What happened to America?

Can someone please tell what the hell happened to America? Why is the political debate controlled by lunatics? Why do middle class people consistently support policies which threaten their standard of living?


Why do they oppose tax increases for income levels which they will never achieve? Have they thought about who pays the costs of running the government if rich folks don’t? Why are they so opposed to wealthy people paying taxes, when the rich have never shown an overwhelming concern for their economic well being?

Why do middle class people oppose the estate tax? Why do they believe spoiled rich kids deserve a break on taxes when they don’t get this same break on their own income?

Why do people oppose government regulation which prevents the greed of Corporate America from doing more harm than they have already done? Why does the middle class complain about Wall Street and banking bailouts when the very regulation they oppose would have prevented this? Are they surprised that greedy people will do unethical things if regulation isn’t in place to prevent them from endangering the entire economy?

Why do we bailout banks and then let homeowners lose their homes? How did homeowners get these ill advised mortgages? Why do we reward unscrupulous bankers with bonuses, but slander middle class homeowners for their judgment?

Why don’t we demand that every citizen has access to high quality medical care like every other industrialized country on earth? Why do middle class people complain about the cost of quality health care for all, but blindly support senseless wars on the other side of the globe?

Shouldn’t support for our troops include a more vigorous debate on the necessity of putting our children in harm’s way in foreign lands? Why don’t citizens ask if our military is designed to keep us safe, or merely create massive profits for military contractors? Why does it seem that countries which stay out of wars have a high standards of living, universal health care, and quality care for the elderly and first rate educational systems?

Why do middle class people complain about the amount of money that other middle class people make in the tradeshow industry? Have they ever tried to make a living in this business? Have they ever experienced the crazy hours and disrupted family life? What do they consider “overpaid?” Is it a philosophical conflict with our wages or envy? Why isn’t this same anger directed toward the entities which accumulate the real wealth of the tradeshow industry?

I ask these questions because I don’t hear them being asked by people are in the same income bracket to which I belong. I’m appalled that too many of our fellow citizens are manipulated by exploiting the worst attributes in human nature to act against their own interests.

I just asked a lot of questions and if you found yourself without answers to many of them, perhaps it’s time to ask a few questions of your own.