Is history repeating itself?

The ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is nothing new. In the past, people were enslaved and dependent on the rich while the rich depended on the poor to provide their needs. The rich lived off the labors of the poor until there was revolt.
A middle class provides a balance. They support the rich and the poor. They are the workforce that makes the economy sound.
We have witnessed the collapse of financial markets due to the greed of the super rich. The gap between rich and poor widened. The poor are not just people without jobs, but those who have jobs but struggle to survive. The middle class did not move upward but downward.
We have a political far right that caters to the wealthy while the far left caters more to the poor. Balance is required – a middle road, a middle class. Sometimes a champion comes along who tries to bring balance. The attempt to provide health care for all Americans is a good example. The far right is opposed. Why? Will it erode their system of class? Will it cut into their profits? Is equality something bad? The rich can afford expensive ads to promote their agenda and preserve their way of life. Will people succumb to the lies and misinformation or will they support their champion? The middle class is the backbone of America. Will they stand up and fight for their rights (equality) or will they continue to live in subjugation?

Good questions Abe. I think many of the previously rich are no longer rich. We have heard of real estate developers in bankruptcy, and construction workers no longer building large houses. People are saving more money. If the political parties want less government, than they have to promote saving rather than spending, but we were a spending society. No one's insurance is safe. Almost everyone will be ill someday.

We can be creative, use our ingenuity, integrity and ethics. We can reach a balance between taking care of ourselves and caring about others.

Carol

I don't know about the greed of the super rich--I've read that when one gets a lot of money, s/he often becomes addicted to it and wants a lot more.

From where I sit, the middle class and the poor are not blameless, for they are the ones who live pay check to pay check. Is it because they're saving every spare penny. No, they're spending it all on stuff, then making payments on it.

The stuff my parents and grandparents took lifetimes to acquire, today's youth think they deserve before they are 30. They look at the payments and think they can afford them and then they lose their homes and cars and look for somebody else to blame.

Malcolm

So many lies are being told about health care it's hard to tell what will happen. I fell nothing but contempt for those who feel decent healthcare should not be available to everyone. It's a sad state of affairs when Americans are moving to Mexico for better healthcare.

In 2009 the US plunged the world into a financial crisis for the second time. The first time was in 1929.
I hope there is no repeat although history seems to repeat itself.

Abe, that's because people don't take the time to learn history and realize there is much knowledge to be gained from doing so. Like the meaning of life, it is the journey, the historical journey and if we don't pay attention there is no meaning.

Carol

When 70% of a nation's wealth is held by 10% of its population and 25% of the wealth is in fact held by only 1% of its population (this is the case with the United States) something is profoundly wrong.

Dick Stodghill wrote:

So many lies are being told about health care it's hard to tell what will happen. I fell nothing but contempt for those who feel decent healthcare should not be available to everyone. It's a sad state of affairs when Americans are moving to Mexico for better healthcare.

So right!