with a long term recession. Now they want to buy the White House too? Puke! It's really hard to get anything close to resembling straight talk about what is going on in modern American politics today, you know. It truly is disgusting to hear these folks pontificating about reckless spending while they simultaneously throw parties for their billionaire vote buyers on illegitimately financed yachts flying the flags of tax-haven islands. You can't cry for unity in the face of blatant injustice.
Let's take a look at Obama's most significant moves in office: 1) Killing OBL (I can't think of anything more people could get behind, but somehow pubbies are attacking him over this) 2) Obamacare (aka the Republican healthcare plan from the 1990s) 3) Got us out of Iraq (who didn't want this?) 4) The Surge in Afghanistan (a Republican chickenhawk wet dream) 5) Repealing DADT (equality brings people together, it doesn't divide them) 6) Openly supporting marriage equality (same here) 7) Passed the Stimulus (which was supported by pubbies... until Obama took office) There's a whole bunch of other stuff, but the pattern remains the same. Obama can keep on being Ronald Reagan reincarnate, but it won't matter, pubbies and tea party idiots will scream and cry socialism. He's not dividing anybody. Being "divisive" is not the same as actually doing the dividing. He's "divisive" because republicans are acting like children and refusing to compromise or cooperatively govern. If anyone is "fanning flames" it's the "where's the certificate you communist muslim queer-lover?" party.
The vitriol not new, it's just that information is more commonly available now . And the anonymity of the internet makes it easier to make statements without consequence. The emotions of elections were just as devisive in the 1800's, it's just when you talked sh**, you might end up having to fight a duel over it. The Burr-Hamilton Duel http://artofmanliness.com/2010/03/30/famous-duels-from-american-history/ The Russian Revolution was a class war, the French too. The US Civil War was economic.... nobody is killing anybody so really this is actually pretty tame historically.
....with taxes at their lowest point in recorded history, after 4 years of tax cuts by the President. Can you think of some other reason for right wing rage since this idea is obviously not rational or logical?
Yeah, this is one of the more fictional talking points for the GOP. I hear it from my Fox-infused parents all the time now. Along with the fictional "apology tour" and fictional "raising taxes." So odd. Why not just animate the convention! Could use a lot of CGI at least.
