The Redistribution of Wealth in the United States

I hope you will take a look at the link following this article.

I know that many of you out there don’t have a lot of time to consider just what is going on in the division of wealth in this country.  After all, if you are getting by on whatever paltry income you have, who cares?

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

Frankly, I am fed up with the continuing Republican efforts to increase the share of wealth for their big time contributors at the expense of the rest of us.  What is happening in Wisconsin, for example, is the tip of an iceberg which looms before the ship of state and like the Titanic we are just as apt to slip beneath the waters of despair.  I know it is not simply a Republican problem.  Dems have their share of poor philosophical standards.

Over the past weeks there has been so much discouraging news concerning the total lack of fiscal responsibility with our representatives that I am exhausted just thinking about how to bring them all together coherently so they could be understood by everyone. 

I give up on the big picture.  But the details in the attached link will show you a great deal about who has the money and how it is being directed away from the majority of us.  Notice the estimated net worth of your Congressperson.

Check this out from Mother Jones:  http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

Government Shutdown After March 5th?

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Once again it looks like our representatives in the House and Senate are going to play brinksmanship with the welfare of their constituents.  Rather than engage in meaningful and honest debate to solve our financial problems, they set up a faux reality of fear to see who will back down first.

Of course the United States is in a lousy financial condition.  The “due date” on our reckless spending over decades will eventually come to pass.  Failure to begin tackling the tough decisions will only result in unnecessary distress for everyone.

As I watch the many protesters arguing for their own priorities on cutting spending, particularly with regard to Social Security and Medicare, I have a personal interest at stake   If there is a shutdown after March 5^th, my Social Security check will NOT be in the mail as usual.  I am one who receives my deposit on the second Wednesday each month.  That comes after the shutdown.  So, who takes up the slack for those of us who are on fixed income based on that monthly check?  That check is calculated on the amount of time we have worked and what we and our employers have contributed over our work life.  This is NOT welfare.

There are NO EASY ANSWERS, but there will NEVER be any answers if our representatives do not get serious about solving the problem.  We are ALL going to have to make reasonable sacrifices.  Our representatives have their government health care.  They have their $174,000 plus salaries.  They have four retirement benefit options for life.  They are so far removed from the people they are supposed to be serving that it should not surprise us that they cannot negotiate in good faith. 

Let them go without their paychecks. 

Let them go without their health care. 

Let them live on Social Security when they retire.

So have your fun scaring the living daylights out of some of us while you dither away precious time that could be used toward solving the problem.

And No One Needed Guns!

So the greatest people’s revolution of modern times has taken place over the last two weeks plus and the revolution accomplished its goal without guns!

So there, all you “Second Amendment” rights nuts who think that in order to form a “more perfect union” it is necessary to take your guns to political rallies.  All you have shown the world is that you do not know how to bring about positive change without threatening, or actually, shooting someone.

Egyptians suffered under one of the most brutal and sadistic regimes anywhere in the world.  The workers, the professionals, the students, the well-educated people of Egypt had enough and took to the streets by the hundreds of thousands in peaceful protests.  They even withstood the goon squads of Mubarak’s police who arrested, shot and beat them, and yet took no weapons themselves in their defense.  Yes, they returned the rocks thrown at them by the thugs, but they did not need guns!

Will the radicals among us learn anything from this momentous event?  Will it be possible for citizens in the United States to show their courage through their voices and their votes while leaving their guns at home?  I certainly hope so!

It is with some degree of satisfaction that I see Glenn Beck’s ratings begin to drop.  Maybe his listeners are beginning to realize that he is about three marbles short of enough to play a serious game.  We can be grateful for our right to free speech, but we should be ashamed that we support those who use their positions of influence to make up facts and repeat them over and over until the most vulnerable of our citizens begin to believe them.

The Egyptian struggle is not over.  But it has great promise.  We can all feel empowered by the example they have set for the world—your voice is more important than your gun!

Priorities Revisited

Some time ago I shared the following thoughts on this blog:

I don’t WANT to,

I don’t HAVE to,

YOU can’t MAKE me  . . .

I’M RETIRED!!!!

This feeling comes up almost every day when I turn on my computer, open the Internet and check my news feeds and then my blog.  If I haven’t posted an entry recently I begin to feel like I should!  Then I look to the poster on my wall and realize,

I don’t HAVE to!

The strange thing is, I really enjoy writing (when I think I have something to say).  Even stranger is the fact that some of the best writing I do is in those moments of twilight just before slipping off into dreamland, or before a nap, or even in meditation.  Unfortunately, most of those twilight experiences don’t make it to the printed form.  Instead, they drift off into the ethers of Universal Consciousness, perhaps to fall upon some unsuspecting person who recognizes an “Aha!” moment that is useful in some way.

We all have our roots of Being in that same Universal Consciousness that holds all that has ever been known and all that is unknown.  We all have access to whatever we need to know at any given moment.  When we learn that and begin to develop our own pathway into Universal Consciousness, we will discover priceless treasures of every kind.  From these roots of Being we will sense our vital connection with others.  We will discover deep feelings of love and acceptance—for others, and for ourselves.  We will realize that there is purpose in every part of our life, yes, even those strange times where there seems now to be nothing of value.

So, while I don’t HAVE to write, I always find that it enhances my own sense of being.  For me that is what is important. It is a priority because it puts me in touch with my Source. There is so much to learn, so much to enjoy in life and in our relationships with others that I want to take advantage of every opportunity to deepen my connection to the Source of being in which we all exist. 

I will write when Spirit moves me to do so.  I hope that somewhere within the words I share you will find a tidbit now and then that resonates within you in some special way.  I trust you will experience the treasures of health, happiness and well-being that await your discovery.