Here in the United States, we like to pretend that we are all middle class. We all want to believe in that myth of equal opportunity. Despite the fact that every day we see people with no scruples who work less and earn more, we still seem to buy into the idea that those who work hard will be rewarded for it.
This mythology, this willingness to admire the rich and revile the poor, is very convenient for the people that have been bleeding us dry. And while we are busy blaming the poor for their misfortune, the richest 1% keep taking bigger slices of the pie.
Since Ronald Reagan, every president has run on a platform of fiscal responsibility. And since Ronald Reagan, social programs spending (except for health care costs) has been decreasing.
The republicans managed to win elections by labeling poor, black women as “welfare queens.” Their tactics were so successful that the democratic party fell all over itself to become “new democrats” who “reformed” the welfare system.
Now the welfare queen myth is back in new form. Once again, that greedy 1% is manipulating people into thinking that their increasingly difficult and indebted lives are the result of poor freeloaders, rather than the rich corporate welfare recipients who really benefit from government largess.
The 1% is really ratcheting up their war now. The war is no longer just against the poor or against liberal government. They now set their sites on civil society. This morning’s Heritage Foundation email attacks, not just acorn, but “poverty advocacy” as a whole
That “web of relationships” between poverty advocacy groups like ACORN is the real story here that impacts the American people. ACORN is by far not the only suspect community organizer group. Just last summer federal investigators raided a city-chartered nonprofit agency accused of abusing a federally financed program that was created to clean up houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN and its affiliates, since 2005. And the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has chipped in another $7.4 million. ACORN founder Wade Rathke even has a book out titled “Citizen Wealth” which “shows how to cut through government indifference and bureaucratic obstacles” to achieve “maximum eligible participation” in the “anti-poverty programs still out there.”
So here we are. The 1% is using their considerable arsenal to make sure they keep their lifestyles of the rich and famous. Republican politicians and media pundits will happily help them blame the poor, brown people for all our troubles. Democrats will, maybe, throw a little government money our way to look like they are for the people.
The real question is, what are we going do? Are we going to let politicians attack the poor and those advocating on their behalf? Are we going to watch as democrats fall all over themselves, once again, trying to show how fiscally responsible and anti-welfare they are? Are we going to let race and culture and mistrust get in our way again?
Or are we finally going to acknowledge that the 1% has gone too far and it’s time the other 99% of us stand up for some justice?
