Puppets of the Plutocrats

Labor Day signaled the beginning of the end of what Mark Twain called the "Guilded Age" when there was more disparity between rich and poor than at any time in the nation's history, except maybe this one.

More important were the real gains that labor achieved in the next few decades: higher wages, shorter work weeks, the progressive income tax and acceptance of the fundamental concept that labor was as important as capital in the production of goods and the provision of services.

That concept is all but gone today, a victim not only of industrialization, the technological revolution and globalization, but also of shrewd, cynical and effective politics.

Working class America got distracted by its own success. It had houses in the suburbs, 500 TV channels and cheap credit so it could go to Wal-Mart and buy all the foreign-made toys it wanted.

In the 1970s, conservative billionaires began funding think tanks to attack the forces of progressivism. The Reagan Revolution co-opted a lot of labor votes with jingoism. The late Lee Atwater perfected the use of "wedge issues" — God, guns, gays and abortion — to distract the working class from economic issues.

In the 1990s, Roger Ailes, an old Nixon and Reagan hand, helped launch the career of Rush Limbaugh and turned Fox News into an advocacy platform for the political goals of America's billionaires. Working-class America was so busy applauding that it didn't notice that its pockets were being picked.

St. Louis Today, The Platform
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/article_9ba769c2-b7...

The Punk Patriot's Blog can be found here: http://punkpatriot.blogspot.com/
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Many thanks to the BuffaloBeast.com for your brilliant phone call to Gov. Walker. I just love it when punks get punked.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Ronald Reagan
• right to strike
• collective bargaining

[BardOfEarth]

THE most enlightening Video Journalistic piece I have seen explaining current NEOCON attacks on Unions by the super rich that I call the Oilty. The new corporate royalties ATTACK on the American Way of Life.

☆☆☆☆☆

[Oilwellian]

@BardOfEarth Indeed. As seamoremonster stated below, Walker overplayed his hand and people are seeing their once stealth agenda. The videos coming out on the protests held at BofA branches across the country this past weekend are very uplifting. People are finally seeing what is happening and the emperor is quickly losing his attire. :)

Thanks for the sub.

[ThePunkPatriot]

This video is twenty times better than what I'd done on my own. BRAVO!!!

[Oilwellian]

@ThePunkPatriot I couldn't have made this video without your narration. Thank you so much for letting me elaborate on your original work. I wish more of America's youth had your passion.

[highway234]

brilliant as always, oilwellian.

[Oilwellian]

@highway234 Thanks. :)

[getplaning]

The tide is turning. Today, the conservative government of Canada was defeated in a no-confidence vote. Earlier this week, the conservative government of Portugal collapsed. Citizens around the world are no longer willing to let the top 1% continue to shift their burdens onto the rest of society while they shift the wealth unto themselves.

The Republican campaign on American citizens will suffer a similar defeat. They overplayed their hand, revealing their true agenda.

[donnyforte2]

That's cute.

[tomitstube]

brilliantly done. power to the people. stay united and get involved.

[seamoremonster]

Nicely done. The Conservatives have moved the US so far to the right that people screaming about their freedoms are ignorant to the fact that they lost them a long time ago. It is seriously time for "real" working people to stand up, fight, vote and be active. Real working people, not a bunch of genetic throwbacks who can't even check their spelling on their stupid signs, not a bunch of genetic throwbacks looking for a free bus ride to Washington from the Koch Brothers.

[LiberalJerseyman]

Well done!

[ERICRIPPER1]

great post! Nice!

[PhilipPorter]

Excellent and moving piece of work!

[justonefirefly1]

ANY ONE AGAINST THE AMERICAN WORKERS ARE TERRORIST.

SCREW THE REPUBLICUNTS