The Righteous Anger of MAGA
Divided we fall
A recent article about the rising anger of Americans in rural areas and ‘red’ states by Margaret Talev published in Axios set my mind in motion (thank you Margaret!)
The Anger is Righteous
There has been anger flowing through the American bloodstream for generations. The collective anger helped to defeat the British army and gain independence. The anger cost the young country dearly during the Civil War (which I should properly label as the first). Fundamentally, the Civil War was fought over the soul and aspirations of the United States.
At a fork in the road, did we choose:
a) Evolve toward equity, justice, and democracy for all people (toward a more perfect Union)? or;
b) Continue along a path in which only wealthy white landowners maintain dominion over everything and everyone.
As others have pointed out, while the Union army emerged victorious (and the South surrendered -there is documentation and evidence! -see below), the war never truly ended, it just went underground.
I have frequently written that the GOP of today exists to accomplish one objective. That is the concentration of wealth (and thus political power and control) of the United States. They use incredibly well-funded vehicles in which to attack many of the very principles of which America was founded (and to maintain status quo for some of the objectionable principles struck in various political compromises made to form an imperfect Union).
The GOP could not win any election in the United States if they ran on a slogan “Make the Wealthy Even Wealthier” or MWEW. Instead they keep elections close, and win far too many by understanding the fear and anger that has always been palpable in the ironically-named United States. They scare you with “replacement theory”. They tell you the liberals, the ‘woke’, Antifa, and immigrants are coming for your jobs. Government is bad and coming for your guns.
The obscenely wealthy in the United States …
demand absolute fealty from their GOP puppets…
and continue to polarize and divide Americans through the use of broadcast media to spread disinformation and propaganda…
and social media to do the same, while collecting personal data about you, your family, and friends -in order to manipulate how you vote.
The anger running through the lifeblood of America now is righteous. We were promised an “American Dream.” Homeownership. The ability to provide for ourselves and family. The promise of feeling safe and secure, whether at home, going to a store, or to the doctor. The promise that if we work hard, we will have something to pass along to our children and grandchildren, so they can enjoy a better and more satisfying life than our own.
The reality is we are working harder. However the tax and economic policies at work since the Reagan Administration (and magnified through Bush and Trump tax cuts), continue to move more of the wealth you create to Elon Musk, Robert Mercer, Charles Koch, Betsy DeVos, Peter Thiel, Harlon Crow, and others we will then use the value created by your hard work to fund candidates (and judges) who will rig political and economic policies to reward themselves.
Wages versus prices since 2010
From 2010 to 2023, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 32.6%. The CPI is comprised of the average costs of groceries and meals, housing, clothing, transportation, healthcare, education, and other consumer goods and services.
During the same period, average wages in the United States grew by 5.2% from 2010 to 2023. Most of the gains in wages have been in 2022 and 2023.
So as average prices have increased by almost 33% while average pay increased by 5%, you are working harder, with less available for savings -building an important reserve to protect yourself and your family from unemployment, a health catastrophe, or other circumstances that can cause a substantial disruption in your ability to pay rent, buy groceries, and/or medicines.
Executive pay since 2010
I know many were very worried about Big Oil CEO’s and other executives after the banking collapse at the end of the Bush II Administration, and then through the pandemic. Well there is good news here. From 2010 to 2023, CEO pay in the United States grew by 189%, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). So you hopefully feel some sense of relief about this. I know they do.
And the impacts of Reagan/Bush/Trump/GOP Trickle-down 'economics’ fraud:
The CEO-to-worker pay ratio grew from 21-to-1 in 1965 to 351-to-1 in 2023.
You can’t pay rent with Economic Indicators
The economy under both the Obama/Biden Administration, and now the Biden/Harris Administration has improved. It is a remarkable achievement. The Obama/Biden Administration inherited an economy on the precipice of collapse. The Biden/Harris Administration inherited an economy reeling from the pandemic, the hyper-greed of CEO’s generating record profits, and a massive $7 Trillion Dollar increase in debt due to the Trump/GOP tax cuts for the wealthiest people and corporations. Nevertheless, when rent is due, you cannot pay with economic indicators. When your children are hungry, you cannot pay with metrics. When tuition is due (thanks to Reagan) you can’t pay with strong employment numbers. When you need life-saving medication, you cannot pay with a rising Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Your anger and frustration is real. If it remains misdirected you have become your own problem, and everyone else’s.
Because woke liberal Antifa forces are not amassing and coming for your guns. The GOP has come and continues to do so for your wages, for your healthcare, for your Social Security, and for the quality of life your children and grandchildren could have had.
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