True True Diss Behind "Nation of Whiners"

I suppose everyone knows by now that John McCain's campaign co-chairman and likely Treasury Secretary nominee Phil Gramm called Americans a "nation of whiners "  (the true meaning of of that statement will actually turn out to be a deep heartfelt call to aid for war orphans as will be revealed by the McCain camp within days), but the real dirty behind the Republican feelings that led to the statement is a lot worse.

The Republicans believe in only one America. That's the America of the average.  (Well actually they believe in the America of the rich, but for public purposes they use the America of averages.)

Most liberal bloggers and pundits have taken pains to try to explain to their audiences that the average doesn't work for most Americans because our society has become very unequal in reward for work and investment.

The rich, famous and/or powerful get rewarded for every ounce of effort with easy money, while the rest of us work ever harder for shrinking paychecks to pay for bills that mount ever higher thanks to the Reagan and Bush presidencies and 12 years of Republican control of Congress.  (Yes, there were very specific actions taken by Republicans during that time that led to the current inequality.  Tax redistribution, globalization, war for oil contracts for favored companies,the odious anti-bankruptcy bill, refusal of Congress to control credit agencies, refusal to rein in medical costs, etc.)  

Every once in a while, a mainstream news source will acknowledge that growing divide, but mostly they just run with the averages.  So an increasingly inequitable economy actually works politically for Republicans as well being the most desired arrangement for the wealthiest and most powerful of the group.

Phil Gramm can point to how the 'average' family is living and say it's not that bad.  But the average family is not in the same field as most Americans as the CEO family,  Hedge Families, Big Oil families and other heavy earner families, though small in number earn so much more than most of the rest of us that the 'average family' is actually a doctors' mid-upper level executive family.  

Given all that, it's no wonder the Republicans don't know what we're going through.  But it's mostly because they don't really care.   Their agenda is to get more wealth and power for themselves and their big contributors.

BTW, as even the Republicans know, we are in a consumerist economy.  It can't prop itself up without the consumer spending and spending.  Shopping till we drop if you must.  Also their lovely globalist scam where they can destroy the rights of any working class doesn't work without consumers turning over a lot of currency every month.  But when currency and assets land in the hands of too few people, it gets hoarded and there goes their economy.  Thank goodness they still have their propaganda system (aka mainstream news media and paid political Internet trolls).

This year though, if we make sure to oppose the lies of the right, the numbers based on 'averages' etc. on the web as well as with our friends and family, we may be able to help Americans see through the Republican lies and mainstream's inability to see beyond 'the averages'.

tags: globalization  income inequality  phil gramm  john mccain  

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