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How to Destroy the Middle Class
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If you were in the upper class and wanted to destroy the middle class so it could no longer interfere with doing things your own way, how would you go about it? Reward the wealthy and punish the not-wealthy. Lay a huge economic burden on the not-wealthy for generations yet unborn by amassing gargantuan federal debt. But protect the wealthy from the effects of this action by seeing to it that the not-wealthy bear the major brunt of it. Launch a program that gives the wealthy enormous rewards while giving the not-wealthy little or nothing. Call it “tax reform.” Another way to reward the wealthy and punish the not-wealthy is to enable the wealthy to avoid paying taxes while the not-wealthy have to continue to pay them. Enable corporations to avoid paying any taxes at all, or at least minimally so, by enacting tax laws favorable to them. And exempt them completely if their corporate operations are not in the United States. The punishment of the not-wealthy can be accelerated even faster and more severely by eliminating their sources of income. Simply ship their jobs out of the country. But don’t call it “Shipping Your Job Out of the Country,” call it a “Free Trade Agreement.” Eliminate the ability to stay in, or get into, the middle class. Enact “education reform” where the middle class’s public schools can be “tested” and punished for low performance by having their funding reduced or eliminated. And make it possible for the students to attend private schools by providing vouchers. But see to it that the vouchers don’t cover enough of the private schools’ cost to enable the really poor students to go there—at least in significant numbers. Better yet, see to it that there aren’t enough vouchers to make a difference. When the public schools are gone, or mortally wounded, only the wealthy
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will be able to afford education, and the educated will control everything. How could you get people to buy this notion? Easy, call it “No Child Left Behind.” Arrange for the not-wealthy to die off sooner and in disproportionate numbers to the wealthy—even moreso than now. Enact “Medicare reform” where the middle class’s access to health care and medicine is severely limited or eliminated and only the wealthy can afford it. See to it that private HMOs can negotiate for lower costs on medicines for its wealthy members, but make sure that the government can’t negotiate for lower costs on medicines for the not-wealthy. See to it that the not-wealthy are divested of any assets they’ve accumulated as soon and as much as possible. Free corporations from having to make good on their employee’s pension programs. Eliminate economic safety nets for the not-wealthy by getting them out of Social Security and into private—speculative—investments, which will also put their economic security under the control of the wealthy. Enable powerful interest groups of the wealthy to confiscate the property of the non-wealthy through the exercise of the “right of eminent domain” for the development of for-profit projects such as manufacturing plants, shopping malls, and hotels, not for such mundane things as streets and highways, public hospitals, public schools, public parks, or public zoos. But who would want to do such a thing? Only those who want to have things their way without the nuisance of interference from people who disagree with them. --Bob Hartsell, Ph.D. |
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