VIEWFROMTHEMIDDLE

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an attempt to examine issues from a number of sides in order to find sound reasoning  - -  TELL ME WHERE I’VE GONE WRONG.

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“BASE”

SYSTEM

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How the New Politics Actually Works:

Both political parties work hard catering to their “base,” who are by and large quite wealthy indeed. It might seem strange that they have no time for the Middle Class, but hardly anyone does anymore, because for the most part, the Middle Class has ceased to exist. The middle today is comprised of Working Poor who cannot hope to live as people in the middle once did. Now it is true that, even when it was big, the Middle Class never had much wealth, but guys like Archie Bunker had health benefits, a pension, investment opportunities that didn’t rob him, and a good enough wage so he and Edith could take time away from work, enjoy themselves, read the paper, and keep current on developments. You can’t even write a situation comedy like that anymore. Average Americans have little if any free time today; no one would believe it! “Middle Class lifestyles” might still be found here and there, but they’re an incredibly small profile of American experience; that “Class” of people is no more, and the politicians find it convenient to ignore their input because their few votes don’t matter. The real interest of the two party system is the huge and growing group of Working Poor. Liberals and Conservatives alike are fully aware that a member of the Working Poor, while juggling two or three jobs, doesn’t have time to stay informed. Fear tactics, slogans, and sound bites can fool that individual into believing that the base people on the left, or the base people on the right, will serve those in the middle far better than the base people on the other end of things . In reality, maintaining the well-being of people in the middle is an extremely low priority for the “base politics” of Liberals and Conservatives today.  Their real priority is the well-being of base human beings who finance their political agendas. Therefore, big bank bailouts are an acceptable form of socialism. Health care, on the other hand, is, oh my God, no! It’s SOCIALISM! They tell us that economic downturns are only natural in a free economy, and unfortunately, people in the middle have to bear most of the burden for them, not base people. Meanwhile, back at the pig trough, risky trading with other people’s money is good for the economy, they say, even if it does lead to fraud occasionally. That’s how base people think, and that’s how the system works.